Amleset Negash G.Hiwet
Source:https://shabait.com
Prehistoric Eritrea
More than 100,000 years ago, early humans (Homo sapiens) began to transcend through the Bab el-Mandeb, toward Asia and Europe. Because of these ancient migrations, Eritrea served as one of the major corridors through which early humans moved and eventually spread to other regions of the world. Archaeological and paleoanthropological research has revealed numerous prehistoric sites across the Danakil Depression of Eritrea, including Buia, Engel-Ella, Ramod, Mulhuli-Amo, Dioli, Aalad, Abdur, and Asfet. These sites contain tools, traces of settlements, and ritual or burial remains. Moreover, in the Gash–Barka area, particularly in Akurdet, ancient settlement sites have been discovered. These sites, some thousands of years old, provide valuable insight into early human life in the region.
Origin and Composition of the Eritrean People
The people of Eritrea constitute a single community characterized by diverse cultures, religions, and languages. Over time, migration and settlement brought together many groups, creating a population with Semitic, Cushitic, and Nilotic roots. Despite their different origins, long coexistence has prevented sharp divisions. Communities share many cultural practices, customs, and social traditions, even as they preserve their own languages and heritage. As a result, Eritrea has a rich, interconnected cultural and intellectual tradition. Across generations, Eritreans are better distinguished by linguistic differences than by their origins— heritages that have been preserved, exchanged, and continually reshaped through interaction.
Eritrean Kingdoms
Across various historical periods and geographic zones, numerous kingdoms arose within Eritrea, each possessing its own distinct cultural and political characteristics. These polities, shaped by differing regional conditions and historical trajectories, developed unique traditions and institutions. Several exerted profound influence on the broader civilizational landscape of the Horn of Africa.
The Kingdom of Punt
The Kingdom of Punt, flourishing around 2500 Before the Common Era (BCE), occupied the broader Red Sea region encompassing parts of modern Eritrea, Sudan, Djibouti, and extending toward Egypt.
The Adulis Civilization
Adulis is renowned for its advanced civilization, both in the region and beyond. It dominated the Eritrean Red Sea coast and established state-like institutions with comprehensive systems. Adulis formed an independent polity, characterized by a robust political economy and technological advancement. It was a strategically important city on the Eritrean coast, dating back to around the 2nd millennium BC until the 7th century AD, making Adulis one of the most advanced ancient civilizations in the world. Its influence extended to numerous civilizations and kingdoms in Eritrea and the broader region that emerged in later periods. Scientific evidence reveals that the Adulis civilization was a sphere of influence with an autonomous, structurally complex polity. This included a hierarchical administrative system, unique architectural engineering, early industrialization, developed commercial networks, and the capitalization of both human and material resources.
As a center of trade, Adulis accounted for 70% of all gold coins found in the northern Horn of Africa. It employed diverse powers, including political, religious, and economic structures, and dominated exports such as aromatics (frankincense), ivory, gold, exotic animals, and military assets.
Adulis expanded its role in global trade and became a strategic exporter of military technology— most notably, war elephants. The city trained African elephants and supplied them to Hellenistic powers during the Ptolemaic period. Its material science, technological sophistication, urban engineering, Red Sea trade networks, and infrastructure laid the foundation for the rise of subsequent civilizations, most notably the Kingdom of D’mt and the Aksumite Kingdom.
The Kingdom of D’mt (Da’amat)
Around 1000 BCE, Sabaean peoples from South Arabia migrated into Eritrea. After initially settling on the Dahlak Islands, they moved to the highland and inhabited areas such as Adulis, Tokhonda, Qohayto, Kes- Kese, and Metera. The Kingdom of Dʿmt emerged roughly between the 10th and 5th centuries BCE in the Horn of Africa. These communities established the Kingdom, one of the earliest organized states in the region.
The South Arabian-influenced ceramics and early ironworking constitute archaeological evidence supporting the role of Adulis during the Dʿmt Kingdom. Adulis linked the Dʿmt highlands to South Arabia’s trade networks, functioning as an essential port that facilitated trade between South Arabia and North Africa.
The kingdom extended from Adulis inland toward the highlands, with Adulis functioning as a minor but strategic trade outpost linking the highlands to the Red Sea. The Sabaean-related populations contributed advanced traditions in architecture, epigraphy, political administration, agriculture, and religion. Their kingdom maintained significant diplomatic and commercial ties with major contemporary civilizations, including Rome, Greece, and Meroe (in present-day Sudan).
The Decline of the Aksumite Kingdom
Through territorial expansion and the incorporation of earlier regional centers, the Kingdom of Aksum developed into a highly organized and influential polity. During its formative centuries, it drew strength from cities such as Qohayto, Tokhonda, Metera, Kes- Kese, and Aksum itself. As Aksum grew, it extended its influence north toward Meroe and the Blue Nile, south into the Agew highlands, and across the Red Sea toward South Arabia. Aksum was a civilization of exceptional cultural and intellectual sophistication.
Its achievements included monumental architecture, the advancement of the Geʿez script, coin minting, religious manuscripts, philosophical and exegetical writing, medical treatises, musical poetry (zema), mathematical works, lexicographical compilations, grammatical codices, and legal literature. By the 7th century CE, however, several destabilizing forces contributed to Aksum’s decline. The Persian’ invasion (modern Iranian) of the Arabian Gulf and the rise of the Kingdom of Beja disrupted established trade networks. Shifts in regional commerce, combined with increasing economic pressures and agricultural challenges, accelerated the kingdom’s weakening and eventual collapse.
Importance of Adulis
During the Aksumite Kingdom, Adulis became the principal port, connecting inland Aksum to the Red Sea trade networks, the Roman- Byzantine world, South Arabia (Himyar and Saba), Persia, and India. It served as a trading hub, military base, and administrative center under Aksum’s centralized governance. There is archaeological evidence, such as monumental architecture, Greek and Geʿez inscriptions, and the Monumentum Adulitanum, which documents military campaigns. Particularly, its role in the Indian Ocean trade is well documented (Periplus, archaeology).
The Evolution of Religious Traditions
Before the arrival of Christianity and before the 4th century CE, the peoples of Eritrea practiced various indigenous, nature-based belief systems. With the emergence of Islam in 610 CE, the Prophet Muhammad and his followers faced severe persecution from the Quraysh in Mecca. In 615 CE, about 15–17 of his earliest followers fled to Eritrea(then part of the Aksumite realm) seeking refuge; later, around 100 followers joined them. This movement is known as the First Hijra (migration). Islam thus entered Eritrea peacefully—through asylum rather than conquest—making Eritrea one of the earliest places in the world to shelter followers of the new faith. They constructed a mosque, known as Mosque Al- Sahaba, in Massawa.
The mosque may have been built in the 620s or 630s ACE by early Muslims who reached the Aksumite Red Sea coast and sought refuge under the Christian king, while others claim that it has originated in the early 7th century ACE. The early Muslim believers were presumed to have been settled in Massawa.
The Beja Kingdoms and the Spread of Islam (8th–16th Centuries)
Following the decline of Aksum, the Beja emerged as prominent political actors, expanding their influence across large areas of Eritrea. Several Beja polities governed different regions:
- Naq’is (Naqis): comprised of Hedareb and Mensa extending toward the southern part of Egypt.
- Baqlin (Baqlini): Extended from the Rora to central Barka, known for its vast livestock economy.
- Bazin: An agricultural kingdom centered around Nara and Kunama lands.
- Jarin: Stretched from the Red Sea coast inland toward upper Barka and southward toward Somalia, including influence over the Dahlak Islands.
- Qota: Extended from Batsie toward Failu, combining coastal and inland strategic zones.
Although politically autonomous, these Beja kingdoms left a shared cultural heritage visible today through archaeological remnants— for example, monumental tombs, stone structures, and ceremonial sites at the Belew Kelew site.
Invasion of Ahmad Gragn
When Ahmad Gragn launched military campaigns against the Abyssinian monarchy, the Abyssinian monarchy sought assistance from Portugal. In response, Ahmad Gragn secured support from the Ottoman Empire. Despite commanding an army of approximately 900 soldiers, he ultimately failed to defeat the Abyssinian army. He was eventually killed in battle. As a result, the Ottomans continued to pursue dominance over the Red Sea region. In the 16th century, they seized Suakin and Massawa (1517) and dispatched forces in 1557 to expand further inland. Their attempts to extend power into the Eritrean highlands met resistance from the Bahri Negassi, who initially repelled the Ottomans. Later, however, political alliances between the Bahri Negassi and the Ottomans strained relations with the Abyssinian monarchy. Over the centuries, Eritreans endured successive layers of foreign rule, shifting from one imperial influence to another until the late 20th century.
Eritrea from the 16th to the 19th Century
From the 16th century onward, the Red Sea coast fell under direct Ottoman rule. The western lowlands were governed by regional powers, most notably the Funj, the Sudanese Kingdom. The Ottomans administered the coastal territories through the Egyptian Khedivate, which later came under increasing European, particularly Italian, control. In 1890, Italy formally declared Eritrea a colony, marking the beginning of modern Eritrean political institutions, as all other African nations.
Modern Eritrea
Italian colonial rule lasted from 1890 to 1941. After Italy’s defeat in the Second World War, Eritrea came under British Military Administration from 1941 to 1951. That year, the United Nations placed Eritrea into a federation with Ethiopia, for the superpowers’ strategic interest. In 1961, the Ethiopian monarchy dismantled the federal arrangement, violating the constitution established under UN mandate. In 1962, Ethiopia annexed Eritrea as a province, abolishing its autonomy. In response, Eritreans launched an armed struggle for independence in 1961. The struggle continued until 1991, when Eritrea was liberated. Conducting a referendum to legitimize its political process in 1993, Eritrea began building its political, economic, and social institutions as a sovereign state.
Ostensible Campaign and Bellicose Rhetoric
Over the past three years, media discourse has increasingly been shaped by romanticized and excessively glorified political narratives propagated by the Potemkin Party— narratives that significantly diverge from historical reality. This engineered collective memory seeks to elevate certain political actors while obscuring the authentic historical processes that have shaped the Horn of Africa. The long-standing, mythologized notion of “Red Sea Influence” has become a central pillar of this revisionist project. Such myth-making, rooted in the denial of Ethiopia’s internal vulnerabilities, political fragmentation, institutional weaknesses, and persistent governance failures, continues to distort regional analysis. As a result, the Potemkin Party represents an ongoing and significant threat to regional security and stability.
Distortion of History
Menelik II possessed an expansionist doctrine, guarded by religious rhetoric—a legacy inherited from his predecessors. In his pursuit of a sea outlet, he wrote numerous letters to what he referred to as “civilized Europe,” requesting access to the sea that he had been deprived of for years. He even suggested exchanging the Harar for a port, though the French did not offer the port. Instead, they proposed selling him firearms as a compromised solution to his desperate needs. Menelik II expanded his territorial annexation inland, eventually leading to the creation of modern-day Ethiopia.
In 1891, Menelik II wrote to the governments of Britain, Italy, France, Germany, and the Czar of Russia, invoking religious arguments to secure a sea outlet. His letters, however, yielded no fruitful outcomes. In these letters, Menelik II claimed, “I shall re-establish the ancient frontiers of Ethiopia up to Khartoum (i.e., the Nile) and as far as Lake Nyanza.” Driven by expansionism and a desire for coastal access, Menelik II’s ambitions were passed down to his political heirs in what is now Ethiopia.
Shallow Foundations
Historical evidence reveals the origins of these distortions. The Potemkin Party in Addis Ababa now rewrites history by asserting that the subsequent treaties of 1900, 1902, and 1908— concluded between Italy, Britain, and Menelik II—were imposed through “coercion and legal misrepresentation,” resulting in complex territorial demarcations. Consequently, even the 2002 Algiers Agreement remains contentious, as it is grounded in the same colonial-era treaties. Such claims represent a deliberate attempt to manipulate history for political gain.
After signing the Treaty of Wuchale, which enabled Italian expansion into Eritrean territories, Menelik II grew concerned about Italy’s broader colonial ambitions, particularly in the south, which conflicted with his own expansionist aims. However, he showed little genuine interest in Eritrea itself, even after Italy’s defeat at the Battle of Adwa. At the time, Ethiopia was still undergoing internal political consolidation, and although Italian forces were weakened, Menelik preferred to return to Addis Ababa rather than advance further into Eritrea.
Following Menelik’s reign, Empress Zewditu and, later, Haile Selassie continued expansionist policies, extending their claims to Jimma (1933) and the Ogaden (1935). Thus, today’s ostensible campaigns and bellicose rhetoric about “access to the sea” are historically unfounded projections—driven more by insecurity and political anxiety than by legitimate historical or legal rights.
For over a century, from Abyssinia to present-day Ethiopia, all emperors, kings, and leaders have employed the political card of “outlet to the sea,” a destabilizing force in the Horn of Africa. The core of this historical distortion lies in Haile Selassie’s ideological assertion that “Eritrea is inherently part of Ethiopia,” a belief with no historical foundation, which remained shallow. This claim continues to shape the Potemkin Party’s political discourse. Contemporary rhetoric surrounding a supposed “Red Sea ownership vision” is rooted not in international law but in psychological insecurity, designed to preserve personal pride amid political decline.
The Eritrean Response
Throughout history, the Eritrean people have demonstrated a coherent and sustained understanding of their identity and political interests, independent of the Potemkin Party’s shifting political landscape. They have consistently rejected narratives that seek to undermine their sovereignty or misrepresent their historical experience. Despite the pressures and challenges imposed by regional political dynamics, Eritreans have remained grounded in their analysis and historically informed. They have refused to internalize externally manufactured distortions or relinquish their collective historical memory. Their vigilance, discipline, and unwavering commitment to sovereignty continue to shape their engagement in the region, even in the face of an ongoing campaign of historical manipulation.
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