The history of Ethiopians in Egypt is a complex and fascinating narrative that spans millennia. From ancient interactions and conflicts to modern-day communities, the relationship between these two cultures has been dynamic and influential.
Map of the Egyptian-Ethiopian War
Ancient Interactions and Shared Civilizations
The Greeks looked to old Ethiopia and called the Upper Nile the common cradle of mankind. Toward the rich luxurience of this region they looked for the "Garden of Eden." From these people of the Upper Nile arose the oldest traditions and rites and from them sprang the first colonies and arts of antiquity. The Greeks also said that Egyptians derived their civilization and religion from Ethiopia.
The ancients said that they settled Egypt. Reclus says, "The people occupying the plateau of the Blue Nile, are conscious of a glorious past and proudly call themselves Ethiopians." He calls the whole triangular space between the Nile and the Red Sea, Ethiopia proper. This vast highland constituted a world apart. Heeren thought, that excepting the Egyptians, no aboriginal people of Africa so claim our attention as the Ethiopians. He asks, "To what shall we attribute the renown of this one of the most distant nations of the earth? How did the fame of her name permeate the terrible deserts that surrounded her?"
Diodorus Siculus, an ancient Greek historian, noted that the Ethiopians were the first men that ever lived, the only truly autochthonous race and the first to institute the worship of the gods and the rites of sacrifice. Egypt itself was a colony of Ethiopia and the laws and script of both lands were naturally the same; but the hieroglyphic script was more widely known to the vulgar in Ethiopia than in Egypt. This knowledge of writing was universal in Ethiopia but was confined to the priestly classes alone in Egypt. This was because the Egyptian priesthood was Ethiopian.
Read also: Egyptian Adventure
Ethiopian Origins of Predynastic Egypt (Kemet, Black Egyptians, Nubia)
Existing monuments confirm the high antiquity of Meroe. In the Persian period Ethiopia was an important and independent state, which Cambyses vainly attempted to subdue.
The Egyptian-Ethiopian War (1874-1876)
The Egyptian-Ethiopian War was a conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Khedivate of Egypt, an autonomous tributary state of the Ottoman Empire, from 1874 to 1876. The conflict resulted in a victory and a treaty that guaranteed continued independence of Ethiopia in the years immediately preceding the Scramble for Africa. Whilst nominally a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt had acted as a virtually independent state since Muhammad Ali's seizure of power in 1805, eventually establishing an empire to its south in Sudan. After annexing Darfur in 1875, he turned his attention to Ethiopia.
It was Isma'il's intention that Egypt forge a contiguous African empire that would both rival the empires of Europe, and allow Egypt to escape the territorial ambitions of those same European great powers. In addition to expanding into modern-day Chad, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, and Uganda, he wished to absorb within his empire the entirety of the Nile Valley, including Ethiopia, the source of the Blue Nile.
The rapid modernization of Egypt under Muhammad Ali, and Isma'il's own enormous modernizing projects, convinced the Khedive that war with Ethiopia would result in certain Egyptian victory. Meanwhile, King Yohannes IV became the King of kings of Ethiopia in 1872 after defeating Tekle Giyorgis II in battle. The Egyptians under Arakil Bey and Danish Colonel Adolph Arendrup invaded from their coastal possessions in Massawa, in what is now Eritrea.
Battles and Key Figures
Following some skirmishes, the armies of Yohannes and Isma'il met at Gundet on the morning of 16 November 1875. Not only were the Egyptians vastly outnumbered, they were also taken completely by surprise as they were marching through a narrow mountain pass. The mass of Ethiopian warriors sallied forth from their hiding places up the slope and swiftly charged down upon the shocked Egyptian columns, nullifying the latter's advantage in firepower and causing many of the unenthusiastic fellahin soldiers to rout. Arendrup's expedition was hopelessly inadequate for the tasks he set out to do. It amounted to scarcely more than some 4,000 troops and had no cavalry.
Read also: Learn Arabic in Egypt: Guide
The Egyptians withdrew to Massawa on the coast and then to Keren, garrisoned since 1872 by some 1,200 Egyptians. But Isma'il Pasha could not leave the matter there, it was absolutely essential to regain the lost prestige.
The battlefield of Gura
Following the unsuccessful invasion, the khedivate army again attempted another invasion, this time with an army of about 13,000 men. The forces of Isma'il Pasha, now under Ratib Pasha, arrived at Massawa on 14 December 1875. By March, they had reached the plain of Gura and set up two forts, one in the Plains of Gura and the other at the Khaya Khor mountain pass a few kilometers away.
Yohannes had once again mobilized, this time presenting the issue as a struggle between Christianity and Islam, thousands of men answered with soldiers coming as far as Gojjam, although Menelik’s soldiers in Shewa remained as observers. The Ethiopians, now with a force of some 50,000 (of whom only about 15,000 could fight at one time due to battlefield layout), engaged them on the 7 March 1875, and Ratib Pasha ordered just over 5,000 out of 7,500 men stationed at Fort Gura to leave the fort and engage the Ethiopians.
This force was quickly surrounded by the Ethiopian advance guard, probably commanded by Ras Alula, and quickly broke. The Ethiopians then fell back, and, on 10 March, mounted a secondary attack on Fort Gura, which was repelled.
Read also: Clothing in Ancient Egypt
European Officers and American Involvement
Several European officers served on both sides of the conflict at various capacities; these include a British adventurer John Kirkham on the Ethiopian side, and the Dane Adolph Arendrup as well as Swiss explorer Werner Munzinger on the Egyptian side. Munzinger, former governor of the Keren and Massawa regions, led one of the Egyptian attacks against Ethiopia, marching inland from Tadjoura, but his troops were overwhelmed by the army of Muhammad ibn Hanfadhe, Sultan of Aussa, and he was killed in battle. Meanwhile, Arendrup, who was Isma'il's aide-de-camp was given the task of leading an expedition against the Abyssinians. In mid-November during clashes at Gundet, Arendrup, several other officers and about 1,000 privates died during a 12-hour battle.
Several ex-Confederate officers and Union officers who had both previously fought in the American Civil War participated in the conflict. The Egyptian Khedive was introduced to the idea of hiring American officers to reorganize his army when he met Thaddeus P. Mott, an ex-Union artillery officer and adventurer, in the sultan’s court in Constantinople in 1868. In 1870, the first of these military overseers, ex-Confederate officers Henry Hopkins Sibley and William Wing Loring, arrived in Egypt. Loring was appointed by the Khedive as Inspector-General of the Egyptian army, and in 1875 was promoted to chief of staff to the commander-in-chief of the Egyptian military expedition in Ethiopia. Loring would take part in the Battle of Gura which ended in defeat.
Aftermath and Impact
The Egyptian defeat in the war had serious ramifications for Egypt. At the same time, many Egyptian soldiers who had served in the war became politicized by their experiences, posing a threat to the Egyptian monarchy itself. Among these disgruntled army officers was Colonel Ahmed Orabi, who is said to have been "incensed at the way in which [the war] had been mismanaged". Resentment over the defeat contributed to the general dissatisfaction with Tewfik Pasha, whom the Great Powers selected as Isma'il's successor, provoking the Orabi Revolt against the monarchy.
The result of the war had a defining impact on the trajectories of both African states. Prior to the conflict, Egypt had been in regional and, relative, international ascendancy, with aspirations of achieving geopolitical parity with the Great Powers of Europe. Conversely, Ethiopia maintained its independence, and, hardened by war, was well prepared for its own defense during the imminent Scramble for Africa.
The collapse of Egypt's African empire was seized upon by European empires, of whom Italy replaced Egypt in Eritrea, setting the stage for an eventual confrontation between Italy and Ethiopia in the First Italo-Ethiopian War 1895.
Ancient Aethiopia: Perceptions and Definitions
Ancient Aethiopia, (Greek: Αἰθιοπία, romanized: Aithiopía) first appears as a geographical term in classical documents in reference to the skin color of the inhabitants of the upper Nile in northern Sudan along with areas south of the Sahara and certain parts of Asia. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad, and three times in the Odyssey. The Greek historian Herodotus uses the appellation to refer to regions south of Egypt when describing "Aethiopians," most commonly Nubia.
With the expansion of geographical knowledge, the exonym successively extended to certain other areas below the Sahara. Homer (c. 8th century BC) is the first to mention "Aethiopians" (Αἰθίοπες, Αἰθιοπῆες), writing that they are to be found at the east and west extremities of the world, divided by the sea into "eastern" (at the sunrise) and "western" (at the sunset).
In his Histories (c. 440 BC), Herodotus presents some of the most ancient and detailed information about "Aethiopia". He relates that he personally traveled up the Nile to the border of Egypt as far as Elephantine (modern Aswan). In his view, "Aethiopia" is all of the inhabited land found to the south of Egypt, beginning at Elephantine. He describes a capital at Meroë, adding that the only deities worshipped there were Zeus (Amun) and Dionysus (Osiris).
Ethiopians in Modern Egypt
Today, Ethiopians in Egypt form a diaspora community with diverse backgrounds and experiences. Some are descendants of historical migrations, while others have arrived more recently for education, work, or refuge.
Amhara People in Egypt
From early encounters with the Hebrew people, many Habeshans adopted the early form of proto-Judasim. Though the high and ruling class continued to practice the Egyptian pagan religion until Queen Makda of Sheba was converted by King Solomon to Judaism. Christianity came to the Amhara through Coptic missionaries. After sheltering Mohammed's followers from their enemies in Mecca, Amharas and other Habeshans were the first African converts to Islam. Because of the Islamic expansion, Aksum was cut from other Christian kingdoms which created their own unique form of Coptic Christianity by incorporating Judaistic rituals and laws and putting a large focus on monasticism.
The Ethiopian Amharas need a firm dedication to Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Scripture Prayers for the Amhara, Ethiopian in Egypt.
Amhara life has been mostly the same for thousands of years. Some live as farmers who reside in the Ethiopian Highlands while tending cattle and sheep. The father of the household usually does most of the farming while the wife works in the house making food and caring for the children. The eldest son sometimes helps his dad with the farming or is put in charge of the sheep if he is an only son. Though mostly given up now, other Amharas would adopt nomadic life and work as merchants.
Nubians
Strabo mentions the Nubians as a great race west of the Nile. They came originally from Kordofan, whence they emigrated two thousand years ago. They have rejected the name Nubas as it has become synonymous with slave. They call themselves Barabra, their ancient race name. Sanskrit historians call the Old Race of the Upper Nile Barabra. These Nubians have become slightly modified but are still plainly Negroid.
| Aspect | Egyptians | Nubians |
|---|---|---|
| Warlike Qualities | No warlike qualities | Cushites were the backbone of the armies in the earliest ages. |
| Modern Day | Content to live in a mud hut beside his beloved Nile. | The prouder Nubian, who saves his earnings to buy a home and piece of ground in his native Ethiopia. |
| Marriage Customs | Nubians even in Egypt will not marry an Egyptian woman and that he refuses his daughter in marriage to the Egyptian and Arab. |
