HIES2010 Ch. 1: What is History?

• Course is titled His. Ethiopia and the Horn, HIES2010
• The first chapter covers What is History, Uses of History, and Historiography, and has a date of 03/27/2025

Course Objectives

• Define "History".
• Discuss the nature and use of studying history.
• Identify the sources of history in general.
• Identify the sources specific to Ethiopian history and source criticism.
• Discuss the historiography of Ethiopia.
• Explain the relevant geographical context.

Bloom's Taxonomy

• 50% of the course involves informing students about conceptual aspects such as the definition, nature, uses of studying history, historiography, and the historiography of Ethiopia.
• 35% of the course focuses on professionalization of history and source analysis skills.
• 15% is dedicated to attitude development.

Origin of the Term "History"

• "History" is derived from the Greek word "Istoria," meaning "inquiry" or "an account of one's inquiries."
• The first use of the term is attributed to Herodotus, a 5th-century BC Greek historian, considered the "father of history."

The Need for a Comprehensive Definition

• A comprehensive professional definition of history as a discipline is vital as conflicting definitions exist.
• The word "history" is used differently depending on the context.

What is History?

• History can be defined as an organized and methodical study of the past.
• It involves discovering, gathering, arranging, and presenting information about past events.
• Historians use existing records to create accounts of the past.
• History primarily concerns the study of human society and its interaction with the natural world.
• This is a subject also studied by many other disciplines.
• History reconstructs the past based on available sources, considering time and space.
• Time is examined through chronology, while space relates to geographical regions.

Nature of History

• History differs by focusing on how social sciences study the interaction between humans and their environments in the now.
• History analyzes the interaction between people and their world in the past, within a continuous process of change.

Emergence of History as an Academic Discipline

• History emerged as an academic discipline in the second half of the 19th century starting in Europe.
• The independent discipline then spread to other parts of the world, including the U.S.
• Leopold Von Ranke (1795-1886), a German historian, established history as an independent discipline in Berlin. -He created methods and concepts for historians to collect and evaluate evidence to present meaningful discussions.
• Ranke is seen as the "father of modern historiography" because of his contributions to the scientific study of the past.

Professionalization of History in the Horn of Africa

• The development of History in the Horn of Africa occurred post-colonially.
• Independent nations developed a desire to research their pasts due to education in imperial historiography.
• Recasting historical records and evidence of lost pre-colonial civilizations became important.
• Decolonizing African hstiography needed a new approach, that involved using oral data and fields like archeology, anthropology, and linguistics.

Sources of History

• Historians' work relies on evidence from sources.
• Sources are instruments that bring the past to life.
• "Where there are no sources, there is no history."
• Sources are key to the study and writing of history and are classified into primary and secondary.

Types of Sources

• Primary sources are surviving traces of the past available now.
• These sources are first-hand, original, and time and space related to any given event.
• Manuscripts, diaries, letters, court records, administrative files, travel documents, photographs, maps, video and audiovisual recordings and artifacts are all considered primary sources.
• Artifacts include coins, fossils, weapons, utensils, and buildings.
• Secondary sources are second-hand published accounts of past events.
• They provide interpretations of what, how, and why incidents occurred, and are written post-event.
• Secondary sources include articles, books, textbooks, biographies, and published stories or movies about historical events.

Uses of Studying History

• People live in the present and plan for the future, so it's worth it to study the past.
• Studying history can help better understand the present.
• History provides people with a sense of identity.
• Studying history teaches critical skills. -Studying history assists students to develop essential research skills like finding and evaluating sources. -It helps teach how to make reasonable arguments using various kinds of proof. -It teaches how to write clearly. -Analytical and communication skills are valuable in other academic areas. -Sorting interpretations and making decisions are essential for informed day-to-day life.
• History helps people develop tolerance and open-mindedness.
• History supplies an endless source of fascination by studying how Ethiopia and the Horn, for example, has been shaped through commerce, migrations, slavery, etc.

Debate

• Includes the use of studying history and the utilitarianism argument that it poses.

Challenges

• Includes moral challenges of explaining the use of studying Ethiopian history to Ethiopian students.

Why Study History?

• Accessing the laboratory of human experience can virtually be a must.
• When studied well, habits of mind, basic data, and external forces emerge. -The study can enhance skills, capacity for awareness, critical thinking, and become more civic-minded.

Studying History and Utilitarian Challenges

• History has varied uses.
• Studying history develops "salable" skills.
• The study of history should not be restricted to narrow utilization.
• Utilitarianism is an ethical theory determining right from wrong by focusing on outcomes.
• As a form of consequentialism, it states the most ethical choice will produce the greatest number of goods for the greatest number of people.

Source Criticism

• Historians need to combine different sources to study the Horn of Africa and Ethiopia.
• All sources require critical judgment before being used.
• Primary sources' authenticity should be verifiable because they can be forged.
• Reliability of secondary sources needs examination.
• Oral data can lose authenticity due to how it changes through time. -Oral data should be cross-checked with sources like documents for validity. -Historians find evidence of the past, ask questions about it, and come up with conclusions about the people, events, and time periods.

Historiography

• Historiography involves the writing of history and the process of how knowledge of the past has been found and passed on.

Greece Historiographical Traditions

• The way of studying and telling about the past started with historians of ancient Greece.
• Specifically, Herodotus and Thucydides, around 455-400 B.C.E.

Chinese Historiographical Traditions

• Another important way of writing and thinking about the past comes from China.
• Sima Qian (145-86 B.C.E), of the Han dynasty, was a notable person in historical thought and writing.

Ethiopian Historical Tradition

• The earliest mention of the history of Ethiopia and the Horn is in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea, written in the first century A.D. -This book was written by an unknown author.
• Another source is the Christian Topography, from Cosmas Indicopleustes, a 6th-century A.D Greek sailor. -This document describes trade from Aksum and the military campaigns of the Aksumite king.

Ethiopian Historiography

• The earliest Ethiopian material dates back to the seventh century found in the Abba Gerima monastery in Yeha.
• A manuscript was found in the Haiq Istifanos monastery of present day Wollo in the thirteenth century A.D.
• These religious manuscripts offer historians a religious, medieval list of kings and insights into the country's past.
• Medieval Ethiopian history's primary sources are hagiographies from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. -Ge'ez is important as hagiographies enhance the prestige of saints.

Hagiographies and Kitabs

• Among Muslim communities, a parallel hagiographical custom existed. -A related account gives great knowledge into the life of a Muslim saint in the 19th century. -Additionally, it features Shaykh Ja'far Bukko from Gattira in Wollo.
• Some of discussed issues include the region's Muslim community and the outside and development of indigenous Islam.

Chronicles

• Ethiopia had an indigenous history-writing tradition called chronicles documented in Ge'ez, starting in the 14th century and continuing into the 20th Century in Amharic.
• Kings used court scribes to write the chronicles, who were clergymen with clerical and calligraphic skills.
• The earlier chronicles cover the Glorious Victories and include legends, facts, genealogy, military exploits, and piety. -They are known for strong chronology but can require labor to convert time to the current absolute one and can be averse to quantification having time and bias restrictions.

Arabic Documents

• Al-Masudi and Ibn Battuta documented the language, culture, and trade on the east African coast in the 10th-14th centuries respectively.
• 16-17th centuries produced two documents by Yemeni writers who noted the events they covered.
• Included is the Futuh al Habesha, written by Shihab al-Din that wrote about the conflict during the 16th Century between the Christian Kingdom and the Muslim principalities. -1647- Al-Haymi, a Yemeni, left a document when he led delegation to the court of Fasiledas.

Travel Accounts

• European missionaries and travelers contributed greatly.
• From the 16th century until the 19th century, Catholic and Protestant missionaries traveled to the country with intent. -Even though they stayed for considerable time, they maintained contact with Europe.
• Their notes included major events and foreign relations.
• The Prester John of the Indies, for example, covers these sources. -Francisco Alvarez, a Portuguese priest, accompanied the Portuguese to Lebne-Dengel in 1520.
• Travel notes also contributed importantly to Ethiopian historiography.
• One such piece is James Bruce's Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile. -Yet, these materials can only be used with caution, and reservations, since they are politically and socially charged.

Geographical context.

• “Ethiopia and the Horn” is used to describe the Northeast African countries of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Somalia. -The area mostly consists of uplifted mountains created by the Great Rift valley.
• Highland complexes of plateaus and mountains, lowlands, deserts, and forests define the features.
• Variations in soil and climate also lead to varying vegetation, soil, and settlement patterns.
• There are varied languages, religions, living arrangements, and diversity of economy in the region.
• The Ethiopia and Horn region has been shaped by commerce, war, migration, slavery and colonialism. -Geographical factors, climate, land, resources, and drainage impact movement.
• Another important factor is the system of drainage with the Nile, Awash and Rift Valley systems contributing.
• The nation has three distinct zone environments.