Analyzing Historical Events

Historiography and Historical Study

• History involves narrating what happened, discussing how it happened, and analyzing why it happened.
• Contemporary history teaching and research offer a more integrative approach, incorporating aspects of environment, religion, gender, philosophy, economics, technology, and art and society.

Uses of History

• History helps us better understand the present by providing a storehouse of information on how people behaved and acted in the past.
• Knowledge of historical background is essential for understanding current world situations.
• History provides a sense of identity, helping us understand who we are and where we fit in the world.
• Historical study allows us to grasp how and why things change, and what elements of a society persist despite change.

Sources and Methods of Historical Study

• Historians rely on evidence from sources, which are classified into primary and secondary types.
• Missionary sources, such as those by Francisco Alvarez, provide information on religious and political developments within Ethiopia and its foreign relations.
• Travel documents, like James Bruce's Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, are another type of source.
• Foreigners, such as Hiob Ludolf and August Dillman, have contributed to Ethiopian studies, with Ludolf founding Ethiopian studies in Europe in the 17th century.

Economic Formations

• The domestication of plants and animals gave humanity two interdependent modes of life: agriculture and pastoralism.
• Pastoralism has characterized the eastern lowland region, with the production of camel, goat, and cattle being common among the Afar, Saho, and Somali.
• Agriculture has sustained sizable populations on the plateaus, with mixed farming being practiced by the Cushites, Semites, and Omotic groups.
• The Omotic groups have been famous for metallurgy, weaving, and other crafts.
• The western lowland region has been characterized by pastoralism, shifting agriculture, fishing, apiculture, and hunting.

Aksumite State and Trade

• The Aksumite state exported natural products like ivory, myrrh, emerald, frankincense, and spices.
• The state imported manufactured products like garments, textiles, glassware, jewelry, metallic sheets, and tools from Egypt, India, Roman Empire, and Persia.
• The Aksumite state had relations with Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and Laodicea (Asia Minor).
• King Zoscales used to communicate in Greek language.

Christian Topography

• The Adulis inscription, written in Greek, describes commercial activities of the Red Sea areas and internal long-distance trade between Aksum and Sasu.
• The inscription provides an example of silent trade, where merchants from Aksum and Sasu exchanged goods without seeing each other.
• Aksumite kings had extensive contacts with the outside world, leading to exchange of ideas, material, and spiritual culture.