Jan. 2, 2013
For over two millenniums, the word 'Habesha' and its numerous variants (Habashat, Habasa, Habesh, Habeshi, Abesha) have been used to name geographical pockets of territory and people extending from the Arabian Peninsula to the furthest limits of the Horn of Africa region. Although the word is of great antiquity, there is no consensus on what it actually means. In order to understand why this is the case, we must first look back at its origins.
Most of the earliest inscriptions mentioning Habesha deal with wars, alliances and peace treaties among rivaling Yemeni kingdoms - this reference below is no different:
"Shamir of Dhu-Raydan and Himyar had called in the help of the clans of Habashat for war against the kings of Saba; but Ilmuqah granted ... the submission of Shamir of Dhu-Raydan and the clans of Habashat."[1]
This inscription tells us that Shamir of Dhu-Raydan, who is almost certainly the Himyarite king Shamir Yuhahmid, requested assistance from the Habashat clans to go to war with Saba, a rivaling Yemeni kingdom. The inscription also credits Ilmuqah, who was the Sun God that most inhabitants on both sides of the Red Sea worshiped, for granting them victory over their Sabaean rivals.
According to Dr. Eduard Glaser, a renowned Austrian epigraphist and historian, Habeshas were originally from southeastern Yemen who lived east of the Hadhramaut kingdom in the modern district of Mahra.[2] He believed the etymology of Habesha must have derived from the Mahri language which means "gatherers" [2] (as in gatherers of incense). He asserted that the Mahrites and their language should be regarded as the descendants of the people and speech of ancient Habeshas.[2]
Side note: Here's a brief video showcasing Mahri, an ancient Semitic language Dr. Glaser believed to be the original language of the Habashats.
While it may be a stretch to claim who the direct descendants are based on scant Sabaean-Himyaritic inscriptions made two thousand years ago, Dr. Glaser seems to be right in claiming the original Habeshas were from Yemen. In fact, the earliest mention of the word Habesha in the Horn of Africa was only in the 4th century CE by the Aksumite king Ezana. After conquering neighboring kingdoms and territories on both sides of the Red Sea, Ezana styled himself as:
"Ezana, king of Aksum, and of Himyar, and Kasu, and Saba, and Habashat, and Raydan, and Salhen and Tsiamo, and Beja, the King of Kings"[3]
In reference to Ezana's inscription, Professor Max Müller, a German philologist, believed the King of the Habashat had no common territory with the King of Aksum and the two kingdoms were separate appeared evident to him.[4] He points out that since both the kingdoms named before and after Habashat are found in Arabia it was clear to him that the Habashats were in Arabia as well.[5]
Based on the inscriptions the Aksumites left behind, they certainly did not regard themselves or their territory as Habesha. For them, Habeshas likely meant people who collected incense in South Arabia. Even Cosmas Indicopleustes, the famous Greak-speaking Egyptian traveler who visited the Aksumite kingdom in 525 CE, made no reference to Habesha.[6] So it raises a question: when was Habesha used in reference to the Horn?
It was not until long after Aksumite kingdom had ended that Arab travelers and geographers began to describe the Horn region and its inhabitants as Habeshas. The first among these travelers was Al-Ya'qubi, who visited the region in 872 CE. From his chronicles, we learn there were five independent and rivaling Beja kingdoms in present-day Eritrea and that 'Habeshas' were living alongside them. He also mentions an important Habesha capital near the Eritrean coast called Ku'bar (the site is still undiscovered but it's believed to be in Eritrea).[7]
Al-Ya`qubi describes the Eritrean highlands and seacoast as:
"a vast and powerful country. Its royal town is Ku`bar. The Arabs go their to trade. They have big towns and their sea coast is called Dahlak. All the kings of the Habasha country are subject to the Great King (al-malik al-a`zam) and are careful to obey him and pay tribute."[8]Decades later, Al-Mas`udi, a tenth-century Arab traveler to the region, gives a similar account in his geographical work Muruj al-Dhahab, the `Meadows of Gold'.
"The chief town of the Habasha is called Ku`bar, which is a large town and the residence of the najashi (nagassi; king), whose empire extends to the coasts opposite the Yemen, and possesses such towns as Zayla, Dahlak and Nasi." [8]
Centuries later, another Arab traveler, Al-Harrani, writes in 1295 CE that:
"one of the greatest and best-known towns is Ka`bar, which is the royal town of the najashi . . . Zayla`, a town on the coast of the Red Sea, is a very populous commercial centre. . . . Opposite al-Yaman there is also a big town, which is the sea-port from which the Habasha crossed the sea to al-Yaman, and nearby is the island of `Aql."[8]It should be noted that Habesha was frequently used as mere geographical expressions by early Arab and European travelers in much the same way as the entire eastern African littoral, including much of the Horn, was once encompassed within the term ‘Azania’. As geographical expressions, they were once convenient and representative of deep-seated ignorance of the region as a whole, although they may also have been informed by local indigenous ‘knowledge’.
Arab travelers' accounts show Habesha was embraced by some of the local inhabitants of the region by the mid-9th century CE. In order to make sense of this, early European historians hypothesized the highland regions of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia must have mixed with large groups of people from ancient Yemen. Despite lacking tangible evidence, this narrative has persisted among many historians and the general population. However, new discoveries by archaeologist indicate the people of the Horn adopted material culture and deities from South Arabia not as result of mixing, but because they were "within the religious and economic orbit of greater Saba and local people took up various aspects of the material culture to signify their membership in this broader community." [9]
Side note: Dating back to 800 BCE, the Ona sites (located near Asmara's Sembel district) were the first settled civilization in the Horn of Africa. According to archaeologist Peter R. Schmidt it was this civilization and not sites in Arabia that were the vital precursors to urban developments in Southern highlands of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia later in the first millennium BCE.
In addition to being influenced by their Red Sea neighbors, their decline may have been the cause for the adoption of the word Habesha. By the end of the 8th century CE, most of the prominent Yemeni kingdoms ended and areas they once controlled were under foreign occupation. Yemen's turbulence, coupled with its ecological volatility likely shifted the international trade of incense from South Arabia to the Horn region. With Habasha originally used to describe people who gathered incense, this term was also given to the region by early Arab merchants and travelers as a geographic expression that some of the inhabitants of the Horn adopted over time.
Similarly, European travelers and missionaries had a similar experience with the term Abyssinia. When Portuguese missionaries arrived in the interior of what is present-day Ethiopia in the early 16th century CE, they took the altered word Abesha (without the letter "H" beginning) which is used by Amharic speakers and subsequently Latinized it to 'Abassia', 'Abassinos', 'Abessina' and finally into 'Abyssina'.[10] This Abyssinia term was widely used as a geographic expression for centuries, even though it was a term not used by the local inhabitants.
In modern times, Habesha has become a complex phrase that has specific social, geographical and sometimes political connotations. Its lack of a consensus definition leaves it quite vulnerable to constant modifications and interpretations. More concerning of late is the politicization of the word by Ethiopianist who have been repackaging the term to mean anyone from Ethiopia and Eritrea despite the fact that majority people in both countries do not regard themselves with the term.
So what does Habesha mean?
Habesha is not an ethnicity; it's not a country; nor is there a common language or religion they collectively follow. Many Eritrean youths even argue its an obsolete term that undermines their national identity. Because of these differences, it's incredibly difficult to give a definition that satisfies all groups equally. Perhaps the best way to define it is by not trying at all. Habesha in many ways is a state of mind - hard to describe, but you know it when you see it.
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| Young |
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| A map showcasing the kingdoms and regions mentioned in this article |
Notes:
[1]Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity by Stuart Munro-Hay, 1991, p.73
[2] The Academy, Volume 48, p. 415
[3]Ethiopia: a cultural history by Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, 1955, p.49
[4]Ethiopia: a cultural history by Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, 1955, p. 37
[5]Scottish geographical magazine, Volume 12, p. 143
[6]Ethiopia: a cultural history by Estelle Sylvia Pankhurst, 1955, p. 22
[7]Historical Dictionary of Eritrea by Dan Connell, Tom Killion, p. 58
[8]Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity by Stuart Munro-Hay, 1991
[9]Historical Archaeology in Africa, by Peter Ridgway Schmidt, 2006, p. 260
[10]The African repository, Volume 27, p. 1
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This is for serious philosophers and historians . This is for habeshat , this is for our glory. long live habesha.
ReplyDeletethe person who wrote this is not habesha. that is why habesha exist. the photo of the mother, is not wearing eritrean traditional dress, but an axumite habesha dress, there is no eritrea, eritrea can only exist if habesha dont exist.
how dare you. tell me i have no house. fk your eritrea and ethiopia. i am habesha. i am everything you think you are. habesha is not black , its not arab. its not oromo, gambela, somali, or sahao or kunama. habesha is axumite, habesha gave you arabs. they are my army, my slaves, i was never conqured by them , i conquer them a thousand times. i raped and pillaged there land. why ? because they were always my bastards, its a historical sientific fact. Habasha is a sematic clan that grew bigger than you can even imagine.
1. the philosophy of islam was there ,way before islam. it started in axum by habesha tigrayan priests. who had a civil war becasue of the treaty of calcidon. in florence. fact.
2. Classical koranic Arabic. is 100 % geez tigringa. even sientist attest to it.
3. fact . habeshat supplied 90% of the islam woriors and converts. its a fact.
4. fact. i am not the slave bilall . i was the general the brain behind the operation.
5. what the crusade was to erope, islam was for habashat of the axumite empire. they were cut of not becasue of islam but because of ghangas khan who changed the silk road .
6. the profit kept running back to me everytime he lost a war.
7, persia feard and respected me. but not the nomad arabs as they saw them.
who the fk is going to tell me my history , me the true habasha , or the one trying to keep fake eritrea, or fake ethiopia, or the white man who fears my glory, or the arab who fears for the truth, or the black man who wishes and thinks he is me.
how could habesha not exist if people want to be habesha. you think eritrea, ethiiopia, or sudan, gave you ambasel, yared, 226 kings, conqured every empire in there reach. doro, shiro wot, hemabasha, enjera, eskista, begena, fidel, tela, axum, lalibela, tigringa amhaaric, guragenga, kebre negasat, queen of sheeba, ezana, and dawit the first.
for ever habesha for ever transmiting what my grandparents told me to do. long live habesha long live our true non kafire and non munafike live happy and enjoy this existance if you happen to be born habesha , its a good one, glories.
how could habesha not exist. if eritrean muslim liberation front was killing them during the 50s and 60s before it became tplf. its a hisorical fact.
ReplyDeletehow could habesha not be a race, if mengestu was running them down all the way to asmera.
how could habesha not exist when it was hand picked to die in starvation in wolo and tigray and eritrea and refugee camps of sudan up to 6 million .
how could habesha race not exist if that is exactly was the arabs and whites are trying to dismantle.
how could habesha not exitst when it was bombed to extinction by the italyans.
how could habesha not exsit if ahmad grangne came to fight them
how could habesha not exit if am in the koran .
how could habesha not exist when nothing like me ever exist that is not me in the soil of africa, name me on race that has more legitamcy than habesha.
i feel so sorry for the true habesha traped behind fake eritrea and ethiopia with out there king and history. this article you wrote is an attack on my race.fk you. die in hell .
Remember history will only write the glory of those who got it right. you wont convince this stupid eritreans and ethiopians for ever. habesha for ever. 40 million strong.
I think this is the best explanation on Habesha ever written. Thank you for the treasure trove of information!
ReplyDeleteeverything was quite accurate until your rapid and totally unwarranted attempt to reverse the claim that the habeshat tribe came to the african coast of the red sea instead you say it was simply the word which was adopted. There are other inscriptions dating back to the time of d'mt which clearly show that the hbst or habeshat were a clan/tribe and not just a heard of incense traders. Not only this, the mukkaribs of d'mt claimed descent from habeshat and even other tribes of south arabia. Ge'ez itself is a south semitic language whose ultimate origin was in south arabia (look up agazian speakers and their history if you would like I can send you some books on it, one which is good is the tihama culture complex.. and there is another the encyclopedia aethiopica.. ). So I dont understand how you can come to the conclusion that the cultural origin of semitic speakers in the horn (ie Biher tigrignyas, amharas, etc) are not a combination of this clan and native agews. Obviously there was a culture complex here before (ie the ona culture) however that isn't to say there was no migration that occured which there is clear evidence for (genetic, linguistic, and politicio/archeological).
ReplyDeleteSo I totally disagree with you when you say 'oh habesha is just a state of mind', no it is an ethnic label for us, and a strong reminder of our origins. This is not divisive at all, rashaida for example are just as eritrean as any other and this doesn't cause any division so why should that realization cause it?
Truthseeker, would you happen to be Ethiopian? Your insecurities sure seem to suggest that. :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be Frank with you (or Joe), to refer Habeshas as an ethnic group is simply absurd. I don't even believe you believe what you wrote.
And contrary to what you said, there is no inscriptions of Habashats found anywhere from the time of Daamat. There's hardly any inscriptions that refer to Daamat to begin with.
As to your claim that these incense gatherers from Yemen aka Habashats crossed the Red Sea and mixed with the local inhabitants is simply false. A) the archaeology does not back this up; B) Aside from interpretations by colonial-era historians, there is no proof to continue believing in this fairytale; and C) everyone knows Habeshas can't swim :-) Splash!
But in all seriousness, Professor Peter R. Schmidt, who is arguably one of the leading archaeologist of this region, along with other archaeologists, have dismissed this claim as nothing more than an outdated 'myth'.
Eritrean gladiator, I simply fail to understand your aversion to truth. Firstly I am eritrean, you talking about my ethnicity and insulting me really just shows your maturity in this matter. Anyways back to the topic at hand, my suggestion to you is to read the Encyclopaedia Aethiopica and books on south arabian civilizations (look up tihama cultural complex). If I can't convince you then maybe the research will. None the less you are right, I was wrong about Hbst being referred to that early.. the earliest known inscription (at least from what was known back in 2009) was made in the 2nd century but none the less HBST was a clear reference to a clan/ethnic entity in the region infact one such subclan named was called GMD (Encyclopaedia Aethiopica 154-155).
ReplyDeleteIrregardless of this the real clan I meant to speak of which had been attested to in D'mt inscriptions was the Y'GD clan/tribe (ie known as the Agazian or Ge'ez speaking clan) which evidence seems to show that they originated in yemen, this is based on the fact that the two Mukarribs of D'mt claimed descent from the tribe of Y'GD which they linked back to yemen via the tribe of W'rn of Raydan
(UNESCO General History of Africa, Vol. II, Abridged Edition: Ancient Africa pgs 198 and 199)...
So at least we know the mukkaribs (ie leaders) of d'mt were south arabian (at least these three were Hywt, RBH, and LMN but Rd'm can also be inffered to be of this clan considering all the rest are from it as well).
And finally how on earth can you say there was no migration while at the same time our forefather's language ge'ez was south semitic and therefore either it or its ancestor had to have come from south arabia. This and the fact that genetics also shows it as well. Its quite undeniable.
Wie found the Word habesha in Hieroglyphe. It is stupid to beliebe that it is a foreign Word. The Word is Tigrigna and Merans United Not Mixed. Habesha People have Lied in the Horn of africa Ascorbinsäure more than 80 000 years. The andient egyptians are descendands of habeshas from todays Eritrea northern ethiopia.
ReplyDeleteAin't habesha ,i am Eritrean,and proud.
ReplyDeletelol thats my Aunt and my baby cousin
ReplyDeleteI am not habehsan just Eritrean only and i am proud of it
ReplyDeleteHabesha is for Ethiopians
Haha a crazy arab is better than educated Shabian…Where the hell did you come from? You sounds like an Eritrean-Arab and non Eritrean Habesha :-).
ReplyDeleteThe devil Prefer to comes as an angel of the light and you are trying to deny our origin as Habesha, but that is not possible, because our roots are still in the bottom and we all know who we are.
The nazis used to try to come up with some of the wall restory not (history) about their ancestors too.Eritrean identity is based on a schizophrenic sense of identity.Keep lying to yourselves.Same language,same hairstyle same religion same food ( not basta shuta from signore but tsebhi, if Ou can find taff)
ReplyDeleteKikikikikiki
.....regardless of this and that, now we own our country and we called it Eritrea and we should and must be known as Eritreans only. We really don't need other terms to describe us event if that word is the word Habesh. Let Eritreans be known as Eritreans from coast to coast and those who want to hold on the word habesha they can do so but shouldn't give it priority to the name Eritrea. Eritrea seeks peace in the region but at the same time its swords are sharpened to perfection and intact and ready all the time.
ReplyDelete