Ethiopian Empire

Ethiopian Empire መንግሥተ ኢትዮጵያ (Ge'ez) Mängəśtä ʾItyop̣p̣ya
1270–1974 1936–1941: Government-in-exile
Flag (c. 1870s–1974) Coat of arms
Motto: ኢትዮጵያ ታበፅዕ እደዊሃ ኀበ እግዚአብሔር Ityopia tabetsih edewiha ḫabe Igziabiher (English: "Ethiopia Stretches Her Hands unto God") (Psalm 68:31)
Anthem:  "ኢትዮጵያ ሆይ ደስ ይበልሽ" (English: "Ethiopia, Be happy")
The Ethiopian Empire boundaries in 1952
The location of the Ethiopian Empire during the reign of Yohannes IV (dark orange) compared with modern day Ethiopia (orange)
Capital	Mobile[note 1] (1270–1635) Gondar (1635–1855) Magdala (1855–1868) Mekelle (1871–1889) Addis Ababa (1889–1974)
Common languages	Amharic (dynastic, official, court)[3][4] Ge’ez (liturgical language, literature) many others
Religion	State religions: Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Church)
Demonym(s)	Endonym: Ethiopian Exonym: Abyssinian
Government	Absolute monarchy (1270–1931)[5] Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1931–1974)
Emperor
• 1270–1285 (first)	Yekuno Amlak[6]
• 1930–1974 (last)	Haile Selassie
Prime Minister
• 1909–1927 (first)	Habte Giyorgis
• 1974 (last)	Mikael Imru
Legislature	None (rule by decree) (until 1931) Parliament (1931–1974)[7]
• Upper house	Senate (1931–1974)
• Lower house	Chamber of Deputies (1931–1974)
Historical era	Middle Ages to Cold War
• Ascension of Yekuno Amlak	1270
• Conquests of Amda Seyon I	1314–1344
• Ethiopian–Adal War	1529–1543
• Gondarine period	1632–1769
• Zemene Mesafint	1769–1855
• Menelik's Expansions	1878–1904
• First Italo-Ethiopian War	1895–1896
• Constitution adopted	16 July 1931
• Second Italo-Ethiopian War (annexed into Italian East Africa)	3 October 1935
• Sovereignty restored	5 May 1941
• Coup d'état by the Derg	12 September 1974
• Monarchy abolished	21 March 1975[8][9][10][11]
Area
1344	1,500,000 km^2 (580,000 sq mi)
1954	1,221,900 km^2 (471,800 sq mi)
Currency	Aksumite currency Gold tax[12] Salt blocks (Amoleh) Dinar[13] Maria Theresa thaler (c. 18th–19th century) Ethiopian birr, thaler, or dollar (from 1894)
Preceded by Succeeded by Zagwe dynasty Derg

The Ethiopian Empire, or simply Ethiopia, also known as Abyssinia by foreigners, was an empire in East Africa. It used to include modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea. When it was biggest, it controlled some parts of Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia. The official state religion of the empire was Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity.

Abyssinia was mentioned in Egyptian records in 980 BC. Its king made the country Christian in the 4th century. The Solomonid dynasty ruled from 1270 to 1974 A.D., when it was overthrown by communists. At the time of its overthrow, it was the longest-lasting government in the world and one of the only two nations that did not get colonized in Africa.

Abyssinia in 1896

In other languages

Ethiopian Empire:

• Ge'ez Script: የኢትዮጵያ ንጉሠ ነገሥት መንግሥተ, Mängəstä Ityop'p'ya

Ethiopia:

• Amharic: ኢትዮጵያ, ʾĪtyōṗṗyā pronunciation , Afar: Itiyoophiyaa, Ge'ez: ኢትዮጵያ, Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ

Notes

Map

1. The old tradition of the Ethiopian emperors was travelling around the country accompanied by their many courtiers and innumerable soldiers, living off the produce of peasants, and dwelling in temporary encampments. These royal encampments or moving capitals would serve as the headquarters of the empire.^[1] Despite this several Ethiopian rulers had attempted to establish fixed capitals such as Tegulet, Emfraz and Debre Birhan.^[2]

References

1. Pankhurst, Richard (1982). History Of Ethiopian Towns. Steiner. p. 41. ISBN 9783515032049.
2. Pankhurst, Richard (2009). "Barara, the Royal City of 15th and Early 16th Century (Ethiopia). Medieval and Other Early Settlements Between Wechecha Range and Mt Yerer". Annales d'Éthiopie. 24 (1): 209–249. doi:10.3406/ethio.2009.1394.
3. The Southern Marches of Imperial Ethiopia: Essays in History and Social Anthropology, Donham Donald Donham, Lecturer in Social Anthropology Wendy James, Dr, PhD, Former Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Christopher Clapham, Patrick Manning CUP Archive, Sep 4, 1986, p. 11, https://books.google.com/books?id=dvk8AAAAIAAJ&q=Lisane+amharic#v=snippet&q=Lisane%20amharic&f=false Archived 28 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine
4. Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, Paul B. Henze, November 18th 2008, p. 78, https://books.google.com/books?id=3VYBDgAAQBAJ&q=Lisane#v=snippet&q=Lisane&f=false Archived 28 December 2022 at the Wayback Machine
5. Nathaniel T. Kenney (1965). "Ethiopian Adventure". National Geographic. 127: 555.
6. Negash, Tekeste (2006). "The Zagwe Period and the Zenith of Urban Culture in Ethiopia, Ca. 930-1270 Ad". Africa: Rivista Trimestrale di Studi e Documentazione dell'istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente. 61 (1): 120–137. JSTOR 40761842.
7. Constitution of Ethiopia, 4 November 1955, Article 76 (source: Constitutions of Nations: Volume I, Africa by Amos Jenkins Peaslee)
8. "Ethiopia Ends 3,000 Year Monarchy". Milwaukee Sentinel. 22 March 1975. p. 3.
9. "Ethiopia ends old monarchy". The Day. 22 March 1975. p. 7.
10. Henc van Maarseveen; Ger van der Tang (1978). Written Constitutions: A Computerized Comparative Study. Brill. p. 47.
11. "Ethiopia". The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. 1987.
12. The Royal Chronicle of his reign is translated in part by Richard K. P. Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967).
13. The Royal Chronicle of his reign is translated in part by Richard K. P. Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Royal Chronicles (Addis Ababa: Oxford University Press, 1967).
14. Markessini, Joan (2012). Around the World of Orthodox Christianity - Five Hundred Million Strong: The Unifying Aesthetic Beauty. Dorrance Publishing. ISBN 9781434914866.
15. Morgan, Giles (2017). St George: The patron saint of England. Oldcastle Books. ISBN 978-1843449676.