RELIGION
The original population of Ethiopia before the South Arabian colonization it must have had a religion similar to that of the Cushitic people in later times: veneration of the sky god, combined with the veneration of beneficial or malefic spirits and genes; sacrifices were made, there was a caste of priest-magicians, but there were no temples or idols. The Semites of the kingdom of Aksum instead worshiped the gods Astar (Heaven), Meder (Earth), Beḥēr (Country, Place; for others: Sea) and Maḥrem, who was the god of war. ● Christianity was introduced by Frumentius and Edesio, the first of whom was consecrated bishop of Aksum by Athanasius of Alexandria. Monophysite monks (including the ‘nine saints’, followers of moderate Monophysitism) took refuge in the kingdom and founded various monasteries there, converting many of those who still remained pagans. Syrian monks perhaps concurred in the Ethiopian version of Holy Scripture. Among the Ethiopian metropolitans, who came from Egypt, Salamà stood out, from the second half of the 14th century. There were also heretical movements, including that of the Stefanites (so called by the heresiarch monk they followed), who rejected the cult of the Virgin and the Cross. The Ethiopian kings exercised a heavy interference in the life of the Church, of which they considered themselves high guidance by divine mandate; one of the most energetic and active was Zar’à Yā‛qòb (1434-68), who tried to eradicate abuses and unorthodox practices of all kinds also through written doctrinal work. With the 15th century. and especially with the 16th century, relations with the West became closer, particularly with the occurrence of the great Muslim invasion by Gragn (first half of the 16th century) and the intervention of the Portuguese. Following them, the Jesuit missionaries tried to earn Ethiopia to Catholicism, however, finding great difficulties; King Susiniòs (1606-32) made a profession of Roman faith, but his son Fasiladàs returned to the Alexandrian Coptic confession. Following them, the Jesuit missionaries tried to earn Ethiopia to Catholicism, however, finding great difficulties; King Susiniòs (1606-32) made a profession of Roman faith, but his son Fasiladàs returned to the Alexandrian Coptic confession. Following them, the Jesuit missionaries tried to earn Ethiopia to Catholicism, however, finding great difficulties; King Susiniòs (1606-32) made a profession of Roman faith, but his son Fasiladàs returned to the Alexandrian Coptic confession. For Ethiopia 2018, please check ethnicityology.com.
The Coptic Church of Ethiopia, traditionally linked to the Patriarchate of Alexandria and remained hierarchically dependent on it until 1959, then became autocephalous, headed by a metropolitan, pāpās or abun, of Ethiopian nationality, appointed by an Ethiopian conclave. Beside the metropolitan there are some bishops, consecrated by the metropolitan, having jurisdiction in the respective areas assigned to them.
LANGUAGE
The languages of Ethiopia they are of Semitic, Cushitic or Hamitic, Nilotic or other linguistic families. Ge ‛ èz is the ancient Semitic language of the country, today only literary, to which Tigrè, Tigrinya, Amharic, Harari are linked, languages these in different degrees spoken and written in various regions of Ethiopia. Other Semitic languages, spoken by the peoples of the same name, are guraghe, gafat (almost completely extinct), argobba. Arabic is spoken by immigrant Arabs and partly also by indigenous Muslims, especially by those closest to the coast. The Cushitic family includes the beja, the agau, the saho, danakal or afar, somali, oromo, sidamo, caffino, ometo, and a number of other languages of Ethiopia southern and western, with numerous varieties. Cunama, baria and other languages probably belong to the Nilotic stock.
The Ethiopian script, which is also used to write Amharic, Tigrè and Tigrinya, derives from the South Arabian script; it is written from left to right, the consonants are vocalized, the words are separated from each other by two points arranged vertically, but not always in contemporary printed writing.
ARCHAEOLOGY
The prehistoric population in Ethiopia is testified by the production of microlithic tools that suggest the presence of populations of hunters and gatherers. In Ethiopia and Eritrea these industries are attributable to 3 main complexes, datable between 8000 and the 1st millennium BC, but some coarse industries on splinter typical of the Tigrai date back to 10,000 BC Traces of settlements (Ona culture), datable between the end of the 2nd and the middle of the 1st millennium BC, they have been reported on the Hamasien plateau near Asmara (Eritrea) and in Aduli (Red Sea). Fortified villages and necropolis with dolmens, also from the middle of the 2nd millennium, have been identified on the Harar plateau. It is possible that simple forms of metallurgy were known to the populations of the Ethiopian Plateau in the 2nd -1st millennium BC (finds of copper slag in Aduli and Agordat; of iron slag in Aksum in Tigrai). Objects in bronze and iron have been found in tombs of the Ethiopian-Sabean kingdom of Daamat (mid 1st millennium BC) and this suggests that the diffusion of the metal in Ethiopia is contemporary with the formation of the first forms of state in the Horn of Africa. (Tigray and Eritrea). Rock paintings and graffiti, in which stylized figures of animals (beginning of the 1st millennium BC) appear, have been found in Eritrea and in the Harar region, in Tigris and in the south of the country (Yavello).
