Ethiopian Empire
Ethiopian Empire | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1270–1974 1936–1941: Government-in-exile | |||||||||
| Motto: ኢትዮጵያ ታበፅዕ እደዊሃ ኀበ እግዚአብሔር Ityopia tabetsih edewiha ḫabe Igziabiher (English: "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God") (Psalm 68:31) | |||||||||
| Anthem: ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ ደስ ይበልሽ Ityoṗya hoy des ybelish (English: "Ethiopia, Be Happy") | |||||||||
| Capital | None[note 1] (1270–1635) Gondar (1635–1855) Debre Tabor (1855–1881) Mekelle (1881–1889) Addis Ababa (1889–1974) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Amharic (dynastic, official, court)[3][4] Ge'ez (liturgical language, literature) many others | ||||||||
| Religion |
| ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Endonym: Ethiopian Exonym: Abyssinian | ||||||||
| Government | Absolute monarchy (1270–1931)[5]
Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1931–1974) | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 1270–1285 (first) | Yekuno Amlak[6] | ||||||||
• 1930–1974 (last) | Haile Selassie | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | |||||||||
• 1909–1927 (first) | Habte Giyorgis | ||||||||
• 1974 (last) | Mikael Imru | ||||||||
| Legislature | None (rule by decree) (until 1931) Parliament (1931–1974)[7] | ||||||||
| Senate (1931–1974) | |||||||||
| Chamber of Deputies (1931–1974) | |||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages to Cold War | ||||||||
| 1270 | |||||||||
| 1314–1344 | |||||||||
| 1529–1543 | |||||||||
| 1557–1589 | |||||||||
| 1632–1769 | |||||||||
| 1769–1855 | |||||||||
| 1878–1904 | |||||||||
| 1895–1896 | |||||||||
| 16 July 1931 | |||||||||
| 3 October 1935 | |||||||||
| 5 May 1941 | |||||||||
| 12 September 1974 | |||||||||
| 21 March 1975[8][9][10][11] | |||||||||
| Area | |||||||||
| 1954 | 1,221,900 km2 (471,800 sq mi) | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1973 | 30,166,785[12] | ||||||||
| Currency |
| ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Eritrea Ethiopia | ||||||||
The Ethiopian Empire (or simply Ethiopia, also known as Abyssinia by foreigners) was an empire in East Africa. It used to include modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea. When it was biggest, it controlled some parts of Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. The official state religion of the empire was Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.
Abyssinia was mentioned in Egyptian records in 980 BC. Its king made the country Christian in the 4th century. The Solomonid dynasty ruled from 1270 to 1974 A.D., when it was overthrown by communists.
At the time of its overthrow, it was the longest-lasting government in the world and one of the only two nations that did not get fully colonized in Africa (but during five years -from 1935 to 1941- it was conquered & temporarily colonized by the kingdom of Italy, being called Italian Ethiopia).

In other languages
[change | change source]Ethiopian Empire:
[change | change source]- Ge'ez Script: መንግሥተ ፡ ኢትዮጵያ, Mängəśtä ʾItyop̣p̣ya
- የኢትዮጵያ ፡ ንጉሠ ፡ ነገሥት ፡ መንግሥት, Yäʾityop̣p̣ya Nägusä Nägäst Mängəśt
Ethiopia
[change | change source]Notes
[change | change source]
- ↑ The old tradition of the Ethiopian emperors was travelling around the country accompanied by their many courtiers and innumerable soldiers, living off the produce of peasants, and dwelling in fortified encampments known as katamas. These katamas would serve as the headquarters of the empire.[1] Despite this several Ethiopian rulers had attempted to establish fixed capitals such as Tegulet, Emfraz and Debre Birhan.[2]
References
[change | change source]- ↑ Pankhurst, Richard (1982). History Of Ethiopian Towns. Steiner. p. 41. ISBN 978-3-515-03204-9.
- ↑ Pankhurst, Richard (2009). "Barara, the Royal City of 15th and Early 16th Century (Ethiopia). Medieval and Other Early Settlements Between Wechecha Range and Mt Yerer". Annales d'Éthiopie. 24 (1): 209–249. doi:10.3406/ethio.2009.1394.
- ↑ The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia: Essays in History and Social Anthropology, Donham Donald Donham, Wendy James, Christopher Clapham, Patrick Manning. CUP Archive, Sep 4, 1986, p. 11, https://books.google.com/books?id=dvk8AAAAIAAJ&q=Lisane+amharic#v=snippet&q=Lisane%20amharic&f=false Archived 28 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, Paul B. Henze, November 18, 2008, p. 78, https://books.google.com/books?id=3VYBDgAAQBAJ&q=Lisane#v=snippet&q=Lisane&f=false Archived 28 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Nathaniel T. Kenney (1965). "Ethiopian Adventure". National Geographic. 127: 555.
- ↑ Negash, Tekeste (2006). "The Zagwe Period and the Zenith of Urban Culture in Ethiopia, Ca. 930–1270 AD". Africa: Rivista Trimestrale di Studi e Documentazione dell'Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. 61 (1): 120–137. JSTOR 40761842.
- ↑ Constitution of Ethiopia, 4 November 1955, Article 76 (source: Constitutions of Nations: Volume I, Africa by Amos Jenkins Peaslee)
- ↑ "Ethiopia Ends 3,000 Year Monarchy". Milwaukee Sentinel. 22 March 1975. p. 3.
- ↑ "Ethiopia ends old monarchy". The Day. 22 March 1975. p. 7.
- ↑ Henc van Maarseveen; Ger van der Tang (1978). Written Constitutions: A Computerized Comparative Study. Brill. p. 47.
- ↑ "Ethiopia". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 1987.
- ↑ Ethiopia - Population Countryeconomy
- 1 2 The Royal Chronicle of his reign is translated in part by Richard K. P. Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967).