CHAPTER TWO 2.
State formation and population movements in the horn of Africa till seventeenth century
2.1 North: Punt, Dama’at , Aksum and Zagwe Punt:
Punt was an ancient and historically known state in the Horn of Africa. However, Punt's exact location
and territorial limits are not well known. According to an Egyptian hieroglyphic, the land of Punt was
located south of Egypt and had trade relations with Egypt since the third millennium BC. The land of
Punt was commercially important for the goods it provided to Egypt.
Other pre-Aksumite states emerged since 1000BC. These include Yeha, Hawlti-Melazo,
AddiSeglemeni, Metera, Kaskase, Coloe, etc. Yeha: is located 30 kms to the northeast of Aksum and
was the oldest of these centers. It probably emerged around 1000BC as a small emporium where
South Arabian merchants The period of its prosperity (zenith) was from about 750 to 500BC. Remains
of walls of some of its buildings and stone masonry and still standing temple and inscriptions indicate
Yeha’s glory.
Hawulti Melazo: is situated to the southeast of Aksum, where stone tablets inscribed in the rectangular
temple surrounded by a wall decorated with paintings representing herds of cattle have been excavated.
Damat: Damat existed just before the rise of Aksum. Its center was little to the south of the town of
Aksum. Information about this state comes from local archaeological sources. Some of Damat’s rulers
used the South Arabian political and religious title called Mukarib. This indicates that Damat had
established external relations with South Arabia. This can be understood fromlocal inscriptions left by
one of its rulers around the fifth century BC. Damat used the port of Adulis on the Red Sea coast.
Aksumite kingdom
Aksum was not the first state that emerged in Ethiopia. The term Aksum was derived from two terms,
Ak/ku means water in Agaw and sum/shum means chief in Semitic; hence ‘chief of water’.
Aksumite civilisation resulted from the fusion of Cushitic and Semitic culture In the first three centuries,
Ge’ez evolved as a written language. The City of Aksum was its political and religious center.
The process of decline started when theRed Sea had come under the control of Muslim Arabs and the
subsequent destruction of the port of Adulis in 702AD. The loss of trade led to the decline of its
economic, political and military power. Internally, rebellion against king Kaleb (r.500 - 535AD) broke out.
Kaleb had once controlled South Arabia in 525AD. But the South Arabians finally expelled Aksumite
governors and soldiers from their region between 580 and 590AD. Aksumite state was pushed
southward to Kubar in southern Tigray, and by the late ninth century, it took refuge in the area
predominantly inhabited by the Agaw people
Zagwe Dynasty
The Zagwe dynasty came from the local Agaw ruling class in Lasta, part of the Aksumite Empire. The
Zagwe dynasty was founded around 1150AD by Mera Tekle Haymnot. He established a new capital at
Adefa (Roha) in Lasta.
The Zeila port was the main outlet during the Zagwe time. The Dahlak Islands on the Red Sea coast
served as an [Link] Zagwe dynasty is known in Ethiopian history for its remarkable architectural
achievement.
This was the technology of building the monolithic rock-hewn Churches at Roha; later, the capital was
renamed Lalibela. The surviving pieces of evidence are the eleven rock-hewn churches constructed
during the reign of Emperor Lalibela in the first half of the 13th century
The first one was the problem of succession to the throne among the Zagwe princes. Most of the time,
they settled this issue by force of arms. However, they could not be able to arrange a smooth succession
to the throne. Secondly, there had been strong opposition to the Zagwe kings throughout their rule.
From Tigrai and Amhara
Despite the strong opposition from Tigrai, the initiative of overthrow came from Amhara.