Ethiopia, a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa, boasts a rich and complex history. Lying entirely within the tropical latitudes, its capital, Addis Ababa (“New Flower”), is located almost at the centre of the country. Ethiopia is the largest and most populated country in the Horn of Africa. With the 1993 secession of Eritrea, its former province along the Red Sea, Ethiopia became landlocked.
Ethiopia is one of the world’s oldest countries, its territorial extent having varied over the millennia of its existence. In ancient times it remained centred on Aksum, an imperial capital located in the northern part of the modern state, about 100 miles (160 km) from the Red Sea coast. The present territory was consolidated during the 19th and 20th centuries as European powers encroached into Ethiopia’s historical domain.
Ethiopia became prominent in modern world affairs first in 1896, when it defeated colonial Italy in the Battle of Adwa, and again in 1935-36, when it was invaded and occupied by fascist Italy. Liberation during World War II by the Allied powers set the stage for Ethiopia to play a more prominent role in world affairs. Ethiopia was among the first independent nations to sign the Charter of the United Nations, and it gave moral and material support to the decolonization of Africa and to the growth of Pan-African cooperation.
The core of present-day Ethiopia, and its historic predecessors, has always been the Ethiopian Highlands. The large protected area of fertile lands and major rivers became the seat of a power that would hold sway in its nearby region and beyond the continent.
Unlike other African empires of old, which in their pre-colonial histories enjoyed similar prominence in trade with Europe but were unable to expand their activities much beyond generating wealth through that trade, the Kingdom of Aksum in Ethiopia parlayed its economic success into political power.
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Map of Ethiopia
By the sixth century, the kingdom was sending its armies beyond Africa. Having adopted Christianity as its official religion, the empire embarked on an expedition against Jewish persecution of Christians in modern-day Yemen. But the rise of Islam in the seventh century led to the economic isolation of the Kingdom of Aksum as its neighbors embraced the new religion. While Aksum remained a center of Christianity, its power waned, and the land now known as Ethiopia has not since managed to reclaim the mantle of a true trade empire.
While modern Ethiopia's interests are much more tightly focused on its core than the far-flung reach its ancient predecessors commanded, its geography at the heart of the Horn of Africa has made it a crossroads for trade still makes it a key player in regional politics. Although its importance in international trade has diminished with technological advances in transport and a shift away from the resources it provides or conveys, exports are still a focus of its economy.
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, Axum, Ethiopia
In the bottom right corner of the painting is a figure, covering about one quarter of the canvas, wearing a blue and black headdress facing left with a profile view, watching others carry pots on their heads. These silhouettes are gesturing toward a glowing star in the top left corner, likely an allusion to W. E. B. Du Bois's 1911 pageant show The Star of Ethiopia.[11] Some figures are holding hands while looking towards a city in the top right corner. All are moving to an elevated position in the painting, the city in the top right corner is composed of two big buildings where there are two entertainers in front; one is playing the piano while the other seems to be preparing to sing because there are music notes around him.
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Behind these two big buildings is a big round yellow circular object protruding from the side, surrounded by two blue/turquoise concentric circles. The yellow object has a face, and someone on a bended knee acting on top of it. The bigger turquoise circle has a face coming out towards the inside. Further up is someone painting on top of the blue circle with the words art above enclosed within the blue circle. A palette and brush are painted within that blue circle, the star in the top left corner has rays of squiggly blue, green, and black streaks that radiate diagonally.
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