Missions

Christianity was adopted in Ethiopia as early as the 1^st century. It has been said that Ethiopia was one of the first nations in the whole world to accept Christianity. We can find this introduction of Christianity in Ethiopia through the New testament book of Acts. Act 8:26-40 discusses how a man named Philip helping a man understand a passage of Scripture. ³⁶ As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” ^{[37] [c] 38} And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. ³⁹ When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. ⁴⁰ Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.

The Syriac Nine Saints and Sadqan were two missionary groups that spread the religion of Christianity. The Syriac missionaries helped in expanding the church. And also served as a center where people could come and learn about the Christian faith. The bible was then began being translating into different languages. It is said that the translation of the bible into various languages played a vital part in the spread of Christianity.

Also the story of Queen of Sheba and Solomon was one of the first accounts of the spread of Christianity. When the Queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to see Solomon. He taught her about the one true God and answered any biblical questions she had. He may have been her lover but also her teacher. When she went back to Ethiopia and told the good news of the one real, true God. 

First Contacts

Building off of Ethiopian theories the Ethiopian Queen of Sheba visited Solomon in Jerusalem. 1 Kings 10 discusses in great details Queen of Sheba’s visit. “Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table, the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at the temple of the Lord, she was overwhelmed.” (1 Kings 10:2-4) As we know from the story, the Queen returned back to her country and with new found knowledge of the one true God. This is the earliest reported contact with the outside world for Ethiopia and with this contact came immersion of a new religions. Also this interaction formed the foundation of the Solomonic Dynasty which fell around 1974.

            Italy and Ethiopia had an interesting bond because they shared interest involved each other’s cultures back in the Middle ages. Ethiopians were very interesting in experiences other countries religious practices especially Christians one. Italy’s ties with Ethiopia also opened educational doors as well. The field of cartography and sea exploration increased greatly. The Ethiopians did have interactions with Greece and Asia but they had more of a trade relationship than anything else.

            In the early 1400’s a European man by the name of Pietro Rombulo visited Ethiopia for the first time. However, this is not the first interaction between the two countries. According to our text by Reader he says “Ethiopians regularly visited Egypt and Cyprus, and made pilgrimages to the holy places of Palestine, where they met European travelers and established links between Ethiopia and the rest of the Christian world” (Readers, 351).  Also in the early 1400, King Henry IV sent a letter to Ethiopia’s King named Prester John. Henry wanted an alliance with Ethiopia involving a crusade against Islam. 

References:

Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. New York: First Vitage Books, 1999.

New International Bible

Natural Resources & Trade

 

A natural resource is a “material or substance such as minerals, forests, water, and fertile land that occurs in nature and can be used for economic gain.” The county of Ethiopia has quite a few natural resources. Most of their resources come from agriculture. They have a wide range of soils, climates and elevations that allow for a variety of different crops to be grown. They also have a large variety of minerals such as iron, copper, petroleum, salt, potash, gold and platinum.  

Ethiopia is the 110th largest export economy in the world. Ethiopia's top exports include refined petroleum which is used to make a variety of products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene and heating oils. Another export is coffee. Coffee is a  $842 million industry for the county. The county also exports oily seeds which is used to make different types of cooking oils such as sun flower old, canola oil and sesame oil. The county also receives a few imports from other countries such as delivery trucks, telephones, iron structures and palm oil. In 2014 research shows that Ethiopians exported about 5.56 billion dollars in resources to other countries such as Kuwait, Somalia and Saudi. But imported 16.3 billion dollars in resources leaving the county at a negative trade balance of 10.8 billion dollars. 

                      

As I mentioned earlier Ethiopia is known for their coffee exports. Ethiopia is the 7th largest producer of coffee in the world. They produce over 28 thousand tons of coffee each year. The Ethiopians drink about half and then export the rest around the world. Coffee counts for about 10% of the annual government revenue for the county.

        

Religion and Origins

The people of Ethiopia practice Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Paganism. Ethiopia is however a predominately Christian county and majority of those Christians are Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. Christianity began in the county when two Syrian Christians decided to travel to Aksum and started to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Ezana, King of Aksum, declared Christianity as the kingdoms main religion in 341 AD. A good amount of Ethiopians believe that the Ark of the Covenant is still existent and can be found in Aksum. The Ark of the Covenant is very sacred in their country. A replica has been made and is known as the tabot. And is placed in every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia 

Fasting is very important to the Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. While they’re fasting they cannot eat meat or dairy products. According to the church “the faithful must abstain from eating meat and dairy products to attain forgiveness of sins committed during the year and undergo a rigorous schedule of prayer and atonement.” The followers are only allowed one meal a day and that meal must be eaten after 3pm. They have over 7 different times throughout the year that they practice fasting.

The Ethiopian people also have a lot of myths/theories that they believe in as well. A very long time ago, Ethiopia was under the rule of a serpent. A man from another land came to Ethiopia and decided to live with the people. He observed the horrific acts the serpent did to the people and decided to take it upon himself to get rid of the serpent. He decided he was going to trick the serpent and kill it. He killed a goat, then cut into its stomach and filled the body with poisonous herbs. He then offered the serpent the goat and the serpent ate it right up and soon after died. The people then made that random man their kind since he rescued the people from the serpent’s reign. He married and had a daughter named Makeda. On his death bed his daughter became the queen of Sheba.  Queen of Sheba is a very valued and looked at figure in Ethiopia. 

"Ethiopian Treasures." Ethiopian Religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism & Paganism. Accessed February 03, 2017. http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/religion.htm.