Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
Founding Director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies; current Chair, Society of Friends of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies
(Addis Ababa University)
Ethiopian studies today, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, faces one of its greatest challenges, and one in which we appeal for help from all readers.
Since its establishment in 1963, the Institute has made itself central to the study of Ethiopia, in all areas of scholarship.
Ethiopia has an age-old tradition of indigenous learning, in which its people can feel proud.
However, as far as the modern study of the country is concerned, most scholars of Ethiopia, prior to the founding of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, lived outside the country; virtually all works on Ethiopia, including scholarly periodicals, were published abroad; academic gatherings on the country were held almost exclusively in other countries, indeed continents. Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (0)The Cities of Ethiopia: DESSIE
Author: admin
The city of Dessie boasts a population of about 100,000. It is in a very attractive setting, sitting about 2600 meters high amidst tree-clad hills. On a sunny day, Dessie can be quite glorious. On a rainy day, it’s dismal.
Because of its geographical position, Dessie is densely populated and crowded. It is squeezed between the attractive hills, and therefore has no room to grow. As a result it is a thick mass of rusted corrugated iron roofing, with streets constantly filled with crowds. The lack of growing space was apparently the reason that Dessie was passed over in favour of Bahir Dar as the Capital for Amhara Region, and has become more of a backwater Zonal Capital. Read the rest of this entry »
Who Was Clementine; What Was She?
Author: admin
An Ethio-Centric Essay
Who was Clementine?
We answer this question by asking another: Who was Captain Henry Montague (later Sir Henry) Hozier?
“Hard-Working and Scholarly”
Answer: he was a hard-working and scholarly British officer who participated in the Maqdala campaign against Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia.
But what else?, you may ask.
Woolwich
Hozier went to school at Rugby, attended Edinburgh Academy, and “proved his mettle” at the British army staff college at Woolwich. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve traveled through the surroundings of Harar quite a lot for work, and I’ve visited some interesting but difficult to get to places. If you’re not going on work, I’m not sure many of them are worth too much trouble.
Ejarso Goro
To the North of Harar is a terrible road that leads to the attractive and interesting birthplace of Haile Selassie. Given the subsequent illustriousness of the prominent son of Ejarso Goro village, the place itself remains very humble. I couldn’t help but be struck by the neglect of the mud walled community by their Emperor. Read the rest of this entry »
THE CITIES OF ETHIOPIA
Author: admin
Jijiga is almost the end of the road in Eastern Ethiopia. The 640 km drive from Addis takes you within 60 km of the Somaliland border, a ‘country’ not officially recognized by anyone. Past Jijiga the roads are rough – although they are improving as traffic increases from this former no man’s land. Last year food trucks started moving from the port of Berbera in Somaliland, and now traffic is regular to the ‘capital’ of Somaliland – Hargeisa.
Jijiga is the capital of the ‘wild East’. It is thoroughly described in the Penguin book ‘Notes from a Hyena’s Belly’. The author, Nega Mezlakia, entertainingly recounts the adventures of growing up in Jijiga in the 1960’s and 70’s. Jijiga is a dusty little village from which the Empire of Haile Selassie exercised their loose control over the fractious Somali Region. Read the rest of this entry »
Abune Petros and Haddis Alemayehu
Abune Petros
Bitwodded Mekonnen Endalkatchew, one of whose works we considered last week, also wrote a play on the martyrdom, by Graziani on July 30, 1936, of the Ethiopian bishop, Abune Petros.
This work, which sticks fairly closely to the story of this real-life victim of Graziani’s terror, was entitled YeDem demts, i.e. “The Voice of Blood”, and was later translated into English; it is in fact the only Amharic publication discussed in this paper yet available in a European language.
The play opens in Graziani’s office where the marshal is sitting at his desk. He rings a bell and summons his generals to discuss what they should do with their prisoner Abune Petros. Most of them advise that he should be made to sign a manifesto of allegiance to the King of Italy, and then be given “plenty of money to carry on with his preaching, and to make a tool of him”. General Maletti, on the other hand, objects, arguing:
“…That’s a policy of weakness, out of line with fascist principles. We mustn’t forget that the Ethiopians have been proud of their independence, and of their Emperor’s honour, for more than 3,000 years. And now, what they hear these ecclesiastics preaching is that the Emperor will be back inside three years”. Read the rest of this entry »
Where is the Aksum Obelisk Today?
Author: admin
The above is in effect the question which was addressed, in the Ethiopian Federal Parliament, last month, to the Ethiopian Minister of Culture, HE Ambassador Teshome Toga.
“Different Answers”/ “Great Public Resentment”
The questioner drew attention to the fact that “different answers” to the question about the return of the Aksum obelisk had been given at “different times”, and declared that the non-return of the obelisk had “become the source of great public resentment”.
“Origin of Resentment” Peace Treaty Violated
This “great public resentment”, we may comment, is neither surprising, nor new. Protest at the looting of the obelisk goes back to as early as 1937 when Emperor Haile Sellassie denounced this act of plunder in his Address to the Churches of the World -as noted for example in the second volume of his Autobiography. Read the rest of this entry »
A Page from the History of the Obelisk
Author: admin
The story of the Aksum Obelisk looted by Fascist Italy in 1937, and not returned in accordance with the Italian Peace Treaty of 1947 and the bilateral Ethio-Italian Obelisk agreement of 1997, has many chapters.
Ato Aklilu Habtewold
We turn today to events related to the Obelisk, which took place in the year 1971, i.e. a little over 31 years ago. On the first of the Ethiopian month of Sane, of that year, the then Ethiopian Prime Minister, Ato Aklilu Habtewold, issued an order No. 2049-B30-10, instructing Ato Kidanewold Gheorgis, of the Ethiopian Ministry of Public Works and Water Resources, to go to Rome to examine the state of the Obelisk, which should have been returned to Ethiopia almost a quarter of a century earlier, in accordance with the Italian Peace Treaty, signed with the United Nations in 1947. Read the rest of this entry »
The Obelisk and the Aeroplane Tsehai
Author: admin
What has happened to the Aksum Obelisk?”
Readers from all over the world keep asking: “What has happened to the Aksum Obelisk looted from Ethiopia by Mussolini in 1937, and other articles of loot thus far not returned?”.
The situation about the Obelisk is as follows:
The Italian Peace Treaty
The Obelisk should have been returned within 18 months of the signing of the Italian Peace Treaty in 1947. The relevant article, Article 37, is reproduced on this page, together with the Italian signature of the agreement (kindly copied from official archives).
The treaty also bears the signatures of all the then victorious United Nations, in the following order: the USSR, the UK, the USA, China, France, Australia, Belgium, Bielo-Russia, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, Greece, India. the Netherlands, New Zwaland, Poland, Ukraine, and the Union of South Africa”. Read the rest of this entry »