Cyber Ethiopia

Yeha has the oldest building in Ethiopia, a large square temple which dates from about 500 BC. At this site were found some of the most marvellous artefacts in Ethiopia - including the calm faced sitting matrons now held in the National Museum. Also found at the same site were stone carved examples of South Arabian semitic script. Because Yeha represents the earliest symbol of civilization in Ethiopia, it raises the question of who built it and what went before. The traditional interpretation by Western scholars has been that Semitic migrants or invaders from South Arabia crossed the Red Sea and established an outpost of their civilization in northern Ethiopia sometime before 500 BC. Semitic culture and language spread through northern and central Ethiopia, and formed

the basis for the Axumite civilization which flourished from about 100 - 800 AD. Axum became powerful enough that it recrossed the Red Sea and conquered Southern Arabia. An alternative Africanist view is that while there was perhaps much crossing back and forth of the Red Sea, that Ethiopian civilization was indigenous, and arose from the Southern or Central part of current Ethiopia. Connections dating back to the Egyptians (who were said to have claimed that they arose from the land to the south, hint at a much older and more established Ethiopian civilization. Certainly the traditional Western version of Ethiopian history smacks of the racism which African history was treated with - no civilization was deemed possible to have arisen from African roots. The explanation for whatever civilization existed in Ethiopia had to be based on Semitic Middle Eastern people. On the other hand, there are only a few intriguing clues about pre-Yeha history, or for want of the written word, archaeology in Ethiopia. Mentions of the Land of Punt in Egyptian hieroglyphs from before 2000 BC may or may not refer to an Ethiopian kingdom which stretched to the Red Sea. References to the Land of Ophir in the Old Testament, with the gold bearing areas of Southwest Ethiopia as the source of King Solomon's mines are also vague, and are claimed by many other places. I do hold out the admittedly romantic notion that Ethiopia civilization pre-dated Yeha, but all traces are lost. With the heavy rainfall and erosion in the Ethiopian highlands, it is unlikely that 3000 year old remains of cities survived. Perhaps the Queen of Sheba really did rule a long established empire in Ethiopia in 1000 BC, and her capital of Debra Makeda has been lost to antiquity. The temple at Yeha has survived as a mysterious relic of ancient Ethiopia, a remarkable square temple which was probably preserved because it was converted to a Christian shrine. Now, as Dr. Richard Pankhurst laments, the temple at Yeha is not so well preserved, and trees are beginning to grow through the walls. Dr. Pankhurst has launched an effort to help the temple to be better taken care of. Because the artefacts found at and around Yeha are mostly South Arabian in form, Yeha is seen as an outpost of Southern Arabian influence. The temple is supposed to have been built for worship of the pagan gods of Arabia at the time. There are signs of other influence however, in particular the Egyptian style carvings on the side of a large stone box or throne. If the Jewish tradition in Ethiopia dominated from the time of the Queen of Sheba's time, as in Ethiopian legend, then Yehas' temple should have been for Jewish worship. Perhaps we'll never know the true heritage of Yeha, but it is a fascinating place to poke around in. Yeha is a few kilometers down the main road past the turnoff to Debre Damo, about 30 km before Adua. The old square temple is made of blocks which are held together still without the benefit of mortar. It is now surrounded by a wall and next to a more recent church. Look on the wall of the church for the ancient stone carving of a row of Ibexes, borrowed from the more ancient temple. Adua Adua is the next major stop on the road. Although a bustling centre with new factories and a sense of growth, there is really not much to see in Adua. The great historic event in this town was the defeat of the Italians by the Ethiopians in 1896. This was a watershed event, not only in Ethiopia, but in African history. Europeans had inexorably closed in and taken over every part of Africa, with the pace quickening at the end of the 19th century. The conquest of Africa had created tensions between the European powers, most notably with the tense standoff at Fashoda in Southern Sudan where England and France almost came to war. At the Conference of Berlin in 1883 the powers divided Africa amongst themselves, concentrating their warfare on the Africans instead of each other. Ethiopia was one of the few places which was not parcelled out to a European country, protected by their Christian heritage and the jealousies of the European powers. While the Europeans were conquering other parts of Africa, Ethiopia was also expanding her borders. Under King Menelik of Shoa, later Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia, vast areas in the West, South, and East were added to Ethiopia. The ancient borders of the medieval empire of Ethiopia were restored or exceeded after centuries of shrinkage. The Ethiopia which faced the expanding European countries was strong, rich and a serious military power. Although Ethiopia had escaped the division of the Africa spoils at the Conference of Berlin, a latecomer to the scramble for Africa, Italy, coveted the independent country. Having missed out on the other parts of Africa, there was little left for Italy except Ethiopia. With the tacit support of England, which wanted to head off too much influence in Ethiopia by the railroad building French, Italy actively coveted Ethiopia from its base in the colony of Eritrea. After a long period of building towards war, Italy finally invaded from Eritrea in 1896. Menelik had used the lull to purchase arms. Ironically, many of them came from Italy itself, which had sold arms to reassure Ethiopia about it's intentions. Other arms came from France through Djibouti, with various arms dealers in Harar acting as go betweens (including the French poet Arthur Rimbaud). By the time the force of !3,000 Italian and Eritrean troops invaded, Menelik was able to mount a force of over 100,000, many with modern rifles. Menelik's weakness was supplies, the Italians simply had to invade, dig in, and wait for Menelik to attack or run out of food. In April 1896 this was the situation that was unfolding. Fortunately for the Ethiopians, the racism of the Italians wouldn't allow them to think they could lose. Headquarters ordered the Italian forces to advance, confident that they would demolish any African force. Of course the opposite happened. The Ethiopian forces won the greatest African victory against any European military force. The crushed Italians retreated to Eritrea, leaving enough prisoners in the hands of the Ethiopians to negotiate a favourable peace. The Italians nursed a grudge, however, and invaded again in 1936 with Mussolini and the fascists vowing revenge. Adua's strategic location made it another major battleground between the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) and the previous government, the Derg, and only a few years ago a battleground near Adua was marked by large numbers of burned out Derg tanks. Adua was also on the front line of the war with Eritrea. Now Adua is the end point for a new road which is planned to provide an alternative route from Addis. Although many parts of this road are now completed and good, there are a few serious gaps, in particular bridges across major rivers which haven't been completed (some not even started). The road is destined to go from the Bahir Dar Road from Addis, turning off before Debre Libanos, then proceeding north through Shoa and Wollo. There are sections finished in the centre of Wollo and further north from the Debrre Tabor-Waldya road the China road through Lalibela to Sekota. The section from Sekota to Adua is one part that isn't finished; the Tekkeze River has no bridge across it.