This website was born out of a recent exercise to unravel facts about some of Ethiopia's history.
The need to carry out a little research was triggered by a book that appeared on the shelves in 2023, charting the story of the life of Alemayu - an Ethiopian Prince - who is buried at St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle. Written by Andrew Heavens and published by The History Press, 'The Prince and the plunder' also reports on the probable whereabouts of many ancient artifacts removed from Abyssinia during the 19th century, treasures that still remain in Britain today (follow this link to The British Museum).
Despite having been to school in Ethiopia and having a longstanding interest in its past, reading Andrew’s book led to a trawl of the internet to refresh my understanding of the context behind events that led to a British military campaign to rescue hostages - held at Maqdala in northern Ethiopia, in 1868. Much myth and fable of course shrouds the many attempts to explain Ethiopia's story and many layers of legend have first to be peeled back to get to the facts. As if to underline the point, a recent BBC documentary (Around the World in 80 Treasures) presented by Dan Cruikshank, attempted to investigate the supposed resting place in Ethiopia of the Ark of The Covenant, and demonstrates just how frustrating it can be to get to the historical truth and underlines the powerful and important place folklore holds in Ethiopian beliefs, writings and traditions.
The notes that I made during my research finished up as a short chronicle of my own - one that contains a useful list of current publications written about the country's history. The inventory appears in the eighteen-page bibliography at the end of the book and is one that I hope to add-to in time.
A current and comprehensive survey of Ethiopia's politics, history and culture is perhaps still sorely awaited. To mention just two works - those of John Markakis' 'ETHIOPIA - Anatomy of a traditional polity' published by Oxford University Press in 1974, and Margery Perham's 'The Governance of Ethiopia' published earlier by Faber in 1948, are cited as being among the finest all-embracing studies ever written about the country's transition from Abyssinia to modern day Ethiopia.
But if, like me, you might be looking for just a snapshot of Ethiopia's history before perhaps diving into the detail contained in more scholarly works, then I hope my short essay might be included somewhere in your reading. The short book, that is available as a download, is based around a few personal anecdotes and images from my early years growing up in Addis Ababa during the 60's and 70's - a period better known of course, as the final years of the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie Ist.
Thank you for your visit
Ian von Heintze
