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| Date | The Kingdom of Saba in its later days |
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| Location | Modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea |
The Sabean colonisation of Africa was a process of colonization by Sabeans that occurred in the Horn of Africa during the first millennium BC. [1]
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| Date | The Kingdom of Saba in its later days |
|---|---|
| Location | Modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea |
The Sabean colonisation of Africa was a process of colonization by Sabeans that occurred in the Horn of Africa during the first millennium BC. [1]
One of the oldest colonisation process in history occurred around 1000 BC, the Sabeans of southern Arabia, with a civilization based on agriculture, began to colonize the highlands of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The Sabean occupation and influence allowed for Ethiopia to develop several civilizations like D'mt as well as the Kingdom of Aksum and left a very important mark in Ethiopian history and culture, a team of German archaeologists also recently concluded that all fundamental characteristics of Aksumite society derived from earlier populations in the Near East and South Arabia. [6] Cultural transmission from the Sabean region to the Horn of Africa extended beyond architecture and stone-masonry, reaching far into the sociopolitical, religious, and cultic spheres [7] [8] The Sabean character of the pantheon is clearly evident in the worship of 'Almaqah, to whom, in addition to the Great Sabean Temple at Yeha, [9] four other sanctuaries are known. Some of these are accompanied by the building dedications of Sabean stonemasons and can be identified archaeologically. [10] Many other archaeological sites of this period in Ethiopia where some inscriptions have also been found which were executed in a Sabean-Himyaritic script, near Makalle, for example where a seated female figure was found with a South Arabian inscription on the pedestal which also makes reference to South Arabia. [11] Older inscriptions were found at Yeha, which some scholars identify with Ava, a city built by Sabean colonists, and which apparently fell into decay after the building of Aksum the "Sacred City of the Ethiopians." [12] Not only Yeha but also the ancient city of Aksum is considered by some scholars to have been founded by these Sabeans, [13] where old Sabaic inscriptions have also been found. [14]
Eritrea is an ancient name, associated in the past with its Greek form Erythraia, Ἐρυθραία, and its derived Latin form Erythræa. This name relates to that of the Red Sea, then called the Erythræan Sea, from the Greek for "red", ἐρυθρός, erythros. But earlier Eritrea was called Mdre Bahri. The Italians created the colony of Eritrea in the 19th century around Asmara and named it with its current name. After World War II, Eritrea annexed to Ethiopia. Following the communist Ethiopian government's defeat in 1991 by the coalition created by various armed groups notably the EPLF and the TPLF among others, Eritrea declared its independence. Eritrea officially celebrated its 1st anniversary of independence on May 24,1993.
Zula ግእዝ ዙላ saba ሰብኣ 𐩸𐩡 is a small town in central Eritrea. It is situated near the head of Annesley Bay, on the Red Sea coast. Four kilometers away is the archeological site of Adulis, which was an emporium and the port of Axum.
The Sabaeans or Sabeans were an ancient group of South Arabians. They spoke Sabaic, one of the Old South Arabian languages. They founded the kingdom of Sabaʾ in modern-day Yemen, which is considered to be the biblical land of Sheba and "the oldest and most important of the South Arabian kingdoms".
Yeha is a town in the Maekelay Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It likely served as the capital of the pre-Aksumite kingdom of D'mt.
Dʿmt was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia which existed between the 10th and 5th centuries BC. Few inscriptions by or about this kingdom survive and very little archaeological work has taken place. As a result, it is not known whether Dʿmt ended as a civilization before the Kingdom of Aksum's early stages, evolved into the Aksumite state, or was one of the smaller states united in the Kingdom of Aksum possibly around 150 BC.
Colonies in antiquity were post-Iron Age city-states founded from a mother-city or metropolis rather than a territory-at-large. Bonds between a colony and its metropolis often remained close, and took specific forms during the period of classical antiquity. Generally, colonies founded by the ancient Phoenicians, Carthage, Rome, Alexander the Great and his successors remained tied to their metropolis, though Greek colonies of the Archaic and Classical eras were sovereign and self-governing from their inception. While Greek colonies were often founded to solve social unrest in the mother-city by expelling a part of the population, Hellenistic, Roman, Carthaginian, and Han Chinese colonies were used for trade, expansion and empire-building.
Almaqah or Almuqh was the Moon god of the ancient Yemeni kingdom of Saba'. He was also worshipped in Dʿmt and Aksum in Ethiopia and Eritrea.
GDRT was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum, known for being the first king to involve Aksum in South Arabian affairs. He is known primarily from inscriptions in South Arabia that mention him and his son BYGT. GDRT is thought to be the same person as GDR, the name inscribed on a bronze wand or sceptre that was found in an area near Atsbi and Dar'a/Addi-Galamo in northern Ethiopia.
Habesha peoples is an ethnic or pan-ethnic identifier that has been historically employed to refer to Semitic-speaking and predominantly Oriental Orthodox Christian peoples found in the highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea between Asmara and Addis Ababa and this usage remains common today. The term is also used in varying degrees of inclusion and exclusion of other groups.
Agame was a former province in northern Ethiopia. It includes the northeastern corner of the Ethiopian Empire, borders in Eritrea, Tembien, Kalatta Awlalo and Enderta in the south, and both the Eritrean and Ethiopian Afar lowlands in the east. This relative location of Agame is at the strategic crossroads between the Red Sea and the northern Tigrayan plateau on the other. In pre-1991, Agame had a total area of about 4,889 square kilometres (1,888 sq mi) with an estimated population of 344,800.
Metera or መጠራ (𐩣𐩷𐩧) is a small town and important archeological site located in the Debub Region of Eritrea. Situated a few kilometers south of Senafe (ሰንዓፈ), it was a major city in the Dʿmt (𐩵𐩲𐩣𐩩) and Aksumite kingdoms. The town has the oldest Example of Ge’ez, which is a pre-Aksumite Obelisk, Hawulti (monument). Since Eritrean independence, the National Museum of Eritrea has petitioned the Ethiopian government to return artifacts removed from the site. However, the efforts have thus far been rebuffed.
Tigray Province, also known as Tigre, was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed the present day Afar and Tigray regions. Akele Guzai borders with the Tigray province. It encompassed most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers in Ethiopia. Tigray was separated from the northern Tigrinya speaking territories by the Mareb River, now serving as the state border to Eritrea, bordering Amhara region in the south.
The terms African civilizations, also classical African civilizations, or African empires are terms that generally refer to the various pre-colonial African kingdoms. The civilizations usually include Egypt, Carthage, Axum, Numidia, and Nubia, but may also be extended to the prehistoric Land of Punt and others: Kingdom of Dagbon, the Empire of Ashanti, Kingdom of Kongo, Empire of Mali, Kingdom of Zimbabwe, Songhai Empire, the Garamantes the Empire of Ghana, bonk state, Harla Kingdom, Kingdom of Benin, Ife Empire and Oyo Empire.
Afro-Arabs, African Arabs, or Black Arabs are Arabs of full or partial indigenous African descent. These include primarily minority groups in the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, as well as Iraq and Levant: Syria, Palestine, and Jordan. The term may also refer to various Arab groups in certain African regions.
Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of the Horn of Africa.
The ancient history ofYemen or South Arabia is especially important because it is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East. Its relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia meaning Fortunate Arabia or Happy Arabia. Between the eighth century BCE and the sixth century CE, it was dominated by six main states which rivaled each other, or were allied with each other and controlled the lucrative spice trade: Saba', Ma'īn, Qatabān, Hadhramaut, Kingdom of Awsan, and the Himyarite Kingdom. Islam arrived in 630 CE and Yemen became part of the Muslim realm.
The provinces of Eritrea existed since pre-Axumite times and became administrative provinces from Eritrea's incorporation as a colony of Italy until the conversion of the provinces into administrative regions. Many of the provinces had their own local laws since the 13th century.
Ethiopia is one of the oldest countries in Africa; the emergence of Ethiopian civilization dates back thousands of years. Abyssinia or rather "Ze Etiyopia" was ruled by the Semitic Abyssinians (Habesha) composed mainly of the Amhara, Tigrayans and the Cushitic Agaw. In the Eastern escarpment of the Ethiopian highlands and more so the lowlands were the home of the Harari/Harla that founded Sultanates such as Ifat and Adal and the Afars. In the central and south were found the ancient Sidama and Semitic Gurage, among others.
The Kingdom of Aksum also known as the Kingdom of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti and Sudan, it extended at its height into much of South Arabia during the reign of Kaleb of Axum.
The Tigrinya people, also known as the Biher-Tigrinya or Kebessa, are an ethnic group native to Eritrea. They speak the Tigrinya language. There also exists a sizable Tigrinya community in the diaspora.
Some scholars consider the temple at Yeha to be the work of these Sabean colonists.
Sabean inscriptions brought from Aksum and Yeha