Teddy Afro: Ethiopian Pop Music Artist

Teddy Afro is an Ethiopian music sensation and one of the most successful singers and song writers from Ethiopia in recent times. Teddy's musical success has been credited to the powerful messages conveyed through his songs. From compassion to courage and from forgiveness to love, Teddy has been able to break artistic boundaries that were previously untouched. He has been compared to Jamaican reggae legend Bob Marley, in part because of his ability to bring a political, spiritual, and rhythmic presence to his listeners. Teddy is also noted for his work with other young and inspiring artists throughout Ethiopia.

Rise To Fame

In 2001, Teddy released his debut album, Abugida, named after the Abugida sylabary of the Ge'ez language. The album catapulted him on the global music scene and quickly won him the admiration of his people and individuals from all walks of life throughout the world. Several tracks in particular quickly caught the ear of many listeners outside his native Ethiopia — "Halieselassie", a tribute to the late Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie I; "Haile, Haile," a hit single in honor of Olympic long distance champion and national hero Haile Gebrselassie; and "Mona Lisa," a measure of human beauty.

The long anticipated second album, Yasteseryal, was finally released in 2005. The release of this album coincided with elevated political tension in Ethiopia surrounding the Ethiopian general election of 2005. His politically and socially inspired song vibrated a call of unity and peace. However, some elements in the song were not welcomed by the state-owned media, resulting in a ban of his 'Jah yasteseryal' song.

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Melaku says:

I occasionally listen to some of his lovely music. I appreciate his unique melody. Yasterseryal is a Ge'ez word which literally means "absolves sins" or "absolution". As indicated above, the young artist aired his sentiments and feelings for a radical change in Ethiopia. He alluded by using this historic word -- Yasterseryal -- to the leading Ethiopian opposition party, Coalition for Unity and Democracy, as a harbinger of peace, democracy, and good governance for Ethiopia. Unfortunately, the long awaited change did not come about. Let's hope for peace and democracy for Ethiopia, through peaceful means!

I have already written a compendium of biographies in Amharic on many world-renowned composers and musicians such as Mozart, Wagner, Tchaikovsky, etc., as well as Ethiopian religious and secular musicians. If anyone is interested in publishing this, please contact me.

Haile Gebrselassie: Ethiopian Champion Long Distance Runner

Haile Gebrselassie (born April 18, 1973) is an Ethiopian long distance track and road running athlete. Known for his remarkable versatility, Haile achieved major competition wins at distances between 1500 metres and marathon, moving from outdoor, indoor and cross country running to road running in the latter part of his career. He has broken 25 world records and won numerous Olympic and World Championship titles, and is widely considered one of the greatest distance runners in history.

Early Career

Haile was born as one of ten children in Asella, Arsi Province, Ethiopia. As a child growing up on a farm, he used to run ten kilometres to school every morning, and the same back every evening. This led to a distinctive running posture, with his left arm crooked as if still holding his schoolbooks.

Haile gained international recognition in 1992 when he won the 5,000-metre and 10,000-metre races at the 1992 junior World Championships in Seoul, and a silver medal in the junior race at the World Cross Country Championships.

The next year, in 1993, Haile won the first of what would eventually be four consecutive world championships titles in the men's 10,000 meters at the 1993, 1995, 1997, and 1999 World Championships. At the 1993 World Championships, he also ran the 5,000-metre race to finish a close second behind Ismael Kirui of Kenya. In 1994 he won a bronze medal in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. Later that year, he set his first world record by running a 12:56.96 in the 5,000-metres, breaking Said Aouita's record by two seconds.

In 1995, Haile ran the 10,000-metres in 26:43.53 in Hengelo, Netherlands, lowering the world record by a full nine seconds. That same summer, in Zürich, Switzerland, Haile ran the 5000 metres in 12:44.39, ripping an astonishing 10.91 seconds off the world record 12:55.30 (established by Kenya's Moses Kiptanui earlier in the year). This world record at the Weltklasse meet in Zürich was voted Performance of the Year by Track & Field News magazine.

With this performance, Haile seemingly put the 5,000-meter record out of reach for quite a while, but the very next year Daniel Komen showed that this wasn't the case. At the same Weltklasse meet in Zürich, an exhausted Haile, suffering from blisters obtained on the hard track in Atlanta (where he would win the Olympic 10,000 meter gold in 1996), had no answer to the 58-second lap of Daniel Komen with 5 laps to go as Komen went on to win and just miss Haile's record, finishing in 12:45.09.

In 1997, Haile turned the tables on Komen at the same meet. Coming off his third 10K world championship gold medal, Haile outkicked Komen in another Zürich classic on August 13, covering the final 200 meters in 26.8 seconds to break his 5,000-meter world record with a time of 12:41.86. Komen, in turn, took Haile's record only nine days later when Komen ran a 12:39.74 performance in Belgium.

Middle Career

The next year, 1998, saw Haile lowering the indoor world records for 2,000 and 3,000 meters, enjoying success outdoors by taking back both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter world records, as well as earning a share in the Golden League jackpot for winning all of his races in the Golden League series that summer. In June 1998, in Hengelo, Netherlands, Haile set a 10,000 meter world record 26:22.75, breaking Paul Tergat's world record 26:27.85, running evenly paced 13:11/13:11 5K splits.

Just 13 days later, Haile took on the 5,000 meter mark of Komen in Helsinki, Finland. Croatian pacemaker Branko Zorko took the pace out too slowly, hitting 1000 meters in 2:33.91 and dropping out at the mile. Millon Wolde and Assefa Mezgebu led Haile through 2,000 meters in 5:05.62. His pacemakers could not maintain the pace, though, and Haile was left alone for a difficult solo effort 6 laps out. Hitting 3,000 meters in 7:38.93, even the British commentators announcing the race counted him out. With 4 laps to go (8:40.00), Haile needed a sub-4 minute final 1,600 meters for the record. With one lap to go and in great pain, Haile took off, recording a final lap of 56.77 seconds and a final 1,600 meters of 3:59.36 (= 4:00.96 mile) to race to a 12:39.36 world record.

In 1999, Haile starred as himself in the movie Endurance. The film chronicled his quest to win Olympic gold in the 10,000-meters in Atlanta. On the track, he won a 1,500/3000 meter double at the world indoor track championships, defended his outdoor world track championships 10,000 meter title, and remained undefeated in all his races (which ranged from the 1,500 up to 10,000 meters).

In 2000, Haile again won all of his races, ranking first in the world yet again in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he became the third man in history to successfully defend an Olympic 10,000 meter title (after Emil Zátopek and Lasse Virén). The narrow Olympic victory over Kenya's Paul Tergat came down to a blistering final kick, with Tergat's 26.3 second final 200 meters being topped by Haile's even faster 25.4. The winning margin of victory was only 0.09 seconds, closer than the winning margin in the men's 100 meter dash final.

In 2001, Haile won the IAAF World half marathon and the bronze medal in the 10,000 meters at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics.

On August 30, 2003, Haile topped the polls when elected as a member of the IAAF Athletes Commission. Also in 2003, at the World Championships in Paris, Haile was involved in one of the most remarkable 10,000 meter races of all time while gaining a silver medal behind countryman and protégé Kenenisa Bekele. The last half of the 10,000 meter final at the championships was completed in a staggering 12:57.24 (12:57.2 for Bekele and 12:58.8 for Haile). According to the IAAF, "[n]ot only was this split the fastest closing 5,000 meters in the championships 10,000m (the previous record was 13:12.12, recorded in Atlanta), but it was also the fastest 5,000 meters in a global championships surpassing the 12:58.13 Salah Hissou recorded when he won the 5,000m in Sevilla'99." (This remark remained true until a week later when the World Track & Field Championship 5,000 meter medalists (including Bekele) all ran faster than the second 5,000 meter split in the previous week's 10,000 meters.) "The difference between the closing 5,000 meter splits (12:57.24) and the 5,000 meter World record (12:39.36) was 17.98 seconds, which is a record. The previous best of 18.4 seconds (13:31.4 for the closing 5,000 meters when the World Record was 13:13.0) was recorded in the 1976 Olympics."

In 2004 Athens Olympics, Haile was seeking to become the first man in history to win three straight Olympic gold medals in the 10000 meter run. He was unable to do so, however, finishing fifth in a race won by his compatriot Kenenisa Bekele, who had broken both of Haile's major track world records, the 5000 meter and the 10000 meter records. Shortly before the Athens games, Haile was unable to train for 3 weeks due to inflammation of his Achilles tendon. The injury was severe enough that he would not have competed otherwise, but did so because of significant pressure from his country. This loss of the final period of training likely cost him a medal.


Later Career

Since leaving the track after the 2004 Olympics, Haile has focused on road racing and the marathon. His adult marathons to date include London 2002, Amsterdam 2005 (1st place), London 2006, Berlin 2006 (1st place), Fukuoka 2006 (1st place), London 2007, and Berlin 2007 (1st place and World Record).

In 2005 Haile went undefeated in all of his road races. This included a British All-Comers record in the 10K at Manchester (27:25), a win in the Amsterdam Marathon in the fastest marathon time in the world for 2006 (2:06:20), and a new world best for 10 miles in Tilburg, The Netherlands (44:24). (His unofficial split of 41:22 at the 15K mark was 7 seconds faster than the official world best.)

Haile started 2006 positively by beating the world half marathon record by a full 21 seconds, recording a time of 58 minutes and 55 seconds on January 15th. He broke the record, his first one on American soil, by running the second half of the Arizona Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. During the race he also broke Paul Tergat's 20 km record, both records having stood since 1998. (Haile passed the 20 km mark in 55:48.) 2006 also marked another victory for Haile as he shattered the 25 km world road record by 68 seconds in a time of 1:11:37. The race was organized where Haile and six other runners would run 5 kilometers and then cross the starting line of the 20 kilometer Alphen race in Alphen aan den Rijn of the Netherlands. However this record wasn't recognised by the IAAF, since he wasn't checked for blood doping (EPO).

On April 23, 2006, he finished 9th in the London Marathon with a time of 2:09:05 (the race was won by Kenyan Felix Limo, who clocked 2:06:39). Haile referred to the 9th-place finish as "the worst race of my career". However, on September 24 he came back with a win in the Berlin Marathon in the fastest time of the year, 2:05:56. This was followed by a win in the Fukuoka Marathon, Japan in 2:06:52. His time in Berlin made him only the fifth man in history to run under 2:06 for the marathon.

In London on April 22, 2007 Haile challenged the 2006 London Marathon winner Felix Limo, the 2005 London Marathon winner Martin Lel, the 2004 Athens gold medalist Stefano Baldini, the 2006 New York Marathon winner Marilson Gomes dos Santos, and the current marathon world record holder Paul Tergat in what organizers anticipated would be an exciting race. However Haile dropped out at the 18 mile stage complaining of a stitch and inability to breathe, which turned out to be an allergic reaction to the pollen in the air. This left the 2005 winner Martin Lel to come home in first place.

One month later, Haile made a surprise return to the track where he ran a 26:52.81 in finishing 5th in a very competitive 10,000 meter race in Hengelo, The Netherlands. What made Haile's time so noteworthy, besides being the 8th time in his career to run under 27 minutes (more than anyone in history) is the fact that Haile is the only man older than 30 to break 27 minutes in the 10,000 meters. Moreover, his twelve year range of doing so (from 1995 to 2007) is remarkable.

On June 27, 2007, Haile launched an attack upon the world record for the one hour run, in Ostrava, Czech Republic. This record attempt was successful as Haile passed the hour mark at 21,285 m (13 miles 397 yards), thus eclipsing the previous best, 21,101 m, set by Mexican Arturo Barrios in La Fléche, France, on 30 March 1991. Furthermore, Haile covered 50 laps (20,000 m) in 56:25.98, another world best, well within the previous 56:55.6 also set by Barrios in 1991. These were his 23rd and 24th world records.

Haile made his running debut in New York City when he won the New York City Half Marathon on August 5, 2007 in 59:24, breaking the previous course record by two minutes. He has a perfect record of 8-0 in winning all of his half marathons.

On September 30, 2007 Haile won the Berlin Marathon in 2:04:26 (4:44.8 per mile), setting the world record and shaving 29 seconds off Paul Tergat's record, set on the same course in 2003. His victory further energized the celebrations of the Ethiopian Millennium (unique to the Ethiopian calendar), which began on September 12, 2007. On the winners podium he wore a blue ribbon to signify his support for Vicky's Water Project - a project set up in memory of Vicky Buchanan to bring clean running water to Lera Town in Ethiopia.

source: Wikipedia

Quotes

• At the moment I am a little bit politician, yes. I think that could be my next step. It is not because I want power, it is because of what I think I could do for the people.
• Eradicate poverty. This is all that matters in my country. When I am out training I think about this a lot; when I am running it is going over in my mind. As a country we cannot move forward until we eradicate poverty.
• He was not a runner, my father, but he was quick. I always remember it was very difficult to escape from him when he was angry. If he wanted to beat us he would always catch us. Even me, he could always catch me.
• I have to change a lot of things before I become a good marathon runner.
• I haven't done a marathon for a long time. So we'll see. I will need good luck.
• I think if you come first with a new world record, that is the best.
• I used to run to school, 10k every day. And this at altitude, perfect preparation, really.
• I will always listen to my coaches. But first I listen to my body. If what they tell me suits my body, great. If my body doesn't feel good with what they say, then always my body comes first.
• I'm lucky. The best possible place in the world for training is Addis Ababa, so I am home all the time except when I am racing. I like to be there, near my family, my kids, also the real estate business I run with my wife.
• In the rainy season, sometimes to get to the first lesson we had to run really quick, because we had to cross the river to school and we'd have to go up and down the bank to find a place to cross because there is no bridge.
• My father thought sport was something fun - he didn't know it was a way to make money. Then I won a Mercedes at the world championships and I gave it to him. From the moment it arrived my father said: 'Good, you can support not just yourself but me too'.
• Oh yes, yes they did, but it came from a long time ago, it was not possible for me to change it. Me and the style, we have grown together.
• Since I achieved something, running has exploded in my country. For me sometimes it is difficult even to know who the athletes are who are competing at the highest level. There are thousands.
• That is not enough. Sport has been great for me, a great learning place that if you want to achieve you can, even if you are from the poorest part of Africa.
• This hand is not very active always, because it was in this hand that I carried my books. My carrying hand was always my strongest. Now I think my other hand has developed more muscles from signing all those autographs.
• This is what I wanted. They tell me that London is the best field in history. I wanted to be part of that. Because everyone will be there it will be a wonderful challenge for me. You can see the best runners, how they look, how they run. For me to beat the best is what counts.
• What can you do if a part of it is uphill? You can't work out another route. You've just got to run the one they give you. But they tell me London is a nice course. Even the cobbles, I hope, are not very much of a problem for me.
• When we race in London a world record will be the last thing on our minds.
• You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model.
  

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Melaku says:

Haile is a role model for Ethiopian youth, a champion by anyone's definition. The celebrated young musician, Teddy Afro, praised Haile in one of his latest hits.

Haile, I heard, is also a philanthropist. He gave money for the construction of an elementary school in Gojjam district. The other point worth mentioning is that Haile played a big role in the reconciliation effort made by Professor Ephraim Yitzak and Pastor Danield to resolve the vicious problem between the government and the leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party. Bravo Haile! Please keep up your peace efforts!

Liya Kebede: Ethiopian Super-Model

Liya Kebede (born January 3, 1978 in Addis Ababa) is an Ethiopian supermodel who has appeared on the cover of US Vogue twice. According to Forbes, Kebede was eleventh-highest-paid top model in 2007.

Biography

Liya was born and raised in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A film director spotted Liya while she was attending Lycee Guebre Mariam (a French high school in Addis Ababa) and introduced her to a French modeling agent. After completing her studies, she moved to France to pursue work through a Parisian agency. Liya later relocated to New York City. She has remarked that the modeling industry in Ethiopia is quite different from the catwalks on which she is now ubiquitous. In contrast, in Ethiopia she had to provide her own shoes for each runway show.

Liya was a contestant in the 1998 Face of Africa, however she didn't even place in the Top 5. Oluchi won the 1998 competition.

Personal Life

Kebede married Ethiopian hedge fund manager Kassy Kebede in 2000 and they have two children together; son Suhul (b. 2001) and daughter Raee (b. August 2005). As of 2007, the family resides in New York City.

Modeling Career

Liya's big break came when Tom Ford asked her for an exclusive contract for his Gucci Fall/Winter 2000 fashion show. Liya established a place in fashion's elite by modeling on the New York, Milan and Paris runway circuit. Liya's popularity in the fashion industry sky-rocketed when she appeared on the cover the May 2002 edition of Paris Vogue which dedicated the entire issue to her.

Liya has been seen on the covers of Italian, Japanese, American, French and Spanish Vogue, V, Flair, i-D and Time's Style & Design. Liya has been featured in ad campaigns including those for Gap, Yves Saint-Laurent, Victoria's Secret, Emanuel Ungaro, Tommy Hilfiger, Revlon, Dolce & Gabbana, Escada and Louis Vuitton. In 2003, Liya was named the newest face of Estée Lauder cosmetics, the first person of color to serve as their representative in the company's 57-year history. Her contract was rumoured to be for $3 million dollars.

Liya is one of a very few ethnically African models featured in major fashion photo shoots and runway shows. According to Conor Kennedy, in 2003 a booker at Elite Model Management, "It's like there's only room for one very successful black model at a time. For the past year, it's been Liya Kebede".

In 2005, Liya was appointed as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health. She also appeared in a group montage on a rare (well, rare as of recent years) group montage of up and coming supermodels.

In summer of 2006 she was also one of the very few black models to have been given a cover of American Vogue, the issue highlighted her humanitarian work.

In July 2007, earning at an estimated total of $2.5 million in the past 12 months, Forbes named her eleventh in the list of the World's 15 Top-Earning Supermodels.

Liya has also had minor roles in two films: The Good Shepherd, and Lord of War.

Quotes

• "Every day we hear about the dangers of cancer, heart disease and AIDS. But how many of us realize that, in much of the world, the act of giving life to a child is still the biggest killer of women of child-bearing age? That over half a million die every year? Or that 3 million babies are stillborn? Or that another 4 million die during the first days and weeks of life?" – during her acceptance of the 2005 UN Day Award.

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Melaku says:

I found Liya's life history quite interesting. She is a pioneer in her field who should be emulated by other Ethiopian youngsters.

source: Wikipedia

Health Tip: The Effect of Eating a Heavy Meal when You are Overweight

When you are young and slim, you can eat what you want and your normal activity level will burn the calories with no problem.

When you get older, your metabolism slows down and if your activity level does not change, you will gain weight.

When you are more than 10 kilos overweight, your body seems to have a harder time digesting the food from a heavy meal, and keeping your brain going at full capacity. So you begin to get tired, you yawn a lot. In extreme cases, people fall asleep. This is a bad time to be driving a car or operating machinery, such as a lawn mower.

In short, rest when you are tired, don't try to do something that requires your brain. Slim people don't have this problem. The problem is with obese persons. With extremely obese people, this condition is called "narcolepsy". Therefor, have light meals every time so that you can keep your brain active.

Source: Douglas

Herodotus on Ethiopia

In the introduction of the book, "Herodotus -- The Histories", his life has been described in part as follows:

Hardly anything is known of Herodotus' life. He was born between 490 and 480 BC at Halicarnassus, a Dorian town in Caria, on the south-west coast of Asia Minor, spent some years of his early manhood in travelling over the greater part of the then known world -- visiting Egypt as far south as Assuan, Mesopotamia, Palestine, southern Russia, and the northern fringe of the African continent -- and retired in later life to Thurii in Italy, where he expanded and revised his history...

Herodotus is better known to us as a person than any other ancient Greek writer. Plato was the supreme prose artist of the Greeks; but to read Plato brings one into communion with his mind and spirit only; to read Herodotus invites us to walk by his side, to listen to his voice, to mark on his face the shifts of expression from grave to gay, from wonder, awe and agression to incredulity or amusement: it gives us the man himself as he lived amongst men, noting with unappeasable zest their infinite variety and strangeness, not without a lift of the eyebrow at their old ways and occasional propensity for telling lies. Herodotus' prose is a mirror of personality and character.

Herodotus is the ancient world's equivalent of Michael Palin, the popular travel writer and narrator. Here is what Herodotus wrote about ancient Ethiopia:

... On this subject I could get no further information from anybody. I went as far as Elephantine to see what I could with my own eyes, but for the country still further south I had to be content with what I was told in answer to my questions. The most I could learn was that beyond Elephantine the country rises steeply; and in that part of the river, boats have to be hauled along by ropes -- one rope on each side -- much as one drags an ox. If the rope parts, the boat is gone in a moment, carried away by the force of the stream. These conditions last over a four days' journey, the river all the time winding greatly, like the Maeander, and the distance to be covered amounting to twelve schoeni (one schoenus is approximately 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers), or the distance that could be traversed on foot in an hour, so 12 schoeni is about 42 miles or 67 km).

After this one reaches a level plain, where the river is divided by an island named "Tachompso". South of Elephantine, the country is inhabited by Ethiopians who also possess half of Tachompso, the other half being occupied by Egyptians. Beyond the island is a great lake, and round its shores live nomadic tribes of Ethiopians. After crossing the lake, one comes again to the stream of the Nile, which flows into it. At this point, one must land and travel along the bank of the river for forty days, because sharp rocks, some showing above water and many just awash, makes the river impracticable for boats.

After the forty days' journey on land, one takes another boat and in twelve days reaches a big city named "Meiroe", said to be the capital city of the Ethiopians. The inhabitants worship Zeus and Dionysus alone of the gods, holding them in great honour. There is an oracle of Zeus there, and they make war according to its pronouncements, taking from it both the occasion and the object of their various expeditions.

Continuing upstream for the same length of time as it takes to travel from Elephantine to the capital, one comes to the deserters -- a people whose name is Ashkam, a word which would mean in Greek 'those who stand on the left hand of the king'. They were a body of men 240,000 strong, of the Egyptian warrior class, who went over to the Ethiopians during the reign of Psammetichus. The Egyptians had guard posts in various parts of the country: one at Elephantine against the Ethiopians, another in Daphnae at Pelusium against the Arabians and Assyrians, and a third at Marea to keep a watch on Libya.

The Persians have similar garrisons today both at Elephantine and Daphnae. Now it happened in Psammetichus' time that the Egyptians were kept on garrison duty for three years without being relieved, and this was the cause of their desertion. They discussed their grievances, came to a unanimous resolution, and went off in a body to Ethiopia. The king, on hearing the news, gave chase and overtook them; and the story goes that when he besought them to return and used every argument to disuade them from abandoning their wives and children and the gods of the country, one of their members pointed, in reply, to his private parts, and said, that wherever those were, there would be no lack of wives and children. So they continued their journey to Ethiopia and put themselves at the disposal of the Ethiopian king, by whom they were well rewarded, for he gave them permission to expel certain Ethiopians with whom he was on bad terms, and settle on their land. The result of their living there was that the Ethiopians learned Egyptian manners and became more civilised.

The course of the Nile is, then, known not only where it traverses Egypt, but as much further southward as one can travel by land or water in four months; for calculation will show that that is the time it takes to go from Elephantine to the deserters. At that point, the river runs from west to east; beyond, nobody knows its course with any certainty, for the country is uninhabited because of the heat.

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Melaku says:

I learned that Meroe, the Northern part of present-day Sudan, was part of Ethiopia during the Sabean and Axumite Kingdoms, when I made a visit to Sudan's National Museum in Khartoum in 1994. In the museum, the remains of the ancient Christian churches, wall carvings, and other sacred items are exhibited.

But how about Elphantine and Tachompso (Upper Nile region)? Despite the confusion in the geographic location of the day by Herodotus, what we can learn from his illustrious description is that, as in the history of the legendary Queen of Sheba, there is a thread that links Egypt and Ethiopia. The other point which we can understand from this depiction of ancient Ethiopia is that the country had a strong army.

In another reading I made a few months ago on ancient Mesopotamia, specifically about the biography of the famous King Nebuchadnezzar, whose history has been well documented in the Old Testament, Ethiopian and Lybian soldiers had fought along with the Pharoah of Egypt against King Nebuchadnezzar. Unfortunately, they lost the war and had been severely vanquished, so much so that they were forced to retreat back to Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar took over the entire Palestine area which was previously ruled by the Pharoahs of Egypt. Egypt was saved from being attacked by the powerful Mesopotamian king by making truce and dilomatic negotiation which resulted, among other things, in the marriage of the daughter of the Pharoah to King Nebuchadnezzar. Here again we see the connection or the relationship between Egypt and Ethiopia which survived the test of time. How about now?

History of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is credited with being the origin of mankind. Bones discovered in eastern Ethiopia date back 3.2 million years. Ethiopia is the oldest independent country in Africa and one of the oldest in the world. Herodotus, the Greek historian of the fifth century B.C. describes ancient Ethiopia in his writings. The Old Testament of the Bible records the Queen of Sheba's visit to Jerusalem. According to legend, Menelik I, the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, founded the Ethiopian Empire. Missionaries from Egypt and Syria introduced Christianity in the fourth century A.D. Following the rise of Islam in the seventh century, Ethiopia was gradually cut off from European Christendom. The Portuguese established contact with Ethiopia in 1493, primarily to strengthen their influence over the Indian Ocean and to convert Ethiopia to Roman Catholicism. There followed a century of conflict between pro- and anti-Catholic factions, resulting in the expulsion of all foreign missionaries in the 1630s. This period of bitter religious conflict contributed to hostility toward foreign Christians and Europeans, which persisted into the 20th century and was a factor in Ethiopia's isolation until the mid-19th century.

Under the Emperors Theodore II (1855-68), Johannes IV (1872-89), and Menelik II (1889-1913), the kingdom was consolidated and began to emerge from its medieval isolation. When Menelik II died, his grandson, Lij Iyassu, succeeded to the throne but soon lost support because of his Muslim ties. The Christian nobility deposed him in 1916, and Menelik's daughter, Zewditu, was made empress. Her cousin, Ras Tafari Makonnen (1892-1975), was made regent and successor to the throne. In 1930, after the empress died, the regent, adopting the throne name Haile Selassie, was crowned emperor. His reign was interrupted in 1936 when Italian Fascist forces invaded and occupied Ethiopia. The emperor was forced into exile in England despite his plea to the League of Nations for intervention. Five years later, British and Ethiopian forces defeated the Italians, and the emperor returned to the throne.

After a period of civil unrest, which began in February 1974, the aging Haile Selassie I was deposed on September 12, 1974, and a provisional administrative council of soldiers, known as the Derg ("committee") seized power from the emperor and installed a government, which was socialist in name and military in style. The Derg summarily executed 59 members of the royal family and ministers and generals of the emperor's government; Emperor Haile Selassie was strangled on August 22, 1975, in his room in a small church called Kidana Mehret located in the premises of the Church of Saint Mary, commonly known as Baata Mariam, and built by Emperor Menelik II. This church is located in the neighbourhood of the modern villa inhabited by the current Prime Minister.

Lt. Col. Mengistu Haile Mariam assumed power as head of state and Derg chairman, after having his two predecessors killed. Mengistu's years in office were marked by a totalitarian-style government and the country's massive militarization, financed by the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc, and assisted by Cuba. From 1977 through early 1978 thousands of suspected enemies of the Derg were tortured and/or killed in a purge called the "red terror." Communism was officially adopted during the late 1970s and early 1980s with the promulgation of a Soviet-style constitution, Politburo, and the creation of the Workers' Party of Ethiopia (WPE).

In December 1976, an Ethiopian delegation in Moscow signed a military assistance agreement with the Soviet Union. The following April, Ethiopia abrogated its military assistance agreement with the United States and expelled the American military missions. In July 1977, sensing the disarray in Ethiopia, Somalia attacked across the Ogaden Desert in pursuit of its irredentist claims to the ethnic Somali areas of Ethiopia. Ethiopian forces were driven back deep inside their own frontier but, with the assistance of a massive Soviet airlift of arms and Cuban and Yemeni combat forces, they stemmed the attack. The major Somali regular units were forced out of the Ogaden in March 1978. Thirty years later, development in the eastern region of Ethiopia, inhabited by Ethiopian-Somalis, still lags. Currently, there is an insurrection in this area with separatist forces battling against the Ethiopian government troops.

The Derg's collapse was hastened by droughts and famine, as well as by insurrections, particularly in the northern regions of Tigray and Eritrea. In 1989, the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front (TPLF) merged with other ethnically based opposition movements to form the Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF). In May 1991, EPRDF forces advanced on Addis Ababa. Mengistu fled the country for asylum in Zimbabwe, where he still resides.

In July 1991, the EPRDF, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), and others established the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) which was comprised of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In June 1992, the OLF withdrew from the government; in March 1993, members of the Southern Ethiopia Peoples' Democratic Coalition left the government.

In May 1991, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), led by Isaias Afwerki, assumed control of Eritrea and established a provisional government. This provisional government independently administered Eritrea until April 23-25, 1993, when Eritreans voted overwhelmingly for independence in a UN-monitored free and fair referendum. With Ethiopia’s consent, Eritrea was declared independent on April 27, and the United States recognized its independence on April 28, 1993.

In Ethiopia, President Meles Zenawi and members of the TGE pledged to oversee the formation of a multi-party democracy. The election for a 547-member constituent assembly was held in June 1994, and this assembly adopted the constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in December 1994. The elections for Ethiopia's first popularly chosen national parliament and regional legislatures were held in May and June 1995. Most opposition parties chose to boycott these elections, ensuring a landslide victory for the EPRDF. International and non-governmental observers concluded that opposition parties would have been able to participate had they chosen to do so. The Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was installed in August 1995.

In May 1998, Eritrean forces attacked part of the Ethiopia-Eritrea border region, seizing some Ethiopian-controlled territory. The strike spurred a two-year war between the neighboring states that cost over 100,000 lives. Ethiopian and Eritrean leaders signed an Agreement on Cessation of Hostilities on June 18, 2000, and a peace agreement, known as the Algiers Agreement, on December 12, 2000. The agreements called for an end to the hostilities, a 25-kilometer-wide Temporary Security Zone along the Ethiopia-Eritrea border, the establishment of a United Nations peacekeeping force to monitor compliance, and the establishment of the Ethiopia Eritrea Boundary Commission (EEBC) to act as a neutral body to assess colonial treaties and applicable international law in order to render final and binding border delimitation and demarcation determinations. The United Nations Mission to Eritrea and Ethiopia (UNMEE) was established in September 2000. The EEBC presented its border delimitation decision on April 13, 2002. To date, neither Ethiopia nor Eritrea has taken the steps necessary to enable the EEBC to demarcate the border.

Opposition candidates won 12 seats in national parliamentary elections in 2001. Ethiopia held the most free and fair national campaign period in the country’s history prior to May 15, 2005 elections. Unfortunately, electoral irregularities and tense campaign rhetoric resulted in a protracted election complaints review process. Public protests turned violent in June 2005. The National Electoral Board released final results in September 2005, with the opposition taking over 170 of the 547 parliamentary seats and 137 of the 138 seats for the Addis Ababa municipal council.

Opposition parties called for a boycott of parliament and civil disobedience to protest the election results. In early November 2005, Ethiopian security forces responded to public protests by arresting scores of opposition leaders, as well as journalists and human rights advocates, and detaining tens of thousands of civilians in rural detention camps for up to three months.

In December 2005, the government charged 131 opposition, media, and civil society leaders with capital offenses including "outrages against the constitution." Thirty-eight opposition leaders and journalists were convicted in June 2007. Approximately 150 of the elected opposition members of parliament have taken their seats. Ruling and opposition parties have engaged in a process of dialogue to address issues of democratic governance raised by the 2005 elections, including parliamentary rules of procedure, media regulation, and reform of the National Electoral Board.

source: USA Dept of State

==================

Melaku says:

Concerning the 2005 national election, my position is that the main opposition party, namely the Coalition for Unity and Democracy, did not make a call for civil disobedience (which results in damage of public property and loss of life) but rather for passive resistance (staying at home). This is a common practice of expressing opposition. Had it not been for stringent security measures taken by the government, the leaders of the opposition parties and the 4 million people of Addis Abba, the majority of whom gave their vote to the opposition, could have demonstrated peacefully. However, the unfortunate happened; a mob action has occurred causing an over-reaction by the government. Tony Blair, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said this -- over-reaction -- to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia during a summit which took place in South Africa about a year ago.

Therefore, I personally believe that the leaders of the opposition and their supporters, numbered in tens of thousands, have paid a high price for the crime of wishing for freedom and democracy. 193 people died and over 50,000 have been imprisoned in different concentration camps in the country. This figure of 50,000 prisoners has been described by a journalist as the largest number since apartheid.

Two judges, who were members of the inquiry commission established by the government to investigate the crisis that cropped up as a result of the May 2005 national election, after fleeing the country, have testified about this horrific event in the US Congress and in the media.

On the hot issue of Ogadan, I will later reveal my position.

Economy of Ethiopia

Real GDP (2006 est.): $13.3 billion.

Annual growth rate (2006 est.): 9.6%.

Per capita income (2006 est.): $130.

Average inflation rate (2006 est.): 13%.

Natural resources: Potash, salt, gold, copper, platinum, natural gas (unexploited).

Agriculture (47% of GDP): Products--coffee, cereals, pulses, oilseeds, khat, meat, hides and skins. Cultivated land--17%.

Industry (12% of GDP): Types--textiles, processed foods, construction, cement, and hydroelectric power.
Trade (2006 est.): Exports--$1.1 billion. Imports--$4.1 billion; plus remittances--official est. $400 million; unofficial est. $400 million.

Fiscal year: July 8-July 7.

The current government has embarked on a cautious program of economic reform, including privatization of state enterprises and rationalization of government regulation. While the process is still ongoing, so far the reforms have attracted only meager foreign investment, and the government remains heavily involved in the economy.

The Ethiopian economy is based on agriculture, which contributes 47% to GNP and more than 80% of exports, and employs 85% of the population. The major agricultural export crop is coffee, providing 35% of Ethiopia's foreign exchange earnings, down from 65% a decade ago because of the slump in coffee prices since the mid-1990s. Other traditional major agricultural exports are hides and skins, pulses, oilseeds, and the traditional "khat," a leafy shrub that has psychotropic qualities when chewed. Sugar and gold production has also become important in recent years.

Ethiopia's agriculture is plagued by periodic drought, soil degradation caused by inappropriate agricultural practices and overgrazing, deforestation, high population density, undeveloped water resources, and poor transport infrastructure, making it difficult and expensive to get goods to market. Yet agriculture is the country's most promising resource. Potential exists for self-sufficiency in grains and for export development in livestock, flowers, grains, oilseeds, sugar, vegetables, and fruits.

Gold, marble, limestone, and small amounts of tantalum are mined in Ethiopia. Other resources with potential for commercial development include large potash deposits, natural gas, iron ore, and possibly oil and geothermal energy. Although Ethiopia has good hydroelectric resources, which power most of its manufacturing sector, it is totally dependent on imports for its oil. A landlocked country, Ethiopia has relied on the port of Djibouti since the 1998-2000 border war with Eritrea. Ethiopia is connected with the port of Djibouti by road and rail for international trade. Of the 23,812 kilometers of all-weather roads in Ethiopia, 15% are asphalt. Mountainous terrain and the lack of good roads and sufficient vehicles make land transportation difficult and expensive. However, the government-owned airline’s reputation is excellent. Ethiopian Airlines serves 38 domestic airfields and has 42 international destinations.

Dependent on a few vulnerable crops for its foreign exchange earnings and reliant on imported oil, Ethiopia lacks sufficient foreign exchange earnings. The financially conservative government has taken measures to solve this problem, including stringent import controls and sharply reduced subsidies on retail gasoline prices. Nevertheless, the largely subsistence economy is incapable of meeting the budget requirements for drought relief, an ambitious development plan, and indispensable imports such as oil. The gap has largely been covered through foreign assistance inflows.

source: USA Dept of State

Government of Ethiopia

Type: Federal Republic.

Constitution: Ratified 1994.

Branches:

• Executive: president, Council of State, Council of Ministers. Executive power resides with the prime minister.

• Legislative: bicameral parliament. Judicial--divided into Federal and Regional Courts.

Administrative subdivisions: 9 regions and 2 special city administrations: Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa.

Political parties: Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (CUDP), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement (OFDM), and other small parties.

Suffrage: Universal starting at age 18.

Central government budget (2006 est.): $3.4 billion.

Defence: $348 million (5.6% of GDP FY 2003).

National holiday: May 28.

Ethiopia is a federal republic under the 1994 constitution. The executive branch includes a president, Council of State, and Council of Ministers. Executive power resides with the prime minister. There is a bicameral parliament; national legislative elections were held in 2005. The judicial branch comprises federal and regional courts.

Political parties include the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), the Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD), the United Ethiopian Democratic Forces (UEDF), and other small parties. Suffrage is universal at age 18.

In 2003, Ethiopia continued its transition from a unitary to a federal system of government. The EPRDF-led government of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has promoted a policy of ethnic federalism, devolving significant powers to regional, ethnically based authorities. Ethiopia today has 9 semi-autonomous administrative regions and two special city administrations (Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa), which have the power to raise their own revenues. Under the present government, Ethiopians enjoy wider, albeit circumscribed, political freedom than ever before in Ethiopia’s history.

source: USA Dept of State

People of Ethiopia

Nationality: Ethiopian(s).

Population (2006 est.): 77 million.

Annual growth rate: 2.7%.

Ethnic groups (est.): Oromo 40%, Amhara 25%, Tigre 7%, Somali 6%, Sidama 9%, Gurage 2%, Wolaita 4%, Afar 4%, other nationalities 3%.

Religions (est.): Ethiopian Orthodox Christian 40%, Sunni Muslim 45-50%, Protestant 5%, remainder indigenous beliefs.

Languages: Amharic (official), Tigrinya, Arabic, Guaragigna, Oromigna, English, Somali.

Education: Years compulsory--none.
Attendance (elementary) 57%.
Literacy--43%.

Health: Infant mortality rate--93/1,000 live births.

Work force: Agriculture--80%. Industry and commerce--20%.

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigreans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 77 different ethnic groups with their own distinct languages within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members. In general, most of the Christians live in the highlands, while Muslims and adherents of traditional African religions tend to inhabit lowland regions. English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is taught in all secondary schools. Amharic is the official language and was the language of primary school instruction but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.

source: USA Dept of State

Geography of Ethiopia

Area: 1.1 million sq. km (472,000 sq. mi.); about the size of Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico combined.

Cities: Addis Ababa (capital, pop. 5 million), Dire Dawa (237,000), Nazret (189,000), Gondar (163,000), Dessie (142,000), Mekelle (141,000), Bahir Dar (140,000), Jimma (132,000), Awassa (104,000).

Terrain: High plateau, mountains, dry lowland plains.

Climate: Temperate in the highlands; hot in the lowlands.

Ethiopia is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered on the north and northeast by Eritrea, on the east by Djibouti and Somalia, on the south by Kenya, and on the west and southwest by Sudan. The country has a high central plateau that varies from 1,800 to 3,000 meters (6,000 ft.-10,000 ft.) above sea level, with some mountains reaching 4,620 meters (15,158 ft.). Elevation is generally highest just before the point of descent to the Great Rift Valley, which splits the plateau diagonally. A number of rivers cross the plateau--notably the Blue Nile flowing from Lake Tana. The plateau gradually slopes to the lowlands of the Sudan on the west and the Somali-inhabited plains to the southeast.

The climate is temperate on the plateau and hot in the lowlands. At Addis Ababa, which ranges from 2,200 to 2,600 meters (7,000 ft.-8,500 ft.), maximum temperature is 26o C (80o F) and minimum 4o C (40o F). The weather is usually sunny and dry with the short (belg) rains occurring February-April and the big (meher) rains beginning in mid-June and ending in mid-September.

source: USA Dept of State

More About Ethiopia

Hello visitors to my blog. Today I want to go to Ethiopia's ancient and recent history with the purpose of revisiting this ancient Christian and Muslim country. Briefly stated, Ethiopia's history goes back 3000 years, one of the oldest known ancient civilizations on earth. It is where Lucy, the oldest known primate skeleton, was discovered. It is also the probable location of the Ark of the Covenant, which was made famous by the Indiana Jones movie.

The image at the right is one of the uniquely rock-hewn churches of Labila, built during the twelfth century by the Saintly Emperor Labila in Wollo province, north-central Ethiopia where the the ancestors of the Amharas, second largest ethnic group, is believed to have originated.


Ethiopia and Christianity

contributed by Yaw Davis

Ethiopia is one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world. Most of us identify Ethiopia with Emperor Hailie Selassie or the Queen of Sheba (Saba). The land of Sheba was referred to as Saba by the Ethiopians. The actual name of the Queen of Sheba was Queen Makeda. The time span between the reigns of Queen Makeda and Emperor Hailie Selassie is approximately 3000 years. Most of the world is familiar with this period of history wherein Ethiopians ruled a great civilization. Most people are unaware of the existence of at least 97 other sovereign rulers who reigned prior to Queen Makeda. Once we include the rule of these 97 sovereigns, Ethiopian civilization can be traced back to 3000 BC.

We are familiar with Ethiopia from passages in the Old and New Testaments of the bible. Genesis, Chapter 2, verse 13 refers to 4 rivers that flowed out of Eden. One of these is the River Gihon which is the river that encircles Cush (sometimes in the bible Cush and Ethiopia are used interchangeably). The Gihon is another name for the Blue Nile River of Ethiopia. While visiting Ethiopia my family and I had the pleasure to stay at the Gihon Hotel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In addition to Ethiopia being one of the oldest civilizations in the world, Ethiopia is also one of the oldest Christian nations in the world. The Ethiopian court (governing officials) was first introduced to Christianity in approximately the year 42. Some of you may remember the story of the Ethiopian Eunuch as written in Acts, Chapter 8, verse 27: "Then the angel of the Lord said to Philip, Start out and go south to the road that leads down from Jerusalem to Gaza. So he set out and was on his way when he caught sight of an Ethiopian. This man was a eunuch, a high official of the Kandake (Candace) Queen of Ethiopia in charge of all her treasure."

The passage continues by describing how Philip helped the Ethiopian understand one passage of Isaiah that the Ethiopian was reading. After the Ethiopian received an explanation of the passage, he requested that Philip baptize him, which Philip obliged. I cross referenced some of my Ethiopian materials and discovered that Queen Gersamot Hendeke VII (very similar to Kandake) was the Queen of Ethiopia from the year 42 to 52. The aforementioned reveals that the Ethiopian court was introduced to Christianity in the 1st century.

Another very interesting fact with respect to Christianity that remains hidden is that Christianity became the official state religion of Ethiopia in the year 320 (the 4th century) during the rule of Emperor Ezana. Further, the Ethiopians commemorated the event (acceptance of Christianity as the state religion) by removing the image of the crescent from their coins and replacing it with the Christian cross!! The Ethiopians of what was known as the Axumite Empire minted, distributed and utilized coins for money.

Hundreds of varieties of coins were minted in gold, silver and bronze during the Axumite Empire over a period that spanned 700 to 1000 years.

Ethiopians (Axumites) also built numerous monuments, palaces, temples and other structures in northern Ethiopia. Some remain standing after 2000 years.

Aster Aweke: A Glimpse

Aster Aweke: A Glimpse

Sometimes referred to as “Ethiopia’s Aretha Franklin”, Aster Aweke is an Ethiopian singer who lives in the United States. Aweke was born in 1961 in Gondar, Ethiopia and was raised in the capital city of Addis Ababa. Her father was a senior civil servant in the Imperial government.

By the age of 13 she was determined to become a musician, and started her career at Hager Fikir Theatre in Addis Ababa.By her late teens, she was singing in Addis Ababa clubs and hotels with such bands as the Continental Band, Hotel D'Afrique Band, Shebele Band, and the Ibex Band before they became the internationally known as Roha Band.

Aweke's distinct style has been influenced by other Ethiopian singers such as Bizunesh Bekele. Launching a solo career, she was encouraged by musical entrepreneur Ali Tango, who financed and released five cassettes and two singles of her music.

By 1981, she had become disillusioned by Ethiopia's oppressive political climate following the death of iconic leader Emperor Haile Selassie and relocated to the United States. Temporarily settling in the Bay Area of California with plans to pursue an education; within two years, she settled in Washington, D.C.,which hosts one of the largest Ethiopian expatriate communities in the country.Here she became increasingly popular within the Ethiopian community, performing in restaurants and clubs. She also remains popular in Ethiopia; in 1997 she performed in Addis Ababa for a crowd of over 50,000 people.

Discography

Ethiopian Groove - The Golden Seventies, Paris, 1994, Buda Musique (contains three of her very first recordings)
1989 Aster (Triple Earth / Columbia Records)
1991 Kabu (Triple Earth / Columbia Records)
1993 Ebo (Barkhanns)
1997 Live in London (Barkhanns)
1999 Hagere (Kabu Records)
2002 Sugar (Kabu Records)
2004 Asters Ballads (Kabu Records)
2006 Fikir

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comment: I have never had an opportunity to talk to Aster Aweke, even in the three – years long of a journalistic work when I was Arts editor with the daily Addis Zemen (Amharic national news paper) in the early 1980s. I don’t know why she didn’t come to mind for invitation for interview.Anyhow, when I compiled the life and works of world and Ethiopian great musicians with a colleague 14 years ago, Aster Aweke figured prominently in the collection. This collection of great value is still waiting for publication. Lack of financial resource has become a great obstacle. Any publisher interested in the life and work of great musicians can extend a helping hand.Coming back to Aster’s work, a month ago I watched her well-staged and lively performance at a newly built stage in Addis Ababa during the celebration of the beginning of the third Ethiopian Millennium. I have learned that the majority audiences love her music, while the minority doesn’t. Reason; though she dramatizes her actions on stages and captivates the whole attention of her audience her voice is not so much attractive. However, they appreciate that Aster is a famous artiste who has dramatically changed the Ethiopian music style in a new fashion. In a word, she is a pioneer of Ethiopian modern music.

Was Ethiopia Under Egyptian Rule During Sheba’s Reign?

“Her I loved and sought out from my youth, And I sought to take her for my bride, And I became enamoured by her beauty, She glorifies her noble birth in that it is given her to live with god, And the sovereign Lord of all loved her, For she is initiated into the knowledge of god, But if riches are a desired possession in life, What is richer than wisdom?”

A tribute to the wisdom of the Queen of Sheba, in her role as the goddess Ma’at. Wisdom of Solomon 8:2.

I recently discovered the fascinating and controversial book, “Solomon -- Falcon of Sheba”, with the subtitle, “The Tombs of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba Discovered”. The author is Mr. Ralph Ellis, a London-based historian who has written a number of other controversial books related to the Bible.

As I read through many chapters, I encountered very radical ideas, which shook my religious foundation. I have always known that Sheba was the legendary Queen of Ethiopia but the author claims that she is an Egyptian queen or princess. He also claims that he found the tombs of King David and Solomon in Upper Egypt.

This is a radical shift from the Biblical story that states the two famous and saintly kings of Israel were buried at the town of Bethlehem, the same place where Jesus Christ was also born. This is the main reason behind the writing of this article.

The other thing was the revelation of the Queen of Sheba as Yemeni. First, I got this information from one of my closest friends, who is half-Ethiopian and half-Yemeni. He told me the ruins of her temple are visible at Marib, a town some kilometers away from Aden, the capital of Yemen.

As I said, all throughout my life, I have been taught and told that the Queen of Sheba was an Ethiopian Queen who ruled what is now Northern Ethiopia for many years, and who had a son, Menilik I, by King Solomon. So, which should we follow, whom should we believe?

Here follow some excerpts from scriptures and other literature.

Let us begin with the Biblical story:

As stated in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Sheba heard of the great wisdom of Solomon of Israel and journeyed there with gifts of spices, gold, precious stones, and beautiful wood to test him with questions, as recorded in First Kings 10:1-13 (largely copied in 2 Chronicles 9:1-12). The Queen was surprised by Solomon’s wisdom and wealth and pronounced a blessing on Solomon’s God. Solomon reciprocated with lavish gifts, “everything she desired”.

Whereupon the Queen returned to her country, the Queen was apparently quite rich herself, as she brought 4.5 tonnes of gold with her to give to Solomon (1 Kings: 10). The Song of Solomon (Song of Songs) contains some references, which have been at various times interpreted as referring to love between Solomon and Queen Sheba. Thus, the female lover at 1:5 (Kings) declares:

“I am black but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem As the tents of Kedar, As the curtains of Solomon, Look not upon me because I am black, Because the sun hath scorched me.”

Legend had it to say that the young woman continued to deny the romantic advances of King Solomon. However, during one of her visits it is believed that the king said she could not take anything without asking first. That night after eating a spicy meal that the king had given her; the Queen of Sheba experienced a great thirst and drank the cup of water next to her without asking. When King Solomon found out, he demanded that she sleep with him as punishment. This has never been proved, but many think that it actually happened.

In the Quran, the story of the Queen of Sheba runs as follows:

In the chapter, “The Ant” verse 27:12, it was stated that Solomon, the successor of David, was thought to speak the tongues of birds, and was endowed with all good things. “His forces of jinn (Satan’s devils) and men and birds were called to Solomon’s presence, and ranged in battle array. When they came to the Valley of the Ants an ant said, “Go in to your dwellings, ants, lest Solomon and his warriors should unwittingly crush you.”

Solomon shouted at the word of the ant and said, “Inspire me, Lord, to render thanks for the favours you have bestowed on me and on my parents, and to do good works that will please you. Admit me, through your mercy, among your righteous servants.”

The Quran goes on to state that when Solomon inspired the birds, he couldn’t find the lapwing and threatened to punish him if he didn’t show up to the assembly of the birds. Fortunately enough, the bird suddenly learned and told Solomon a new story that he came from Sheba where he found a woman reigning over the people. The bird recounted, “She is possessed of every virtue and has a splendid throne. I found that she and her subjects worship the sun instead of God. Satan has seduced them and debarred them from the right path, so that they might not be guided to the worship of God, who brings to light all that is hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you conceal and what you reveal: there is no god, but Him, the Lord of the Glorious throne.”

In his response, according to the Quran, Solomon said that he would realize what was said was true and ordered the bird to convey his message to Sheba. Sheba called her noblemen (counselors) and told them that she had received a message from Solomon and sought their advice.

Her advisors replied, “We are a valiant and mighty people. It is for you to decide; so consider what you should ordain.” Here it is implicit that the message from Solomon was a warning that Sheba should submit herself and possibly pay tribute to him. This is clear from the response of Sheba who shed light on the message when she replied, “When kings invade a city, they ravage it and abase the mightiest of its people. These men will do the same. But I shall send them a present and see with what reply the envoy will return.”

Sheba sent an envoy to Solomon with the gifts of gold which the king declared scornfully “Is it gold that you would give me? That which God has bestowed on me is better than all the riches he has given you. Yet you glory in your gift. Go back to your people; we will march against them with forces they cannot oppose and drive them from their land humbled and crushed.”

Solomon was angry and impatient, so much so, as to give instructions to his nobles to bring Sheba’s throne from her country to his palace. This time, not a bird but a demon among the devils, gave a response to Solomon. He assured the king that he would bring the queen’s throne in a twinkling, which he did, miraculously. Solomon was grateful to the Lord God who gave him this favour.

Solomon played a trick by changing Sheba’s throne and posed a question whether that throne was hers or not. Sheba answered, “It looks as though it were the same.” Solomon exalted himself saying that he was endowed with knowledge and that before she left, she must submit to the Lord God. He described her as a poor Queen who was under the control of false gods, and her country as unbelieving. As a result, Sheba became a convert to Christianity.

Afterwards, Sheba was allowed to enter Solomon’s palace, which she did naked. She was astonished by the beauty of the palace, the floors of which in her own words resembled a pool of water. On his part, Solomon described the palace as a palace paved with glass.

In her departing words, Sheba said, “Lord, I have sinned against my own. Now I submit with Solomon to God, Lord of the Universe”, the Quran concludes.

One can easily understand from both the Bible and the Quran that the story of the legendary queen was told in different ways. While the Bible acknowledges the unique and unparalled wisdom of Solomon, the Quran on its part, reveals that Solomon had supernatural power which enabled him to know the languages of the birds and a power to control and instruct the jinns, the demons. Sheba’s identity and the location of her kingdom were also not mentioned in the two scriptures.

The country Sheba or Saba, whose name means Host of Heaven and Peace was Abyssinia, located in southwest Arabia on the eastern tip of the red sea. Sheba occupied 483,000 sq. miles (1,250,000 sq. kilometers) of mountains, valley and deserts in the area of present day Yemen. Some historians claim that Ethiopia, on the western end of the Red Sea, was also part of Sheba’s territory.

Sheba was a wealthy country, advanced in irrigation techniques and hydraulic power. Its people, the Sabaens, built dams as high as sixty feet (20 meters) and large earthen weir which contributed to their thriving agriculture and beautiful gardens. Rich in gold and other precious stones, as well as incense and exotic spices sought by neighbouring kingdoms, Sheba engaged in a lucrative caravan trade. By 1000 B.C., camels frequently traveled the 1400 miles (2,250 km) up the “Incense Road” and along the Red Sea to Israel.

The spices of Sheba were highly prized. Frankincense, an offering to the gods, was heaped on funeral pyres, and given as an antidote for poison, and as a cure for chest pains, hemorrhoids, and paralysis. Myrrh, an ingredient in fragrant oils and cosmetics, was used in preparing bodies for burial; for healing ear, eye, and nose ailments; and inducing menstruation. Other Sabaen spices were saffron, cumin, aloes, and galbanum.

The Sabeans have been described as a tall and commanding people, both woolly haired and straight-haired. Semitic in origin, they are believed to have been descendants of the Cush of the Bible. The sacred Ethiopian book which establishes the founder of the Ethiopian dynasty as the son of Solomon and Sheba, suggests that the Sabeans were black. “Ye are black of face -- but if God illumineth your hearts, nothing can endure you,” priest Azariah says to the Queen and her people in the Kibrenegest (The Chronicles of the Ethiopian Emperors).

Because of its isolation, Sheba was secure from military invasion for at least 500 years, and was independent and at peace with its neighbours during the 10th and 11th century B.C. History reveals that at least five kings preceded the Queen of Sheba, among them Iti’amra and Karibi-ilu. Yet Arabian documents portray all of Arabia as matriarchal and ruled by queens for over 1000 years. In Ethiopia, the Kibrenegest refers to a law established in Sheba that only a woman could reign and that she must be a virgin queen.

The earliest known Arabian temple was at Marib, capital of Sheba, and was called Mahram Bilques, “precincts of the Queen of Sheba”. In Arab law, this queen was named Bilques of Balkis; in Ethiopia, she was called Makda (also Magda, Maqda, and Makera), meaning “Greatness”. Years later, the historian, Josephus, referred to her as Nikaulis, queen of Ethiopia and Egypt.

According to the free Wikipedia, the Queen of Sheba, referred to in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran, and Ethiopian history, was the ruler of the ancient kingdom of Sheba. The actual location of the historical kingdom is disputed between Ethiopia and Yemen.
Known to the Ethiopian people as Makeda, which, in Ethiopic languages, means "pillow", she has been called a variety of names by different peoples in different times. In Islamic tradition she was Bilqis. To King Solomon of Israel she was the Queen of Sheba. She supposedly lived in the 10th century BC.

In the Old Testament genealogy of the nations (Genesis 10:7), Sheba, along with Dedan, is listed as one of the descendants of Noah's son Ham (as son of Raamah, son of Cush, son of Ham).

Ethiopian and Eritrean Account

The imperial family of Ethiopia claims its origin directly from the offspring of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.

The etymology of her name is uncertain, but there are two principal opinions about its source. One group, which includes the British scholar Edward Ullendorff, holds that it is a corruption of "Candace", the Ethiopian queen mentioned in the New Testament Acts; the other group connects the name with Macedonia, and relates this story to the Ethiopian legends about Alexander the Great.

The Italian scholar Carlo Conti Rossini, however, was unconvinced by either of these theories and believed the matter unresolved.

The Ethiopian narrative Kebra Negast ('the Glory of Kings'), is supposed to record the history of Makeda and her descendants. King Solomon is said in this account to have seduced the Queen, and sired a son by her, who would eventually become Menelik I, the first Emperor of Ethiopia.

The account given - which has no parallel in the original Biblical story - is that during one of the Queen's visits, King Solomon said she could not take anything without asking first. That night, after eating a spicy meal the king had given her, the Queen of Sheba experienced a great thirst and drank the cup of water next to her without asking. When King Solomon found out, he demanded that she sleep with him as punishment.

The tradition that the Biblical Queen of Sheba was a ruler of Ethiopia who visited King Solomon in Jerusalem in ancient Israel is supported by the 1st century AD Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, who identified Solomon’s visitor as a queen of Egypt and Ethiopia.

While there are no traditions of matriarchal rule in Yemen during the early first millennium BC, the earliest inscriptions of the rulers of D'mt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea mention queens of very high status, possibly equal to their kings.

For the Ethiopian Monarchy, the Solomonic/Sheba lineage was of considerable political and cultural importance. Ethiopia had been converted to Christianity by Egyptian Copts, and the Coptic Church strove for centuries to keep the Ethiopians in dependant and subservient condition, which the Ethiopian Emperors greatly resented.

The Solomonic descent made the Ethiopians senior by far to the Copts, their involvement in Biblical affairs long predating Christianity itself. Indeed, since The New Testament starts with Jesus' genealogy back to Kings David and Solomon, the Ethiopian Emperors were in effect Jesus' own cousins (albeit distant ones).

Christian Interpretations

The Queen of Sheba is mentioned as the "Queen of the South" in the Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31 in the New Testament, where Jesus indicates that she and the Ninevites will judge the generation of Jesus' contemporaries who rejected him.

Christian interpretations of the Queen of Sheba scriptures in the Hebrew Bible typically have emphasized both the historical and metaphorical values in the story. The account of the Queen of Sheba can be interpreted as Christian metaphor and analogy. The Queen's visit to Solomon has been compared to the metaphorical marriage of the Church to Christ where Solomon is the anointed one or messiah and Sheba represents a Gentile population submitting to the messiah.

The Queen of Sheba's chastity has also been depicted as a foreshadowing of the Virgin Mary, and the three gifts that she brought (gold, spices and stones) have been seen as analogous to the gifts of the Magi (gold, frankincense, and myrrh), which is consistent with a passage from Isaiah 60:6; And they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring forth gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord.

Medieval Depictions

Art in the Middle Ages depicting the visit of the Queen of Sheba includes the Portal of the Mother of God at the 13th Century Amiens Cathedral, which is included as an analogy as part of a larger depiction of the gifts of the Magi. The 12th century cathedrals at Strasbourg, Chartres, Rochester and Canterbury include artistic renditions in such elements as stained glass windows and door jamb decorations.

Renaissance Depictions

Renaissance relief of the Queen of Sheba meeting Salomo (gate of Florence Baptistry)

Boccaccio's On Famous Women (Latin: De Mulieribus Claris) follows Josephus in calling her Nicaula. Boccaccio goes on to explain that not only was she the queen of Ethiopia and Egypt, but also the queen of Arabia. She supposedly also had a grand palace on "a very large island" called Menroe which was located someplace on the Nile "practically on the other side of the world."

From here Nicaula crossed the deserts of Arabia, through Ethiopia and Egypt, and up the coast of the Red Sea, to come to Jerusalem to see the great King Solomon. Boccaccio also explains that Nicaula was also known as the Queen of Sheba in the "Sacred Scriptures".

Christine de Pizan's The Book of the City of Ladies continues the convention of calling the Queen of Sheba, Nicaula. Piero della Francesca's frescoes in Arezzo (ca 1466) on the Legend of the True Cross, contain two panels on the visit of the Queen of Sheba to Solomon. The legend links the beams of Solomon's palace (adored by Queen of Sheba) to the wood of the crucifixion. The Renaissance continuation of the metaphorical view of the Queen of Sheba as an analogy to the gifts of the Magi is also clearly evident in the Triptych of the Adoration of the Magi, ca. 1510 by Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch chooses to depict a scene of the Queen of Sheba and Solomon in an ornately decorated collar worn by one of the Magi For some reason, the Queen of Sheba is usually depicted as having hairy feet, or being entirely covered in hair, thousands of years after the fact. Marlowe's Doctor Faustus refers to the Queen of Sheba as "Saba", when Mephistopheles is trying to persuade Faustus of the wisdom of the women with whom he shall supposedly be presented every morning.

Modern Theories

A theory has been voiced that the meeting between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba was not for love or admiration but a discussion about trade. According to the Bible, Solomon built a fleet of ships at Ezion-geber. The theory is that Solomon intended to routinely sail to East Africa and there trade, bypassing the South Arabian kingdom of Sheba which previously acted as middleman in this trade.

In Popular Culture

In Britain and Canada, there is a common colloquial remark "And I'm the Queen of Sheba" or "If (that is so), then I'm the Queen of Sheba", meaning "I do not believe that statement".

Another common colloquial usage in the UK and North America is to poke fun at another person who has dressed up fancily, or has perhaps displayed superior behavioral traits, resulting in someone remarking, "Who does she think she is, The Queen of Sheba?".

Songs

• Bonnie Raitt makes a reference to the Queen of Sheba in the song "Thing Called Love" by saying "Baby, you know I ain't no Queen of Sheba." The song was written by John Hiatt.

• Dolly Dots makes a reference to The Queen of Sheba in the song "Leila Queen of Sheba" by saying "this day about a story talk by Leila Queen of Sheba"

• Cassandra Wilson refers to the Queen of Sheba as Makeda in the second verse of the song "Solomon Sang".

• Nas makes a reference to the Queen of Sheba in the song "Big Girl" from his Nastradamus CD, saying "I need her, I'll eat her / Do anything to please her / My ghetto queen of Sheba".

• Les Nubians make reference to the Queen of Sheba as the subject of their song "Makeda"

• Jandek refers to the Queen of Sheba in the song "Sheba Doesn't Have". ("The Queen of Sheba/Doesn’t have nothing on you/You dance on my necktie/Like it was your tattoo/i fall on my face here and dribble all about"). Its on Newcastle Sunday recorded live at the Sage Gateshead in Newcastle.

• The Poor Righteous Teachers include the Queen of Sheba in a list of important black women throughout history in the film clip to their song "Shakiyla"

• The Raii musician Cheb Khaled also describes Aicha's glamor as that of the Queen of Sheba, "Elle est passée a cote de moi. Sans un regard, Reine de Sabbat."

• The Norwegian blues-rock band "Divin´Ducks", have a song called "Queen of Sheba". Where they sing about the queen of Sheba and King Solomon.

• World Wide Message Tribe has a song titled "Return of the Queen of Sheba" on their 1997 titled album “Revived”.

• The Queen of Sheba is referred to in U2's newly released song "Wave of Sorrow", which was originally written during the 1980s as a reflection of lead singer Bono's experiences volunteering with the Ethiopian famine.

Operas

• George Frideric Handel, oratorio Solomon (1749). The Act III symphony is entitled 'The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba' and is probably the best known piece from this work.

• Charles Gounod, Reine de Saba (1862)

• Karl Goldmark, Die Königin von Saba (1875)

Ballets

• Ottorino Respighi, Belkis, regina di Saba (1930–31)

Movies

• Queen of Sheba's Pearls (2004), starring Nathan Eby and Swedish actress Helena Bergström, who played the Princess of Sheba.

• The Queen of Sheba (1921), starring Betty Blythe.

• Solomon and Sheba (1959), starring Yul Brynner and Gina Lollobrigida.

• The Queen of Sheba Meets the Atom Man (1963), directed by Ron Rice

• Solomon and Sheba (1995), starring Halle Berry

Books

• Wisdom's Daughter: A Novel of Solomon and Sheba (2005), written by India Edghill.

• Small explicitly sexual role in American Gods (2002), as Bilquis, written by Neil Gaiman.

• "Queen of Sheba and Biblical Scholarship", written by Dr Bernard Leeman, Queensland Academic Press 2005, (3rd edition 2007) ISBN 0-9758022-0-8

• "Sheba: Through the Desert in Search of the Legendary Queen" (2001), written by Nicholas Clapp

• Brief appearance in The Temptation of Saint Anthony (1874), by Flaubert

• "Sandstorm", a novel written by James Rollins. The Queen of Sheba is featured prominently.

• "Queen Sheba's Ring" (1910), by H. Rider Haggard.

• The Butterfly that Stamped: one of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, featuring the queen "wise Balkis of Sheba" who is said to be married to the polygamist King Solomon son of David. She is the only one of 1000 wives who does not quarrel with Solomon, out of her adoration for him, and so is herself sad when the incessant quarrels of the other 999 wives saddens their husband. She eventually tricks Solomon into making all the other queens frightened of his power, so that they will not argue again.

• "Menachem's seed", a novel published by Carl Djerassi in 1996 features the Queen of Sheba, when Menachem—the main male character of the novel—uses his interpretation of Solomon's relationship to the Queen as a vehicle to impress Melanie—the main female character.

• Made mention to briefly in The English Patient (1993) by Michael Ondaatje

Poems

• "Poem for Flora" by Nikki Giovanni

• "Solomon to Sheba" by W.B. Yeats

Sport

• Queen of the South, a football club in Scotland.

Ralph Ellis, the author of the book mentioned above, in Chapter III states: “Current opinions give two possible locations for the lands and kingdom of Sheba. The Kebrenegest (the Chronicle of the Egyptian Kings) and the sum of the biblical texts place Sheba in the heart of the Egyptian highlands, while the historical fraternity have instead located her capital in the land of Saba, which lies in modern Yemen.”

He elaborates by saying that the modern name for this area, Saba, is the Republic of Yemen, but 2000 years ago, a small section of the highlands, which lie just to the north of modern Aden, was called Saba, and this region was the home of the famous Sabean nation.

After making some statements and analyses full of contradictions and wild guesses, the author poses a question saying that “If this analysis seems to seriously undermine the classical interpretations for the history of the Queen of Sheba, and if the location of Ethiopia is equally unlikely as her homeland – as will be shown later – then exactly where did this illustrious Queen come from?”

After juggling unnecessary comparisons, wild speculation with no physical evidence, his usual belittling of the historical significance of the Bible, Ralph Ellis quotes the Prophet Isaiah who said of the patriarch Jacob, and the lands that he controlled.

For I am the Lord thy Lord… I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia, and Seba for thee (Bible, Isaiah 43:3).

In the new international version of the Holy Bible, this point has been further elaborated thus: “… I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush (that is, the Upper Nile region) and Seba in your stead.” (ibid)

Ellis’ argument here on this point appears to be sensible and strong, instead of his previous weak arguments. But again the problem is that Seba and Sheba are quite different. I leave this point of the argument for theologians and historians to ponder and offer us a resolution.

A final point: To quote Ellis at length again: “This explanation would make some sense; Jacob was being given Lower Egypt (Seba) and Ethiopia but he had no control over Upper Egypt, and this explanation concurs with our knowledge of Ethiopian history. As is mentioned in many Egyptian texts, the Hyksos Pharoahs (the Pharaoh Jacob) presided over an alliance of both Lower Egypt and Ethiopia in their battle for Upper Egypt. In this case, Isaiah was right and Jacob had forfeited Egypt (Thebes and Upper Egypt), but was given the lands of Seba (Avaris, Memphis, and Lower Egypt) and Ethiopia.

So then what shall we say? Can we conclude that ancient Ethiopia was part of Egypt?