Ethiopia

Ethiopia "The Trials of Isolation"

In 1520, Portugal was expanding its interests in the Indian Ocean and the lands therein. Father Francisco Alvarez, a mission member of a Portuguese group who arrived in the area in the spring, was the first to write about the remote highland kingdom of Ethiopia. It was a world that had grown and lived in mystery to the rest of the world and its true history had not been forgottenÐ'...but lost.

Maybe it was the mountainous inaccessibility of the Abyssinian highlands that made for isolation, but most believe it was the rise of Islam that separated this great kingdom and culture from their connections in the Mediterranean and compelling them to move southward and to become self independent. In the seventh century, with the wide expansion of Islam, Egypt was falling. Persian empires were self-destructing as well, and Red Sea bases were being occupied by the Arabians. All of these factors created a domino effect cutting off and isolating Axum, which in turn cut off the view of Ethiopia from the West.

Axumites slowly began to migrate to the mountains to reestablish their kingdom but not without some contention directed from the pagan Agau people. Too strong at first, the Axumites had success in subduing and converting the Agau, but in the latter parts of the tenth century there was confusion, revolution and invasions by the Agau. The pillaging and ravaging was so great that it virtually completely annihilated the Christianity of the Axumites. Soon the monarchy would prevail through fusion not conquest. The Ague beliefs meshed with the Christianity of the Axumites and the Abyssinian aristocracy was formed. Later the fusion of the two people and their beliefs favored the Agau and they gained control of the monarchy and ruled the state for around 150 years and presided over religion and culture that would prove to be of great importance in the history of the Ethiopian people.

During the reign of King Lalibela beautiful monolithic churches were constructed directly from their mountain of volcanic stone. Shaped into chapels, arcades, and naves these architectural monuments served as sanctuaries for the Ethiopians and represented the emergence of a very unique type of Christianity. They saw themselves as God's chosen children, the lost twelve tribes, and represented the purity of Christendom in the "Second Isreal" depicted mainly from the Old Testament.

There was then a brief Zagwe period with little historical information, which soon followed the era of the restored Solomonid kings until the mid 1970's. Yekuno Amlak was the first of these kings recorded and began to move against Muslin neighbors, but these conquests were not fully achieved until the reign of Amda Seyon from year 1314 to 1344. Later, under the power of Zara Yakob, Ethiopia established relations with Rome to shake off external influences. Records indicate that this king was, however, cruel in his punishments and directions. Many were falsely accused of crimes and there was a great terror of his rule in all of the land.

Efforts to gain relations with Rome coincided with Europe's desire to know more of Africa and the Ethiopia region. This is what brought Portuguese missionaries and explorers to the country. The Christian kingdom was trying to destroy all Islamic beliefs and seeing how Ethiopia was an attractive land in a hostile area; the Portuguese were in search of allies. Although their labors produced little fruit, the need for help soon followed. Ethiopia was beginning to stretch its arms. The extent of the kingdom reached from Massawa and Ifat in the south. The Muslim population began to strengthen in East Africa and under the guidance of a talented general, Ahmd "Gran" ibn Ghazi, the Ethiopians faced