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Amhara people

February 15, 2024

Amharas (Amharic: አማራ, romanized: Āmara;[11] Ge'ez: ዐምሐራ, romanized: ʾÄməḥära)[12] are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara Region. According to the 2007 national census, Amharas numbered 19,867,817 individuals, comprising 26.9% of Ethiopia's population, and they are mostly Oriental Orthodox Christian (members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church).[1]

Amharas
አማራ (Amharic)
ዐምሐራ (Ge'ez)
Portrait of old Amhara man
Regions with significant populations
 Ethiopia19,870,651 (2007)[1]
 United States195,260[2]
 Canada18,020[3][4][5]
 United Kingdom8,620[6]
 Australia4,515[7]
 Finland1,515[8]
Languages
Amharic
Religion
Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church) • Islam (Sunni) • Judaism (Haymanot)[9]
Related ethnic groups
Agaw • Argobba • Beta Israel • Gurage • Tigrayans • Tigrinya • Zay • other Ethiosemitic and Cushitic peoples[10]

They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriate community, particularly in North America.[2][13] They speak Amharic, an Afro-Asiatic language of the Semitic branch which serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia.[14] As of 2018, Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers.[15]

The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea, more specifically the diaspora refer to themselves as "Habesha" (Abyssinian) people.[16][17][18][19][20]

Historically, the Amhara held significant political position in the Ethiopian Empire. They were at the origin of the Solomonic dynasty and all the Solomonic emperors were Amhara with the exception of Yohannes IV since the rise of the dynasty in 1270.[21][22]

Origin

The earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the land of Wargih[23] against the Wärjih in 1128 AD.[24]

A non-contemporary 13th or 14th century hagiographical source from Saint Tekle Haymanot traces Amhara even further back to the mid 9th century AD as a location.[25]

Ethnogenesis

Amharic is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage, Argobba and others.[26][27][28] Some time before the 1st century AD, the North and South branches of Ethio-Semitic diverged.[28][29] Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Semitic language and mixed with the Semitic population.[30][31][32][33] Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum.[34][35] The proto-Amhara, or the northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions.[36][37] A 7th century southward shift of the center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic.[38][39][40] By about the 9th century AD, there was a linguistically distinct ethnic group called the Amhara in the area of Bete Amhara.[29]

Etymology

The origin of the Amhara name is debated. A popular Folk etymology traces it to amari ("pleasing; beautiful; gracious") or mehare ("gracious"). Another popular etymology claims that it derives from Ge'ez ዐም (ʿam, "people") and ሐራ (ḥara, "free" or "soldier").[41]

 
Yekuno Amlak founder of the Ethiopian Empire

History

Main article: History of Ethiopia

"Amhara" was historically a medieval province located in the modern province of Wollo (Bete Amhara), the area which is now known as the Amhara Region was composed of several provinces which had little or no autonomy, these provinces included Dembiya, Begemder, Gojjam, Wollo, Lasta, Shewa, Semien, Angot and Wag.[42]

Evidence of a traceable Christian Aksumite presence in Amhara dates back to at least the 9th century AD, when the Istifanos monastery was erected on Lake Hayq.[43] Several other sites and monuments indicate the presence of similar Axumite influences in the area, such as the Geta Lion statues, which are located 10 km south of Kombolcha, and are believed to date back to the 3rd century AD, though they may even date back to pre-Axumite times.[44][45]

In 1998, ancient pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo, in Habru which is located to the south-east of Hayq, as well as to the north-east of Ancharo (Chiqa Beret). The decorations and symbols which are inscribed on the pottery substantiate the expansion of Aksumite civilization to the south of Angot.[46]

According to Karl Butzer "By 800, Axum had almost ceased to exist, and its demographic resources were barely adequate to stop the once tributary pastoralists of the border marches from pillaging the defenseless countryside." With some of the common people the Axumite elite abandoned Axum in favor of central Ethiopia.[47] Christian families gradually migrated southward into Amhara and northern Shewa. Population movement from the old provinces in the north into more fertile areas in the south seems to have been connected to the southward shift of the kingdom.[48]

The Christianization of Amhara is believed to have began in the late Aksumite period, as hinted in the missionary activities of King Degna Djan. The political importance of Amhara further increased after the fall of Aksum, which marked the shift of the political center of the Christian Ethiopian state from Aksum in the north to the Zagwe region of Lasta further inland.[49][50]

 
Emperor Zara Yaqob. The British historian, Edward Ullendorff, stated that Zara Yaqob "was unquestionably the greatest ruler Ethiopia had seen since Ezana, during the heyday of Aksumite power, and none of his successors on the throne – excepted only the Emperors Menelik II and Haile Selassie – can be compared to him".[51]

Solomonic Dynasty

Main articles: Ethiopian Empire and Solomonic Dynasty

Yekuno Amlak, a prince from Bete Amhara (lit: House of Amhara) claimed descent from Solomon,[52] and established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD.[53] Yekuno's rule was legitimatized by the Ethiopian Church, after he defeated the last ruler of the Zagwe dynasty at the Battle of Ansata.[54] The early rulers of the Solomonic Dynasty may of been referred to as the "kings of Amhara", due to the origin of their founder, Yekuno Amlak, and therefore, their followers were called "Amhara" and brought this new name with them when they conquered new lands. Characterized by a Christian feudal culture, and by the adoption of Amharic, which from became the lingua franca. This population of a rather small province became the dominant group in the empire.[55]

 
Lebna Dengel, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Cristofano dell'Altissimo

Around this time, Medieval Arab historians state that Christian Ethiopia was under the sovereignty of "the Lord of Amhara" which confirms that the new Solomonic dynasty appears to be stock of the Bete Amhara in the eyes of the contemporary. The Egyptian historian al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il in 704 Hijri (1304-1305 AD) labelled the Emperor of Abyssinia as al-Malik al-Amhari or "the Amhara King".[56] In 1436 Ibn Taghribirdi wrote a passage about the death of Emperor Yeshaq referring to him as the Lord of Amhara, "The Hatse, the Abyssinian king, the infidel and the Lord of the Amhara in Abyssinia died (in this year). His estates were much enlarged after wars waged and led by him against Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din, the Lord of the Jabarta."[56]

The cultural contact and interaction between the Amhara and the indigenous Agaw accelerated after the 14th century. As the Agaw adopted the Amharic language and converted to Orthodox Christianity, they increasingly succumbed to Amhara acculturation. Other South Semitic speakers like the Gafat and Argobba in Shewa also began to adopt Amharic and assimilate into Amhara society. By the end of the 16th century, the populations of Gojjam, Lasta and Begemder were almost completely made up of Christian Amharic speakers.[57]

Despite every work on Ethiopia stressing the political dominance of the Amhara people in the history of the Ethiopian Christian empire. In both Christian and Muslim written traditions up to the 19th century, and in the Ethiopian chronicles of the 14th to 18th centuries, the term "Amhara" is a region, not an ethnonym. In pre-17th century Ethiopia, Amhara was described as the heartland of the Empire and the cradle of the monarchy. Medieval European maps suggest that within the Ethiopian Empire, Amhara had a higher position as a "kingdom" among provinces. The Italian (Venetian) cartographer Fra Mauro, notes a Regno Hamara or "Kingdom of Amhara" in his famous Mappomondo in 1460. Important information on Amhara is provided in the Historia Aethiopica by Hiob Ludolf, the data of which came from Abba Gorgoryos, himself a native of Amhara. On the map of Historia Aethiopica, Amhara is situated between the Abay River to the west, the Bashilo River in the north, the Afar Depression to the east and the Awash River to the south. The province consisted of much of Wollo and northern Shewa, and encompassed the region of Lake Hayq and the famous Istifanos Monastery.[57]

 
Tewodros II, nəgusä nägäst

The Amhara monarchs moved continuously from region to region, showing a particular preference for the southernly regions of Ifat, Shewa and Dawaro until the political upheavals of the 16th century, after which the province of Begemder became home for the city of Gondar, royal capital for the Ethiopian polity from the 1630s to the mid-19th century. Within the broader territory of Amharic speakers, certain regions developed into autonomous political centers. To the south, beyond Lake Tana, the province of Gojjam developed a dynasty of rulers and became a powerful kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The district of Menz in Shewa became the center for the development of a political dynasty culminating in King Sahle Selassie, Emperor Menelik II and Emperor Haile Selassie.[58]

Through their control of the political center of Ethiopian society and via assimilation, conquests, and intermarriages, the Amhara have spread their language and many customs well beyond the borders of their primary homeland in Bete Amhara. This expansion served as a cohesive force, binding together the disparate elements of the larger Ethiopian polity. This cohesion proved crucial for the Ethiopian state as it engaged in the process of modern nation-building in the 19th century, thereby preserving its independence against potential threats from European colonial powers. Additionally, it facilitated various modernizing initiatives, including the abolition of the slave trade, the implementation of new communication and transportation systems, the establishment of schools and hospitals, and the creation of modern government institutions.[58]

 
1921 photo captioned "Amhara head of the guard of the Negus."
 
Menelik II, king of Shewa

Social stratification

Further information: Caste systems in Africa § Amhara people

Within traditional Amharic society and that of other local Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations, there were four basic strata. According to the Donald Levine, these consisted of high-ranking clans, low-ranking clans, caste groups (artisans), and slaves.[59][60] Slaves or rather servants were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were primarily drawn from the pagan Nilotic Shanqella and Oromo peoples.[61]

Also known as the barya (meaning "slave" in Amharic), they were captured during slave raids in Ethiopia's southern hinterland. War captives were another source of slaves, but the perception, treatment and duties of these prisoners was markedly different.[62] According to Levine, the widespread slavery in Greater Ethiopia formally ended in the 1930s, but former slaves, their offspring, and de facto slaves continued to hold similar positions in the social hierarchy.[63]

The separate Amhara caste system of people ranked higher than slaves was based on the following concepts: (1) endogamy, (2) hierarchical status, (3) restraints on commensality, (4) pollution concepts, (5) traditional occupation, and (6) inherited caste membership.[59][64] Scholars accept that there has been a rigid, endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among the Amharas and other Afro-Asiatic-speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups. Some label it as an economically closed, endogamous class system with occupational minorities,[65][66] whereas others such as David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelled as caste-based.[67][68][69]

Language

Main article: Amharic

The Amhara speak "Amharic" ("Amarigna", "Amarinya") as their mother tongue. Its native speakers account for 29.3% of the Ethiopian population.[70] It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and is the largest member of the Ethiopian Semitic group.[71] As of 2018 it had more than 57 million speakers worldwide (32,345,260 native speakers plus 25,100,000 second language speakers),[15] making it the most commonly-spoken language in Ethiopia in terms of first- and second-language speakers, and the second most spoken Semitic language after Arabic.

Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic.[72] Many followers of the Rastafari movement learn Amharic as a second language, as they consider it to be a sacred language.[73]

Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of the Ethiopian government, and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. It was for some time also the sole language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya. Nevertheless, Amharic is still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Gambela Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.[74] The Amharic language is transcribed using a script (Fidal) which is slightly modified from the Ethiopic or Ge'ez script, an abugida.

Religion

 
Crowds gather at the Fasilides' Bath in Gondar to celebrate Timkat – the Epiphany for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

For centuries, the predominant religion of the Amhara has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country. According to the 2007 census, 82.5% of the population of the Amhara Region was Ethiopian Orthodox; 17.2% of it was Muslim, 0.2% of it was Protestant (see P'ent'ay) and 0.5% of it was Jewish (see Beta Israel).[75]

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many feast days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may be eaten.

Marriages are often arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties.[76] Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20th century, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperial government. After a church wedding, divorce is frowned upon.[76] Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.

Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant. The mother and child remain in the house for 40 days after birth for physical and emotional strength. The infant will be taken to the church for baptism at 40 days (for boys) or 80 days (for girls).[77]

Culture

 
An example of Ge'ez taken from a 15th-century Ethiopian Coptic prayer book

Literature

Main article: List of Amharic writers

Surviving Amharic literary works dates back to the 14th century, when songs and poems were composed.[78] In the 17th century Amharic became the first African language to be translated into Latin[79] when Ethiopian priest and lexicographer Abba Gorgoryos (1595–1658) in 1652 AD made a European voyage to Thuringia in Germany. Gorgoryos along with his colleague and friend Hiob Ludolf co-authored the earliest grammar book of the Amharic language, an Amharic-Latin dictionary, as well as contributing to Ludolf's book "A History of Ethiopia".[80][81]

Modern literature in Amharic however, started two centuries later than in Europe, with the Amharic fiction novel Ləbb Wälläd Tarik, published in Rome in 1908, widely considered the first novel in Amharic, by Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus.[82] Amhara intellectual Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam pioneered African and Ethiopian theatre when he authored Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia, Africa's first scripted play.[83] Since then countless literature in Amharic has been published and many modern-day writers in Amharic translate their work into English for commercial reasons.[84]

Music

Main articles: List of musicians using Amharic vocals and Music of Ethiopia

Up until the mid 20th century, Amharic music consisted mainly of religious and secular folk songs and dances.[85]Qañat Amhara secular folk music developed in the countryside[86] through the use of traditionel instruments such as the masenqo, a one-string bowed lute; the krar, a six-string lyre; and the washint flute played by the local village musicians called the Azmaris,[87] and the peasantry dancing the Eskista; the most well known Amharan folk dance.[88] The begena, a large ten-string lyre; is an important instrument solely devoted to the spiritual part of Amhara music.[89] Other instruments includes the Meleket wind instrument, and the Kebero and Negarit drums.

From the 1950s onward foreign influence i.e. foreign educated Ethiopians and the availability of larger quantities of new instruments led to new genre's of Amharic music and ushered in the 1960s and 1970s Golden Age of Ethiopian music.[90][91] The popular Ethio-Jazz genre pioneered by Mulatu Astatke was created from the Tizita qañat of the Amhara combined with the use of Western instruments.[92] Saxophone legend Getatchew Mekurya instrumentalized the Amhara war cry Shellela into an genre in the 1950s before joining the Ethio-Jazz scene later in his career.[93][94] Other Amharic artists from the Golden age such as Asnaketch Worku, Bahru Kegne, Kassa Tessema and Mary Armede were renowned for their mastery of traditionel instruments.

The political turmoil during the Derg regime (1974-1991) led to censorship of music; night life came to a standstill through government imposed curfews and the curbing of musical performances. Notable Ethiopian musicians were jailed including those of Amhara descent such as Ayalew Mesfin and Telela Kebede.[95][96] A revival of Qene; Amharic poetic songs which uses double entendre known as sam-enna warq (wax and gold) was used for subversive dialogue and resistance to state censorship. Thousands of Ethiopians including musicians migrated during this period to form communities in different countries.[97][98]

Amharic songs of resistance against the autocratic EPRDF regime led by the TPLF (1991-2018) continued; with prevailing themes being rampant corruption, economic favoritism, excessive emphasis on ethnic identity and its ability to undermine national unity. Amharic musicians; such as Getish Mamo, Nhatty Man, Teddy Afro and others turned to the old tradition of sam-enna warq and used layered expression to evade skirt stringent censorship and oppressive laws (such as the anti-terror law) while reminding the people of their similarities and the importance of maintaining solidarity.[99]

In June 2022 Teddy Afro bashed Abiy Ahmed and his regime in a critical new song (Na'et), following the Gimbi massacre. In his song he tries to vent the suppressed public anger and indignation, the swelling public resentment to the chaos in the country.[100]

Art

 
A mural depicting Saint George in the church of Debre Berhan Selassie in Gondar.

Amhara art is typified by religious paintings. One of the notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures. It is usually oil on canvas or hide, some surviving from the Middle Ages. The Amhara art includes weaved products embellished with embroidery. Works in gold and silver exist in the form of filigree jewelry and religious emblems.[citation needed]

Kinship and marriage

The Amhara culture recognizes kinship, but unlike other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa region, it has a lesser role. Household relationships are primary, and the major economic, political and cultural functions are not based on kin relationships among the Amharas. Rather abilities of the individual matter. For example, states Donald Levine, the influence of clergy among the Amhara has been based on "ritual purity, doctrinal knowledge, ability to perform miracles and capacity to provide moral guidance".[17]: 120  The social relationships in the Amhara culture are predominantly based on hierarchical patterns and individualistic associations.[17]: 123 

Family and kin relatives are often involved in arranging semanya (eighty bond marriage, also called kal kidan), which has been most common and allows divorce.[101] Other forms of marriage include qurban, which is solemnized in church, where divorce is forbidden, and usually observed among the orthodox priests.[102][103] Patrilineal descent is the norm.[102] While the wife had no inheritance rights, in case a child was conceived during the temporary damoz marriage, the child could make a claim a part of the father's property.[103][104]

Cuisine

Main articles: Ethiopian cuisine and Wat (food)

Amhara cuisine consists of various vegetable or spicy meat side dishes and entrées, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour in the shape of pancakes usually of about 30 to 45 cm in diameter. When eating traditional injera dishes in groups, it's normally it eaten from a mesob (shared food basket), with each person breaking off pieces of injera flatbread using only the right hand, from the side nearest them and dipping it into stew in the center of the basket. There is also a great variety of vegetarian stews such as lentils, ground split peas, grains, accompanied by injera and/or bread.[105][106]

Amharas adhering to any of the Abrahmic religions do not eat pork or shellfish of any kind for religious reasons. Amhara Orthodox Christians do not consume meat and dairy products (i.e. egg, butter, milk, and cheese) during specific fasting periods, and on every Wednesdays and Fridays except the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. On all other days meat and dairy products are allowed. A variety of vegan dishes are consumed during fasting periods.[105][106]

Ethiopia is a Buna (coffee) exporter, but also has a very large domestic consumer base. During social gatherings Amharas drink Buna in a unique and traditional way known as a coffee ceremony. First the coffee is roasted, then ground and placed in a Jebena (coffee pot) with boiling water. When ready it is then served to people in little cups, up to three times per ceremony.[105][106]

The ceremony is typically performed by the woman of the household, or the female host and is considered an honor. Amhara women dress up for the occasion in a kemis, a traditional dress. Other locally produced beverages are tella (beer) and tej (honey wine), which are served and drunk on major religious festivals, Saints Days and weddings.[105][106]

  •  
    Doro Wot
    A stew dish served with beef, lamb, chicken, eggs and variety of vegetables, on top of Injera flatbread.
  •  
    Gored gored
    A spicy raw beef dish seasoned with a variety of spices.
  •  
    Tibs
    Grilled beef with tomato, onions and green peper. There are several variations of Tibs dishes.
  •  
    ful
    Beans with variety of vegetables, feta cheese and bread, flavored with Berbere spice and olive oil.
  •  
    Misir Wot
    Misir Wot is a Lentil stew, served with a variety of vegetables, there are several variations. This example is served potatoes, beets, apple, salad, paprika and rice atop of injera. A popular vegan dish.
  •  
    Tej
    Honey Wine.
  •  
    Buna
    Amhara coffee culture & hospitality. Young woman in traditional wear serving coffee.

Nature of Amhara ethnicity

Further information: Amhara nationalism

Mackonen Michael (2008)[107] noted that the Amhara identity is claimed to be composed of multiple ethnicities by some, whereas others "reject this concept and argue that Amhara exists as a distinctive ethnic group with a specific located boundary". He further noted that "although people from the Ethiopian highland areas think of themselves as Amharas, the Northern Shoans specifically call themselves Amhara. That is why the Oromo and Tigrian discourse associate the Northern Shoans as oppressive‐Amharas."[108]

According to Gideon P. E. Cohen, writing in 2000, there is some debate about "whether the Amhara can legitimately be regarded as an ethnic group, [...] given their distribution throughout Ethiopia, and the incorporative capacity of the group that has led to the inclusion of individuals from a wide range of ethnic or linguistic backgrounds".[109] Similarly, Tezera Tazebew notes that "the early 1990s was marked by debates, both popular and scholarly, on the (non-)existence of Amhara as a distinct ethnic group", giving the debate between the academic Mesfin Woldemariam and president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi in July 1991 as an example.[110]

Due to large amounts of assimilation into the northern Amhara culture after Ethiopian imperial expansion, Siegfried Pausewang concluded in 2005 that "the term Amhara relates in contemporary Ethiopia to two different and distinct social groups. The ethnic group of the Amhara, mostly a peasant population, is different from a mixed group of urban people coming from different ethnic background, who have adopted Amharic as a common language and identify themselves as Ethiopians".[111]

In a 2017 article, historian Brian J. Yates notes that some "scholars and politicians have attempted to sketch out what an Amhara is, but there are considerable divergences on the nature of this identity. Some argue that it is a cultural identity; however, much of the scholarship indicates that it is solely a class-based identity, devoid of ethnicity".[112]

Solomon Gashaw asserts that "there is no intra-Amhara ethnic consciousness, except among northern settlers in southern Ethiopia". He notes that most Amharic-speaking people identify by their place of birth. He asks, "what is Amhara domination?", answering: "It is a linguistic and cultural domination by a multi-ethnic group who speak Amharic".[113]

Writing in 1998, Tegegne Teka wrote that "the Amhara do not possess what people usually refer to as objective ethnic markers: common ancestry, territory, religion and shared experience except the language. The Amhara have no claims to a common ancestry. They do not share the same sentiments and they have no mutual interests based on shared understandings. It is, therefore, difficult to conclude that the Amhara belong to an ethnic group. But this does not mean that there is no Amhara identity".[114]

According to ethnographer Donald Levine, writing in 2003 and citing Christopher Clapham, "Only in the last quarter of the 20th cent. has the term [Amhara] come to be a common ethnic appellation, comparable to the way in which Oromo has become generalized to cover peoples who long knew themselves primarily as Boorana (Boräna), Guğği, Mäč̣č̣a and the like. Even so, Amharic-speaking Šäwans still feel themselves closer to non-Amharic-speaking Šäwans than to Amharic-speakers from distant regions like Gondär and there are few members of the Šäwan nobility who do not have Oromo genealogical links".[115] According to Takkele Taddese, Amharic-speakers tend to be a "supra-ethnic group" composed of "fused stock".[116] Taddese describes the Amhara as follows:

The Amhara can thus be said to exist in the sense of being a fused stock, a supra-ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt. The language, Amharic, serves as the center of this melting process although it is difficult to conceive of a language without the existence of a corresponding distinct ethnic group speaking it as a mother tongue. The Amhara does not exist, however, in the sense of being a distinct ethnic group promoting its own interests and advancing the Herrenvolk philosophy and ideology as has been presented by the elite politicians. The basic principle of those who affirm the existence of the Amhara as a distinct ethnic group, therefore, is that the Amhara should be dislodged from the position of supremacy and each ethnic group should be freed from Amhara domination to have equal status with everybody else. This sense of Amhara existence can be viewed as a myth.[116]

Ethnic consciousness in the past

In the 17th century, Abyssinian traveler Abba Gorgoryos states the following in a letter to his German friend Hiob Ludolf:

As to my origins, do not imagine, my friend, that they are humble, for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe; from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people, the governors, the military commanders, the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss, command and rule in the name of the King, his governors, and grandees. "[117]

On March 28, 1898, near Lake Rudolf, a first-hand account of Russian officer, Alexander Bulatovich, detailing hostile exchange of words between the Turkana people and Welde Giyorgis Aboye's forces, where Bulatovich was attached to as an advisor to the Ras.

*Amhara forces: We are from the sovereign of the Amhara Menelik.
Turkana tribe: We do not know Amhara-Menelik. Go away! Go away!

  • Turkana tribe: Who is this Amhara-Menelik to whom we are supposed to submit?
    Amhara forces: We are Amhara, and Menelik is our great king.[118]

The rise of ethnic consciousness and nationalism

Zola Moges notes the emergence of Amhara nationalism and ethnic consciousness with origins in the early 1990s but taking clearer shape with the establishment of the National Movement of Amhara in 2018 along with the rise of Fano ethnic militias in the 2010s. Moges writes that a "younger generation has adopted its 'Amharaness'; but most ordinary people are yet to fully embrace it, not least because of the lack of any effectively articulated ideological foundation or priorities and the absence of any 'tailor-made' solutions to the challenges facing them".[119]

Amanuel Tesfaye writes that: "While the older Amhara population still detest ethnic identification and ethnic forms of political organization, preferring pan-Ethiopian nationalism, the young have no problem pronouncing their Amhara identity, advocating for the protection and advancement of the rights and interests of their ethnic kin within the framework of the multi-nation state, and organizing politically along that particular ethnic identity".[120]

Amhara nationalism in the 2020's

Amhara nationalism, which was once seen as taboo, exploded during the Tigray War. Civilian's from the Amhara and Agew ethnic groups took up arms to defend the region from the TPLF rebel groups and take back the contested lands of Welkait-Tegede and Raya Azebo which were forcefully annexed and ethnically cleansed into Tigray by the TPLF in 1991. The joint militias from Wollo, Gojjam, Gonder, and Shewa unified as one under the name of Fano. Mistrust between the Amhara people and Abiy Ahmed's Prosperity Party heightened when Abiy Ahmed made the surprise decision to retreat from Tigray on July 1, 2021, leading to the TPLF aligned Tigray Defense Forces marching thorough cities in North Gonder, North Wollo, and Wag Hemra causing mass rape and destruction.

The Ethiopian National Defense Forces further severed their relationship with the Amhara Fano when they forced the Fano to disarm after the end of the Tigray war resulting in the beginning of the Amhara War in April 2023.

Wide spread attacks and mob killings of Amhara women and children by the Oromo Liberation Army and aligned Oromo nationalist groups in Oromia, specifically Wollega, for the past decade has caused widespread outrage around the Amhara region. This wave of violence has led to more Amharas turning towards Amhara nationalism to seek justice.

Genetics

Autosomal ancestry

Research shows that Amharas have a mixture of a type of native African ancestry unique and autochthonous to the Horn of Africa, as well as ancestry originating from a non-African back-migration. Pickrell et al. (2014) found that, among Ethiopians, west Eurasian ancestry peaks in the Amhara and Tigrayans at 49% and 50%, respectively.[121] Hodgson et al. (2014) found a distinct African ancestral component in Afro-Asiatic populations in the Horn (dubbed "Ethiopic")[122]

Studies comparing blood oxygenation in Amharas to nearby lowlands populations, and to the Andeans and Tibetans showed unique adaptations to living in a high altitude environment.[123][124]

Uniparental lineages

E1b1b, was found at 35.4% among the Amhara,[125] other studies however have found an almost equal representation of Haplogroup E1b1b at approximately 57% in both the Oromo and the Amhara.[126] Haplogroup J has been found to exist at levels as high as 35% in Amhara, of which about 94% (17% of total) is of the type J1, while 6% (1% of total) is of J2 type.[127]

Notable Amharas

A

B

D

E

F

G

H

I

K

L

M

N

P

S

T

W

Y

Z

See also

References

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Further reading

  • Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), Amharic Cultural Reader. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001. ISBN 3-447-04496-9.
  • Donald N. Levine, Wax & Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1972) ISBN 0-226-45763-X

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amhara people.
  • Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). . Ethiomedia.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2005.
  • People of Africa, Amhara Culture and History

See also

Further reading

  • Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), Amharic Cultural Reader. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001. ISBN 3-447-04496-9.
  • Donald N. Levine, Wax & Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1972) ISBN 0-226-45763-X

External links

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amhara people.
  • Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). . Ethiomedia.com. Archived from the original on 28 March 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2005.
  • People of Africa, Amhara Culture and History

February 15, 2024
amhara, people, amharas, amharic, አማራ, romanized, Āmara, ዐምሐራ, romanized, ʾÄməḥära, semitic, speaking, ethnic, group, which, indigenous, ethiopia, traditionally, inhabiting, parts, northwest, highlands, ethiopia, particularly, inhabiting, amhara, region, accor. Amharas Amharic አማራ romanized Amara 11 Ge ez ዐምሐራ romanized ʾAmeḥara 12 are a Semitic speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia particularly inhabiting the Amhara Region According to the 2007 national census Amharas numbered 19 867 817 individuals comprising 26 9 of Ethiopia s population and they are mostly Oriental Orthodox Christian members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church 1 Amharasአማራ Amharic ዐምሐራ Ge ez Portrait of old Amhara manRegions with significant populations Ethiopia19 870 651 2007 1 United States195 260 2 Canada18 020 3 4 5 United Kingdom8 620 6 Australia4 515 7 Finland1 515 8 LanguagesAmharicReligionChristianity Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Islam Sunni Judaism Haymanot 9 Related ethnic groupsAgaw Argobba Beta Israel Gurage Tigrayans Tigrinya Zay other Ethiosemitic and Cushitic peoples 10 They are also found within the Ethiopian expatriate community particularly in North America 2 13 They speak Amharic an Afro Asiatic language of the Semitic branch which serves as the main and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia 14 As of 2018 Amharic has over 32 million native speakers and 25 million second language speakers 15 The Amhara and neighboring groups in North and Central Ethiopia and Eritrea more specifically the diaspora refer to themselves as Habesha Abyssinian people 16 17 18 19 20 Historically the Amhara held significant political position in the Ethiopian Empire They were at the origin of the Solomonic dynasty and all the Solomonic emperors were Amhara with the exception of Yohannes IV since the rise of the dynasty in 1270 21 22 Contents 1 Origin 1 1 Ethnogenesis 1 2 Etymology 2 History 2 1 Solomonic Dynasty 2 2 Social stratification 3 Language 4 Religion 5 Culture 5 1 Literature 5 2 Music 5 3 Art 5 4 Kinship and marriage 5 5 Cuisine 6 Nature of Amhara ethnicity 6 1 Ethnic consciousness in the past 6 2 The rise of ethnic consciousness and nationalism 6 3 Amhara nationalism in the 2020 s 7 Genetics 7 1 Autosomal ancestry 7 2 Uniparental lineages 8 Notable Amharas 8 1 A 8 2 B 8 3 D 8 4 E 8 5 F 8 6 G 8 7 H 8 8 I 8 9 K 8 10 L 8 11 M 8 12 N 8 13 P 8 14 S 8 15 T 8 16 W 8 17 Y 8 18 Z 9 See also 10 References 11 Further reading 12 External links 13 See also 14 Further reading 15 External linksOriginThe earliest extants of the Amhara as a people dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the land of Wargih 23 against the Warjih in 1128 AD 24 A non contemporary 13th or 14th century hagiographical source from Saint Tekle Haymanot traces Amhara even further back to the mid 9th century AD as a location 25 Ethnogenesis Amharic is a South Ethio Semitic language along with Gurage Argobba and others 26 27 28 Some time before the 1st century AD the North and South branches of Ethio Semitic diverged 28 29 Due to the social stratification of the time the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Semitic language and mixed with the Semitic population 30 31 32 33 Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum 34 35 The proto Amhara or the northernmost South Ethio Semitic speakers remained in constant contact with their North Ethio Semitic neighbors evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions 36 37 A 7th century southward shift of the center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic 38 39 40 By about the 9th century AD there was a linguistically distinct ethnic group called the Amhara in the area of Bete Amhara 29 EtymologyThe origin of the Amhara name is debated A popular Folk etymology traces it to amari pleasing beautiful gracious or mehare gracious Another popular etymology claims that it derives from Ge ez ዐም ʿam people and ሐራ ḥara free or soldier 41 nbsp Yekuno Amlak founder of the Ethiopian EmpireHistoryMain article History of Ethiopia Amhara was historically a medieval province located in the modern province of Wollo Bete Amhara the area which is now known as the Amhara Region was composed of several provinces which had little or no autonomy these provinces included Dembiya Begemder Gojjam Wollo Lasta Shewa Semien Angot and Wag 42 Evidence of a traceable Christian Aksumite presence in Amhara dates back to at least the 9th century AD when the Istifanos monastery was erected on Lake Hayq 43 Several other sites and monuments indicate the presence of similar Axumite influences in the area such as the Geta Lion statues which are located 10 km south of Kombolcha and are believed to date back to the 3rd century AD though they may even date back to pre Axumite times 44 45 In 1998 ancient pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo in Habru which is located to the south east of Hayq as well as to the north east of Ancharo Chiqa Beret The decorations and symbols which are inscribed on the pottery substantiate the expansion of Aksumite civilization to the south of Angot 46 According to Karl Butzer By 800 Axum had almost ceased to exist and its demographic resources were barely adequate to stop the once tributary pastoralists of the border marches from pillaging the defenseless countryside With some of the common people the Axumite elite abandoned Axum in favor of central Ethiopia 47 Christian families gradually migrated southward into Amhara and northern Shewa Population movement from the old provinces in the north into more fertile areas in the south seems to have been connected to the southward shift of the kingdom 48 The Christianization of Amhara is believed to have began in the late Aksumite period as hinted in the missionary activities of King Degna Djan The political importance of Amhara further increased after the fall of Aksum which marked the shift of the political center of the Christian Ethiopian state from Aksum in the north to the Zagwe region of Lasta further inland 49 50 nbsp Emperor Zara Yaqob The British historian Edward Ullendorff stated that Zara Yaqob was unquestionably the greatest ruler Ethiopia had seen since Ezana during the heyday of Aksumite power and none of his successors on the throne excepted only the Emperors Menelik II and Haile Selassie can be compared to him 51 Solomonic Dynasty Main articles Ethiopian Empire and Solomonic Dynasty Yekuno Amlak a prince from Bete Amhara lit House of Amhara claimed descent from Solomon 52 and established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD 53 Yekuno s rule was legitimatized by the Ethiopian Church after he defeated the last ruler of the Zagwe dynasty at the Battle of Ansata 54 The early rulers of the Solomonic Dynasty may of been referred to as the kings of Amhara due to the origin of their founder Yekuno Amlak and therefore their followers were called Amhara and brought this new name with them when they conquered new lands Characterized by a Christian feudal culture and by the adoption of Amharic which from became the lingua franca This population of a rather small province became the dominant group in the empire 55 nbsp Lebna Dengel Emperor of Ethiopia by Cristofano dell AltissimoAround this time Medieval Arab historians state that Christian Ethiopia was under the sovereignty of the Lord of Amhara which confirms that the new Solomonic dynasty appears to be stock of the Bete Amhara in the eyes of the contemporary The Egyptian historian al Mufaddal ibn Abi al Fada il in 704 Hijri 1304 1305 AD labelled the Emperor of Abyssinia as al Malik al Amhari or the Amhara King 56 In 1436 Ibn Taghribirdi wrote a passage about the death of Emperor Yeshaq referring to him as the Lord of Amhara The Hatse the Abyssinian king the infidel and the Lord of the Amhara in Abyssinia died in this year His estates were much enlarged after wars waged and led by him against Sultan Sa ad ad Din the Lord of the Jabarta 56 The cultural contact and interaction between the Amhara and the indigenous Agaw accelerated after the 14th century As the Agaw adopted the Amharic language and converted to Orthodox Christianity they increasingly succumbed to Amhara acculturation Other South Semitic speakers like the Gafat and Argobba in Shewa also began to adopt Amharic and assimilate into Amhara society By the end of the 16th century the populations of Gojjam Lasta and Begemder were almost completely made up of Christian Amharic speakers 57 Despite every work on Ethiopia stressing the political dominance of the Amhara people in the history of the Ethiopian Christian empire In both Christian and Muslim written traditions up to the 19th century and in the Ethiopian chronicles of the 14th to 18th centuries the term Amhara is a region not an ethnonym In pre 17th century Ethiopia Amhara was described as the heartland of the Empire and the cradle of the monarchy Medieval European maps suggest that within the Ethiopian Empire Amhara had a higher position as a kingdom among provinces The Italian Venetian cartographer Fra Mauro notes a Regno Hamara or Kingdom of Amhara in his famous Mappomondo in 1460 Important information on Amhara is provided in the Historia Aethiopica by Hiob Ludolf the data of which came from Abba Gorgoryos himself a native of Amhara On the map of Historia Aethiopica Amhara is situated between the Abay River to the west the Bashilo River in the north the Afar Depression to the east and the Awash River to the south The province consisted of much of Wollo and northern Shewa and encompassed the region of Lake Hayq and the famous Istifanos Monastery 57 nbsp Tewodros II negusa nagastThe Amhara monarchs moved continuously from region to region showing a particular preference for the southernly regions of Ifat Shewa and Dawaro until the political upheavals of the 16th century after which the province of Begemder became home for the city of Gondar royal capital for the Ethiopian polity from the 1630s to the mid 19th century Within the broader territory of Amharic speakers certain regions developed into autonomous political centers To the south beyond Lake Tana the province of Gojjam developed a dynasty of rulers and became a powerful kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire The district of Menz in Shewa became the center for the development of a political dynasty culminating in King Sahle Selassie Emperor Menelik II and Emperor Haile Selassie 58 Through their control of the political center of Ethiopian society and via assimilation conquests and intermarriages the Amhara have spread their language and many customs well beyond the borders of their primary homeland in Bete Amhara This expansion served as a cohesive force binding together the disparate elements of the larger Ethiopian polity This cohesion proved crucial for the Ethiopian state as it engaged in the process of modern nation building in the 19th century thereby preserving its independence against potential threats from European colonial powers Additionally it facilitated various modernizing initiatives including the abolition of the slave trade the implementation of new communication and transportation systems the establishment of schools and hospitals and the creation of modern government institutions 58 nbsp 1921 photo captioned Amhara head of the guard of the Negus nbsp Menelik II king of ShewaSocial stratification Further information Caste systems in Africa Amhara people Within traditional Amharic society and that of other local Afro Asiatic speaking populations there were four basic strata According to the Donald Levine these consisted of high ranking clans low ranking clans caste groups artisans and slaves 59 60 Slaves or rather servants were at the bottom of the hierarchy and were primarily drawn from the pagan Nilotic Shanqella and Oromo peoples 61 Also known as the barya meaning slave in Amharic they were captured during slave raids in Ethiopia s southern hinterland War captives were another source of slaves but the perception treatment and duties of these prisoners was markedly different 62 According to Levine the widespread slavery in Greater Ethiopia formally ended in the 1930s but former slaves their offspring and de facto slaves continued to hold similar positions in the social hierarchy 63 The separate Amhara caste system of people ranked higher than slaves was based on the following concepts 1 endogamy 2 hierarchical status 3 restraints on commensality 4 pollution concepts 5 traditional occupation and 6 inherited caste membership 59 64 Scholars accept that there has been a rigid endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among the Amharas and other Afro Asiatic speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups Some label it as an economically closed endogamous class system with occupational minorities 65 66 whereas others such as David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelled as caste based 67 68 69 LanguageMain article Amharic The Amhara speak Amharic Amarigna Amarinya as their mother tongue Its native speakers account for 29 3 of the Ethiopian population 70 It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro Asiatic language family and is the largest member of the Ethiopian Semitic group 71 As of 2018 it had more than 57 million speakers worldwide 32 345 260 native speakers plus 25 100 000 second language speakers 15 making it the most commonly spoken language in Ethiopia in terms of first and second language speakers and the second most spoken Semitic language after Arabic Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic 72 Many followers of the Rastafari movement learn Amharic as a second language as they consider it to be a sacred language 73 Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of the Ethiopian government and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia It was for some time also the sole language of primary school instruction but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya Nevertheless Amharic is still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region Benishangul Gumuz Region Gambela Region and Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples Region 74 The Amharic language is transcribed using a script Fidal which is slightly modified from the Ethiopic or Ge ez script an abugida Religion nbsp Crowds gather at the Fasilides Bath in Gondar to celebrate Timkat the Epiphany for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church For centuries the predominant religion of the Amhara has been Christianity with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country According to the 2007 census 82 5 of the population of the Amhara Region was Ethiopian Orthodox 17 2 of it was Muslim 0 2 of it was Protestant see P ent ay and 0 5 of it was Jewish see Beta Israel 75 The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations marked with services feasting and dancing There are also many feast days throughout the year when only vegetables or fish may be eaten Marriages are often arranged with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties 76 Traditionally girls were married as young as 14 but in the 20th century the minimum age was raised to 18 and this was enforced by the Imperial government After a church wedding divorce is frowned upon 76 Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding Upon childbirth a priest will visit the family to bless the infant The mother and child remain in the house for 40 days after birth for physical and emotional strength The infant will be taken to the church for baptism at 40 days for boys or 80 days for girls 77 Culture nbsp An example of Ge ez taken from a 15th century Ethiopian Coptic prayer bookLiterature Main article List of Amharic writers Surviving Amharic literary works dates back to the 14th century when songs and poems were composed 78 In the 17th century Amharic became the first African language to be translated into Latin 79 when Ethiopian priest and lexicographer Abba Gorgoryos 1595 1658 in 1652 AD made a European voyage to Thuringia in Germany Gorgoryos along with his colleague and friend Hiob Ludolf co authored the earliest grammar book of the Amharic language an Amharic Latin dictionary as well as contributing to Ludolf s book A History of Ethiopia 80 81 Modern literature in Amharic however started two centuries later than in Europe with the Amharic fiction novel Lebb Wallad Tarik published in Rome in 1908 widely considered the first novel in Amharic by Afawarq Gabra Iyasus 82 Amhara intellectual Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam pioneered African and Ethiopian theatre when he authored Fabula Yawreoch Commedia Africa s first scripted play 83 Since then countless literature in Amharic has been published and many modern day writers in Amharic translate their work into English for commercial reasons 84 nbsp Abba Gorgoryos 1595 1658 nbsp Afawarq Gabra Iyasus 1868 1947 nbsp Heruy Wolde Selassie 1878 1938 nbsp Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam 1884 1977 nbsp Kebede Michael 1916 1998 nbsp Getatchew Haile 1931 2021 nbsp Tsegaye Gabre Medhin 1936 2006 nbsp Asfa Wossen Asserate 1948 present Music Main articles List of musicians using Amharic vocals and Music of Ethiopia Up until the mid 20th century Amharic music consisted mainly of religious and secular folk songs and dances 85 Qanat Amhara secular folk music developed in the countryside 86 through the use of traditionel instruments such as the masenqo a one string bowed lute the krar a six string lyre and the washint flute played by the local village musicians called the Azmaris 87 and the peasantry dancing the Eskista the most well known Amharan folk dance 88 The begena a large ten string lyre is an important instrument solely devoted to the spiritual part of Amhara music 89 Other instruments includes the Meleket wind instrument and the Kebero and Negarit drums From the 1950s onward foreign influence i e foreign educated Ethiopians and the availability of larger quantities of new instruments led to new genre s of Amharic music and ushered in the 1960s and 1970s Golden Age of Ethiopian music 90 91 The popular Ethio Jazz genre pioneered by Mulatu Astatke was created from the Tizita qanat of the Amhara combined with the use of Western instruments 92 Saxophone legend Getatchew Mekurya instrumentalized the Amhara war cry Shellela into an genre in the 1950s before joining the Ethio Jazz scene later in his career 93 94 Other Amharic artists from the Golden age such as Asnaketch Worku Bahru Kegne Kassa Tessema and Mary Armede were renowned for their mastery of traditionel instruments The political turmoil during the Derg regime 1974 1991 led to censorship of music night life came to a standstill through government imposed curfews and the curbing of musical performances Notable Ethiopian musicians were jailed including those of Amhara descent such as Ayalew Mesfin and Telela Kebede 95 96 A revival of Qene Amharic poetic songs which uses double entendre known as sam enna warq wax and gold was used for subversive dialogue and resistance to state censorship Thousands of Ethiopians including musicians migrated during this period to form communities in different countries 97 98 Amharic songs of resistance against the autocratic EPRDF regime led by the TPLF 1991 2018 continued with prevailing themes being rampant corruption economic favoritism excessive emphasis on ethnic identity and its ability to undermine national unity Amharic musicians such as Getish Mamo Nhatty Man Teddy Afro and others turned to the old tradition of sam enna warq and used layered expression to evade skirt stringent censorship and oppressive laws such as the anti terror law while reminding the people of their similarities and the importance of maintaining solidarity 99 In June 2022 Teddy Afro bashed Abiy Ahmed and his regime in a critical new song Na et following the Gimbi massacre In his song he tries to vent the suppressed public anger and indignation the swelling public resentment to the chaos in the country 100 nbsp Getatchew Mekurya 1935 2016 nbsp Tilahun Gessesse 1940 2009 nbsp Alemayehu Eshete 1941 2021 nbsp Mulatu Astatke 1943 present nbsp Alemu Aga 1950 present nbsp Aster Aweke 1959 present nbsp Teddy Afro 1976 present nbsp Zeritu Kebede 1984 present Art nbsp A mural depicting Saint George in the church of Debre Berhan Selassie in Gondar Amhara art is typified by religious paintings One of the notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects who are usually biblical figures It is usually oil on canvas or hide some surviving from the Middle Ages The Amhara art includes weaved products embellished with embroidery Works in gold and silver exist in the form of filigree jewelry and religious emblems citation needed Kinship and marriage The Amhara culture recognizes kinship but unlike other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa region it has a lesser role Household relationships are primary and the major economic political and cultural functions are not based on kin relationships among the Amharas Rather abilities of the individual matter For example states Donald Levine the influence of clergy among the Amhara has been based on ritual purity doctrinal knowledge ability to perform miracles and capacity to provide moral guidance 17 120 The social relationships in the Amhara culture are predominantly based on hierarchical patterns and individualistic associations 17 123 Family and kin relatives are often involved in arranging semanya eighty bond marriage also called kal kidan which has been most common and allows divorce 101 Other forms of marriage include qurban which is solemnized in church where divorce is forbidden and usually observed among the orthodox priests 102 103 Patrilineal descent is the norm 102 While the wife had no inheritance rights in case a child was conceived during the temporary damoz marriage the child could make a claim a part of the father s property 103 104 Cuisine Main articles Ethiopian cuisine and Wat food Amhara cuisine consists of various vegetable or spicy meat side dishes and entrees usually a wat or thick stew served atop injera a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour in the shape of pancakes usually of about 30 to 45 cm in diameter When eating traditional injera dishes in groups it s normally it eaten from a mesob shared food basket with each person breaking off pieces of injera flatbread using only the right hand from the side nearest them and dipping it into stew in the center of the basket There is also a great variety of vegetarian stews such as lentils ground split peas grains accompanied by injera and or bread 105 106 Amharas adhering to any of the Abrahmic religions do not eat pork or shellfish of any kind for religious reasons Amhara Orthodox Christians do not consume meat and dairy products i e egg butter milk and cheese during specific fasting periods and on every Wednesdays and Fridays except the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost On all other days meat and dairy products are allowed A variety of vegan dishes are consumed during fasting periods 105 106 Ethiopia is a Buna coffee exporter but also has a very large domestic consumer base During social gatherings Amharas drink Buna in a unique and traditional way known as a coffee ceremony First the coffee is roasted then ground and placed in a Jebena coffee pot with boiling water When ready it is then served to people in little cups up to three times per ceremony 105 106 The ceremony is typically performed by the woman of the household or the female host and is considered an honor Amhara women dress up for the occasion in a kemis a traditional dress Other locally produced beverages are tella beer and tej honey wine which are served and drunk on major religious festivals Saints Days and weddings 105 106 nbsp Doro WotA stew dish served with beef lamb chicken eggs and variety of vegetables on top of Injera flatbread nbsp Gored goredA spicy raw beef dish seasoned with a variety of spices nbsp TibsGrilled beef with tomato onions and green peper There are several variations of Tibs dishes nbsp fulBeans with variety of vegetables feta cheese and bread flavored with Berbere spice and olive oil nbsp Misir WotMisir Wot is a Lentil stew served with a variety of vegetables there are several variations This example is served potatoes beets apple salad paprika and rice atop of injera A popular vegan dish nbsp TejHoney Wine nbsp BunaAmhara coffee culture amp hospitality Young woman in traditional wear serving coffee Nature of Amhara ethnicityThis section needs to be updated The reason given is the rise of Amhara ethnic nationalism and the resultant growth of ethnic identification See Talk Amhara people for discussion on this topic Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information November 2020 Further information Amhara nationalism Mackonen Michael 2008 107 noted that the Amhara identity is claimed to be composed of multiple ethnicities by some whereas others reject this concept and argue that Amhara exists as a distinctive ethnic group with a specific located boundary He further noted that although people from the Ethiopian highland areas think of themselves as Amharas the Northern Shoans specifically call themselves Amhara That is why the Oromo and Tigrian discourse associate the Northern Shoans as oppressive Amharas 108 According to Gideon P E Cohen writing in 2000 there is some debate about whether the Amhara can legitimately be regarded as an ethnic group given their distribution throughout Ethiopia and the incorporative capacity of the group that has led to the inclusion of individuals from a wide range of ethnic or linguistic backgrounds 109 Similarly Tezera Tazebew notes that the early 1990s was marked by debates both popular and scholarly on the non existence of Amhara as a distinct ethnic group giving the debate between the academic Mesfin Woldemariam and president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi in July 1991 as an example 110 Due to large amounts of assimilation into the northern Amhara culture after Ethiopian imperial expansion Siegfried Pausewang concluded in 2005 that the term Amhara relates in contemporary Ethiopia to two different and distinct social groups The ethnic group of the Amhara mostly a peasant population is different from a mixed group of urban people coming from different ethnic background who have adopted Amharic as a common language and identify themselves as Ethiopians 111 In a 2017 article historian Brian J Yates notes that some scholars and politicians have attempted to sketch out what an Amhara is but there are considerable divergences on the nature of this identity Some argue that it is a cultural identity however much of the scholarship indicates that it is solely a class based identity devoid of ethnicity 112 Solomon Gashaw asserts that there is no intra Amhara ethnic consciousness except among northern settlers in southern Ethiopia He notes that most Amharic speaking people identify by their place of birth He asks what is Amhara domination answering It is a linguistic and cultural domination by a multi ethnic group who speak Amharic 113 Writing in 1998 Tegegne Teka wrote that the Amhara do not possess what people usually refer to as objective ethnic markers common ancestry territory religion and shared experience except the language The Amhara have no claims to a common ancestry They do not share the same sentiments and they have no mutual interests based on shared understandings It is therefore difficult to conclude that the Amhara belong to an ethnic group But this does not mean that there is no Amhara identity 114 According to ethnographer Donald Levine writing in 2003 and citing Christopher Clapham Only in the last quarter of the 20th cent has the term Amhara come to be a common ethnic appellation comparable to the way in which Oromo has become generalized to cover peoples who long knew themselves primarily as Boorana Borana Guggi Mac c a and the like Even so Amharic speaking Sawans still feel themselves closer to non Amharic speaking Sawans than to Amharic speakers from distant regions like Gondar and there are few members of the Sawan nobility who do not have Oromo genealogical links 115 According to Takkele Taddese Amharic speakers tend to be a supra ethnic group composed of fused stock 116 Taddese describes the Amhara as follows The Amhara can thus be said to exist in the sense of being a fused stock a supra ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt The language Amharic serves as the center of this melting process although it is difficult to conceive of a language without the existence of a corresponding distinct ethnic group speaking it as a mother tongue The Amhara does not exist however in the sense of being a distinct ethnic group promoting its own interests and advancing the Herrenvolk philosophy and ideology as has been presented by the elite politicians The basic principle of those who affirm the existence of the Amhara as a distinct ethnic group therefore is that the Amhara should be dislodged from the position of supremacy and each ethnic group should be freed from Amhara domination to have equal status with everybody else This sense of Amhara existence can be viewed as a myth 116 Ethnic consciousness in the past In the 17th century Abyssinian traveler Abba Gorgoryos states the following in a letter to his German friend Hiob Ludolf As to my origins do not imagine my friend that they are humble for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people the governors the military commanders the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss command and rule in the name of the King his governors and grandees 117 On March 28 1898 near Lake Rudolf a first hand account of Russian officer Alexander Bulatovich detailing hostile exchange of words between the Turkana people and Welde Giyorgis Aboye s forces where Bulatovich was attached to as an advisor to the Ras Amhara forces We are from the sovereign of the Amhara Menelik Turkana tribe We do not know Amhara Menelik Go away Go away Turkana tribe Who is this Amhara Menelik to whom we are supposed to submit Amhara forces We are Amhara and Menelik is our great king 118 The rise of ethnic consciousness and nationalism Zola Moges notes the emergence of Amhara nationalism and ethnic consciousness with origins in the early 1990s but taking clearer shape with the establishment of the National Movement of Amhara in 2018 along with the rise of Fano ethnic militias in the 2010s Moges writes that a younger generation has adopted its Amharaness but most ordinary people are yet to fully embrace it not least because of the lack of any effectively articulated ideological foundation or priorities and the absence of any tailor made solutions to the challenges facing them 119 Amanuel Tesfaye writes that While the older Amhara population still detest ethnic identification and ethnic forms of political organization preferring pan Ethiopian nationalism the young have no problem pronouncing their Amhara identity advocating for the protection and advancement of the rights and interests of their ethnic kin within the framework of the multi nation state and organizing politically along that particular ethnic identity 120 Amhara nationalism in the 2020 s Amhara nationalism which was once seen as taboo exploded during the Tigray War Civilian s from the Amhara and Agew ethnic groups took up arms to defend the region from the TPLF rebel groups and take back the contested lands of Welkait Tegede and Raya Azebo which were forcefully annexed and ethnically cleansed into Tigray by the TPLF in 1991 The joint militias from Wollo Gojjam Gonder and Shewa unified as one under the name of Fano Mistrust between the Amhara people and Abiy Ahmed s Prosperity Party heightened when Abiy Ahmed made the surprise decision to retreat from Tigray on July 1 2021 leading to the TPLF aligned Tigray Defense Forces marching thorough cities in North Gonder North Wollo and Wag Hemra causing mass rape and destruction The Ethiopian National Defense Forces further severed their relationship with the Amhara Fano when they forced the Fano to disarm after the end of the Tigray war resulting in the beginning of the Amhara War in April 2023 Wide spread attacks and mob killings of Amhara women and children by the Oromo Liberation Army and aligned Oromo nationalist groups in Oromia specifically Wollega for the past decade has caused widespread outrage around the Amhara region This wave of violence has led to more Amharas turning towards Amhara nationalism to seek justice GeneticsAutosomal ancestry Research shows that Amharas have a mixture of a type of native African ancestry unique and autochthonous to the Horn of Africa as well as ancestry originating from a non African back migration Pickrell et al 2014 found that among Ethiopians west Eurasian ancestry peaks in the Amhara and Tigrayans at 49 and 50 respectively 121 Hodgson et al 2014 found a distinct African ancestral component in Afro Asiatic populations in the Horn dubbed Ethiopic 122 Studies comparing blood oxygenation in Amharas to nearby lowlands populations and to the Andeans and Tibetans showed unique adaptations to living in a high altitude environment 123 124 Uniparental lineages E1b1b was found at 35 4 among the Amhara 125 other studies however have found an almost equal representation of Haplogroup E1b1b at approximately 57 in both the Oromo and the Amhara 126 Haplogroup J has been found to exist at levels as high as 35 in Amhara of which about 94 17 of total is of the type J1 while 6 1 of total is of J2 type 127 Notable AmharasContents A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z A Aba Gorgorios 128 Catholic priest Abebe Aregai Prime Minister Abebe Bikila Olympic athlete gold medalist 129 Abuna Basilios First Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Abune Merkorios Abune Petros 130 patriot Abuna Takla Haymanot Abuna Theophilos Second Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church Afevork Ghevre Jesus 131 Ethiopian writer Afewerk Tekle Honorable Laureate Maitre Artiste Aklilu Habte Wold Prime Minister Ale Felege Selam painter Alemayehu Eshete Ethiopian singer Alemu Aga musician singer and master of the Begena Amanuel Gebremichael Amda Seyon I 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Amha Iyasus ruler of Shewa Andualem Aragie Vice President and Press Secretary for the Ethiopian based Unity for Democracy and Justice Anestasyos ruler of Bete Amhara Damot amp Shewa Asfaw Wossen ruler of Shewa Asnaketch Worku Ethiopian singer Asrat Woldeyes 132 Surgeon Aster Aweke Ethiopian singerB Baeda Maryam I 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Bafena Bakaffa 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Bashah Aboye military commander Belay Zeleke 133 patriot Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel Ethiopian Catholic cardinal Head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church D Dawit I 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Dawit II 130 134 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Dawit III 135 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Demetros of Amhara ruler of ShewaE Eden Alene Ethiopian Israeli singer competed at the Eurovision Song Contest Ejigayehu Shibabaw better known as Gigi Ethiopian singer Eleni Gebre Medhin prominent female Ethiopian economist Emahoy Tsegue Maryam Guebrou Ethiopian nun known for her piano playing and compositions Eskender 136 Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireF Fasilides 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireG Gebre Hanna dabtara renowned in Amharic oral tradition Gebre Tasfa 18th 19th century lord of Semien Gedion Zelalem Gelawdewos 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Gelila Bekele 137 138 International model Getatchew Haile 139 philologist Getatchew Mekurya Legendary Ethiopian Jazz SaxophonistH Haddis Alemayehu Foreign Minister and Novelist Haile Gebrselassie renowned world Athlete Haile Gerima Award winning writer producer amp director Haile Maryam Gebre lord of Semien and Welkait Haile Selassie 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Heruy Wolde Selassie Foreign MinisterI Iyasu I 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Iyasu II 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireK Kebede Michael 140 Ethiopian writer Kidane Kale Meridazmach of ShewaL Leul Sagad military commander amp noblemen Liya Kebede International supermodelM Makonnen Wolde Mikael Military officer diplomat court official Makonnen Endelkachew Prime Minister Menas of Ethiopia 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Menelik II 141 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Mesfin Woldemariam author Sakharov prize winning human rights activist and politician Menen Asfaw Empress of Ethiopia reign between 2 November 1930 15 February 1962 Mulatu Astatke 142 musician father of Ethio jazz Muluken Melesse Music ArtistN Na od 130 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Nagasi Krestos ruler of Shewa Newaya Krestos 130 143 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Newaya Maryam 144 Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireP Pnina Tamano Shata First Israeli Government Minister of Amahara descentS Sahle Selassie Negus of Shewa Sara Nuru fashion model amp entrepreneur Sarsa Dengel 145 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Sebestyanos Meridazmach of Shewa Seifu Makonnen two time olympic bokser Seifu Mikael diplomat governor Simegnew Bekele Chief Project Manager of the GERD Susenyos I Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire 146 T Taytu Betul Teddy Afro Ethiopian singer Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam pioneer of Ethiopian and African theater also military commander and politician Tekle Haymanot Temesgen Tiruneh Director general of National Intelligence and Security Service Tessema Nadew regent of Ethiopia Tewodros II 147 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire The Weeknd Ethiopian Canadian R amp B artistW Welde Giyorgis Aboye Ethiopian general and noble Wolde Giorgis Wolde Yohannes Minister of the pen Workneh Eshete surgeon and diplomat Wossen Seged ruler of Shewa Wube Haile Maryam ruler of Semien amp TigrayY Yaqob 148 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Yekuno Amlak 149 5 founder of the Solomonic Dynasty Yeshaq I 150 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Yetnebersh Nigussie is a renowned lawyer and disability rights activist from Amhara Saint Bete Amhara Wello now Amhara regional state Ethiopia Yidnekatchew Tessema 4th President of CAFZ Zara Yaqob 149 6 Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire Zewditu Empress of Ethiopia between 1916 1930See alsoHabesha people History of Ethiopia EthiopiansReferences a b Central Statistical Agency Ethiopia Table 2 2 Percentage Distribution of Major Ethnic Groups 2007 PDF Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results United Nations Population Fund p 16 Archived from the original PDF on 25 March 2009 Retrieved 29 October 2014 a b United States Census Bureau 2009 2013 Detailed Languages Spoken at Home and Ability to Speak English for the Population 5 Years and Over 2009 2013 USCB 30 November 2016 lt https www census gov data tables 2013 demo 2009 2013 lang tables html gt Statistics Canada 2011 Census of Population Statistics Canada Catalogue no 98 314 XCB2011032 Anon 2016 2011 Census of Canada Topic based tabulations Detailed Mother Tongue 232 Knowledge of Official Languages 5 Age Groups 17A and Sex 3 for the Population Excluding Institutional Residents of Canada and Forward Sortation Areas 2011 Census online Www12 statcan gc ca Available at lt http www12 statcan gc ca census recensement 2011 dp pd tbt tt Rp eng cfm LANG E amp APATH 3 amp DETAIL 0 amp DIM 0 amp FL A amp FREE 0 amp GC 0 amp GID 0 amp GK 0 amp GRP 1 amp PID 103001 amp PRID 10 amp PTYPE 101955 amp S 0 amp SHOWALL 0 amp SUB 0 amp Temporal 2011 amp THEME 90 amp VID 0 amp VNAMEE amp VNAMEF gt Accessed 2 December 2016 Immigrant languages in Canada 2016 Immigrant languages in Canada ONLINE Available at https www12 statcan gc ca census recensement 2011 as sa 98 314 x 98 314 x2011003 2 eng cfm Accessed 13 December 2016 pp 25 2015 United Kingdom Available at https www ethnologue com country GB Accessed 30 November 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2014 The People of Australia Statistics from the 2011 Census Cat no 2901 0 ABS 30 November 2016 lt https www border gov au ReportsandPublications Documents research people australia 2013 statistics pdf Archived 17 April 2017 at the Wayback Machine gt Kieli sukupuolen mukaan maakunnittain ja kunnittain 1990 2017 Archived from the original on 26 June 2018 Retrieved 24 January 2019 All Ethiopian Jews must be brought home to Israel The Jerusalem Post 18 November 2021 Retrieved 30 May 2022 Joireman Sandra F 1997 Institutional Change in the Horn of Africa The Allocation of Property Rights and Implications for Development Universal Publishers p 1 ISBN 1 58112 000 1 The Horn of Africa encompasses the countries of Ethiopia Eritrea Djibouti and Somalia These countries share similar peoples languages and geographical endowments Following the BGN PCGN romanization employed for Amharic geographic names in British and American English Zegeye Abebe 15 October 1994 Ethiopia in Change British Academic Press p 13 ISBN 978 1 85043 644 7 Olson James 1996 The Peoples of Africa Greenwood Publishing Group p 27 ISBN 978 0 313 27918 8 Shaban Abdurahman One to five Ethiopia gets four new federal working languages Africa News Archived from the original on 15 December 2020 Retrieved 12 April 2021 a b Amharic Prunier Gerard Ficquet Eloi 2015 Understanding contemporary Ethiopia London Hurst amp Company p 39 OCLC 810950153 a b c Levine Donald N 2000 Greater Ethiopia The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society University of Chicago Press ISBN 978 0 226 47561 5 Retrieved 28 December 2016 Marvin Lionel Bender 1976 Language in Ethiopia Oxford University Press p 26 ISBN 978 0 19 436102 6 Henze Paul B 1985 Rebels and Separatists in Ethiopia Regional Resistance to a Marxist Regime Rand p 8 ISBN 978 0 8330 0696 7 Goitom M 2017 Unconventional Canadians Second generation Habesha Youth and Belonging in Toronto Canada Global Social Welfare 4 4 179 190 Gate Henry Louis Appiah Anthony 2005 Africana the encyclopedia of the african and african american experience Oxford University Press p 187 ISBN 978 0 19 517055 9 Levine Donald 1965 Wax amp gold tradition and innovation in Ethiopian culture p 2 IL SULTANATO DELLO SCIOA NEL SECOLO XIII page 10 Enrico Cerulli 1941 Taddesse Tamrat Church and State in Ethiopia Oxford Clarendon Press 1972 p 81 The Life of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos and the Miracles of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos and the Book of the Riches of Kings Translated by E A Wallis Budge London 1906 Meyer Ronny 2011 Amharic In Weninger Stefan ed The Semitic Languages An International Handbook Walter De Gruyter pp 1178 1212 ISBN 978 3 11 025158 6 Edzard Lutz 2019 Amharic In John Huehnergard Naʽama Pat El eds The Semitic Languages London Routledge pp 202 226 a b Hetzron Robert 1972 Ethiopian Semitic Studies in Classification Manchester University Press p 36 ISBN 978 0 7190 1123 8 a b Fage J D Oliver Roland Anthony 1975 The Cambridge History of Africa From c 500 B C to A D 1050 Cambridge University Press p 126 ISBN 978 0 521 20981 6 Hetzron Robert 1972 Ethiopian Semitic Studies in Classification Manchester University Press pp 36 87 88 ISBN 978 0 7190 1123 8 Appleyard David Amharic History and dialectology of Amharic Encyclopedia Aethopica Vol 1 p 235 Butts Aaron Michael 2015 Semitic languages in contact Leiden Boston Brill pp 18 21 ISBN 978 90 04 30015 6 OCLC 1083204409 Amhara Definition History amp Culture Britannica www britannica com Retrieved 19 April 2022 Hetzron Robert 1972 Ethiopian Semitic Studies in Classification Manchester University Press p 88 ISBN 978 0 7190 1123 8 Demeke Girma 2014 The Origin of Amharic The Red Sea Press pp 45 52 ISBN 978 1 56902 379 2 OCLC 824502290 Prunier Gerard Ficquet Eloi eds 2015 Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia Monarchy Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi London C Hurst amp Co p 19 ISBN 978 1 84904 261 1 Hetzron Robert 1972 Ethiopian Semitic Studies in Classification Manchester University Press p 124 ISBN 978 0 7190 1123 8 Demeke Girma 2014 The Origin of Amharic The Red Sea Press pp 15 133 138 ISBN 978 1 56902 379 2 OCLC 824502290 Butts Aaron Michael 2015 Semitic languages in contact Leiden Boston Brill p 22 ISBN 978 90 04 30015 6 OCLC 1083204409 Tamrat Taddesse 1972 Church and State in Ethiopia 1270 1527 Clarendon Press pp 34 38 ISBN 978 0 19 821671 1 Uhlig Siegbert ed Amhara in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica p 230 Harrassowitz Verlag Wiesbaden 2003 E A Wallis Budge 2014 A History of Ethiopia Volume I Routledge Revivals Nubia and Abyssinia Routledge pp 123 124 ISBN 978 1 317 64915 1 Taddesse Tamrat Church and State in Ethiopia Oxford Clarendon Press 1972 p 36 Anfrey Francis January 2011 Le lion de Kombolcha et le leopard d Aksum des felins rupestres paleochretiens Annales d Ethiopie 26 274 Briggs P and Wildman K 2014 Ethiopia Chalfont St Peter Bradt Travel Guides p 357 Asfaw Aklilu 2000 A Short History of the Argobba Annales d Ethiopie 16 173 183 doi 10 3406 ethio 2000 973 via Persee Butzer Karl W 1981 Rise and Fall of Axum Ethiopia A Geo Archaeological Interpretation American Antiquity 46 3 471 495 doi 10 2307 280596 ISSN 0002 7316 JSTOR 280596 S2CID 162374800 Fage J D Oliver Roland Anthony 1975 The Cambridge History of Africa From c 500 B C to A D 1050 Cambridge University Press p 101 ISBN 978 0 521 20981 6 Demeke Girma A 2014 The Origin of Amharic The Red Sea Press p 53 ISBN 978 1 56902 379 2 OCLC 824502290 Amhara in Siegbert Uhlig Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag 2003 p 168 Henze Paul B 2000 Layers of Time A History of Ethiopia London Hurst amp Company p 64 ISBN 9781850653936 Pankhurst Richard 1986 Fear God Honor the King The Use of Biblical Allusions in Ethiopian Historical Literature Part I Northeast African Studies 8 1 11 30 JSTOR 43660191 Zagwe dynasty Britannica Ethiopia the Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties Amhara in Siegbert Uhlig Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag 2003 p 230 a b Cerulli Enrico Islam Yesterday and Today translated by Emran Waber Istituto Per L Oriente p 315 a b Amhara in Siegbert Uhlig Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag 2003 p 231 a b Amhara in Siegbert Uhlig Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag 2003 p 232 a b Levine Donald N 2014 Greater Ethiopia The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society University of Chicago Press pp 56 57 ISBN 978 0 226 22967 6 Hoben Allan 1970 Social Stratification in Traditional Amhara Society In Arthur Tuden and Leonard Plotnicov ed Social stratification in Africa New York The Free Press pp 210 211 187 221 ISBN 978 0 02 932780 7 Keller Edmond J 1991 Revolutionary Ethiopia from empire to people s republic Bloomington Indiana University Press p 160 OCLC 1036800537 Abir Mordechai 1968 Ethiopia the era of the princes the challenge of Islam and re unification of the Christian Empire 1769 1855 Praeger pp 57 60 ISBN 978 0 582 64517 2 There was a clear distinction between red and black slaves Hamitic and negroid respectively the Shanqalla negroids were far cheaper as they were destined mostly for hard work around the house and in the field While in the houses of the brokers the red slaves were on the whole well treated Levine Donald N 2014 Greater Ethiopia The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society University of Chicago Press pp 56 175 ISBN 978 0 226 22967 6 Eike Haberland 1979 Special Castes in Ethiopia in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Ethiopian Studies Editor Robert Hess University of Illinois Press OCLC 7277897 pp 129 132 also see pp 134 135 145 147 Amnon Orent 1979 From the Hoe to the Plow in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Ethiopian Studies Editor Robert Hess University of Illinois Press OCLC 7277897 p 188 Quote the Mano who are potters and leather craftsmen and considered unclean in the usual northern or Amhara understanding of caste distinction and the Manjo the traditional hunters and eaters of unclean foods hippopotamus monkey and crocodile Tibebu Teshale 1995 The Making of Modern Ethiopia 1896 1974 The Red Sea Press pp 67 70 ISBN 978 1 56902 001 2 Quote Interestingly enough while slaves and ex slaves could integrate into the larger society with relative ease this was virtually impossible for the occupational minorities castes up until very recently in a good many cases to this day Christopher R Hallpike 2012 Original 1968 The status of craftsmen among the Konso of south west Ethiopia Africa Volume 38 Number 3 Cambridge University Press pp 258 259 267 Quote Weavers tend to be the least and tanners the most frequently despised In many cases such groups are said to have a different more negroid appearance than their superiors There are some instances where these groups have a religious basis as with the Moslems and Falashas in Amhara areas We frequently find that the despised classes are forbidden to own land or have anything to do with agricultural activities or with cattle Commensality and marriage with their superiors seem also to be generally forbidden them Todd David M 1977 Caste in Africa Africa Cambridge University Press 47 4 398 412 doi 10 2307 1158345 JSTOR 1158345 S2CID 144428371 Dave Todd 1978 The origins of outcastes in Ethiopia reflections on an evolutionary theory Abbay Volume 9 pp 145 158 Levine Donald N 2014 Greater Ethiopia The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society University of Chicago Press p 56 ISBN 978 0 226 22967 6 Quote As Herbert Lewis has observed if the term caste can be used for any social formation outside of the Indian context it can be applied as appropriately to those Ethiopian groups otherwise known as submerged classes pariah groups and outcastes as to any Indian case Lewis Herbert S 2006 Historical problems in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences Wiley Blackwell 96 2 504 511 doi 10 1111 j 1749 6632 1962 tb50145 x S2CID 83677517 Quote p 509 In virtually every Cushitic group there are endogamous castes based on occupational specialization such caste groups are also found to some extent among the Ethiopian Semites Finneran Niall 2007 The Archaeology of Ethiopia London Routledge pp 14 15 ISBN 978 1 136 75552 1 Quote Ethiopia has until fairly recently been a rigid feudal society with finely grained perceptions of class and caste Central Statistical Agency 2010 Population and Housing Census 2007 Report National ONLINE Available at http catalog ihsn org index php catalog 3583 download 50086 Accessed 13 December 2016 Amharic language Ethnologue 19 February 1999 Teferra Anbessa 2018 Hebraized Amharic in Israel In Hary Benjamin Bunin Benor Sarah eds Languages in Jewish Communities Past and Present Berlin Walter De Gruyter pp 489 519 ISBN 978 1 5015 1298 8 Bernard Collins The Abyssinians Interview Archived 1 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine Published 4 November 2011 by Jah Rebel Retrieved 4 May 2013 Danver Steven Laurence Native Peoples of the World 1st ed Armonk NY Sharpe Reference an imprint of M E Sharpe Inc 2013 Print FDRE States Basic Information Amhara Population Archived from the original on 24 May 2011 Retrieved 26 March 2006 a b African Marriage ritual Archived from the original on 7 May 2017 Retrieved 9 February 2011 The World and Its Peoples Africa North and East Part 2 Volume 23 Greystone Press 1967 p 300 Retrieved 17 February 2017 Amharic language Ludolf Hiob 1682 A New History of Ethiopia Being a Full and Accurate Description of the Kingdom of Abyssinia Vulgarly Though Erroneously Called the Empire of Prester John Translated by J P Gent London Samuel Smith Booksellers Uhlig Siegbert 2005 Gorgoryos In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica D Ha Vol 2 edited by Siegbert Uhlig 855 856 Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Stammerjohann Harro 2 June 2009 Lexicon Grammaticorum A bio bibliographical companion to the history of linguistics Walter de Gruyter ISBN 978 3 484 97112 7 Admassu Yonas 2003 Afawarq Gabra Iyasus In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C Vol 1 edited by Siegbert Uhlig 122 124 Wiesbaden Harrassowitz Verlag Plastow Jane 2010 The First African Play Fabula Yawreoch Commedia amp its influence on the development of Ethiopian Theatre African Theatre Histories 1850 1950 Boydell amp Brewer pp 138 150 ISBN 9781846159176 Aregahegne Assefa May 1981 The Origin and Development Amharic Literatuhe Thesis Addis Ababa University Shelemay pp 355 356 Weisser Stephanie Falceto Francis 2013 Investigating qәnәt in Amhara secular music An acoustic and historical study Annales d Ethiopie 28 1 299 322 doi 10 3406 ethio 2013 1539 Kebede Ashenafi January 1975 The Azmari Poet Musician of Ethiopia The Musical Quarterly 61 1 47 57 doi 10 1093 mq lxi 1 47 Uhlig Siegbert 2017 Ethiopia history culture and challenges Munster East Lansing Michigan State University Press p 207 OCLC 978295392 FNRS Universite Libre de Bruxelles CiteSeerX 10 1 1 569 2160 Kay Kaufman Shelemay Ethiopia Empire and Revolution www afropop org Archived from the original on 14 February 2007 Retrieved 11 January 2022 Samuel Yirga Ushers in a Golden Age of Ethiopian Music NPR org How Ethiopian jazz got its unique sound 18 July 2018 Uhlig Siegbert 2006 Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies Hamburg July 20 25 2003 Wiesbaden Harrassowitz p 185 OCLC 71298502 Getatchew Mekuria leeuw der leeuwen Shelemay 2022 Sing and Sing On Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian American Diaspora Line up Jong De Elizabeth Holly 2011 Continuity and change Some aspects of Ethiopian music in Australia Ethiopian Music Brilliant Ethiopia Onyebadi Uche 2019 Music and messaging in the African political arena Hershey PA IGI Global pp 12 17 OCLC 1080436962 Teddy Afro bashes government with a critical new single 23 June 2022 W A Shack 1974 Ethnographic Survey of Africa International African Institute pp 33 35 ISBN 978 0 85302 040 0 a b Amhara people Encyclopaedia Britannica 2015 a b Levinson David 1995 Encyclopedia of World Cultures Africa and the Middle East G K Hall p 19 ISBN 978 0 8161 1815 1 Quote Temporary marriage damoz obliges the husband to pay housekeeper s wages for a period stated in advance The contract although oral was before witnesses and was therefore enforceable by court order The wife had no right of inheritance but if children were conceived during the contract period they could make a claim for part of the father s property should he die Weissleder W 2008 Amhara Marriage The Stability of Divorce Canadian Review of Sociology Wiley Blackwell 11 1 67 85 doi 10 1111 j 1755 618x 1974 tb00004 x a b c d Ethiopian Treasures Culture Ethiopian Treasures a b c d Albala Ken 2011 Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia Bloomsbury Academic ISBN 978 0 313 37626 9 Michael Mackonen 2008 Who is Amhara African Identities 6 4 393 404 doi 10 1080 14725840802417943 S2CID 144828563 Michael Mackonen 1 November 2008 Who is Amhara African Identities 6 4 393 404 doi 10 1080 14725840802417943 ISSN 1472 5843 S2CID 144828563 Retrieved 28 June 2021 Cohen Gideon P E 2000 Language and Ethnic Boundaries Perceptions of Identity Expressed through Attitudes towards the Use of Language Education in Southern Ethiopia Northeast African Studies 7 3 189 206 doi 10 1353 nas 2005 0004 JSTOR 41931261 S2CID 144103747 Tazebew Tezera 2021 Amhara nationalism The empire strikes back African Affairs 120 479 297 313 doi 10 1093 afraf adaa029 Pausewang Siegfried 2005 The two faced Amhara identity Scrinium 1 1 273 286 doi 10 1163 18177565 90000138 Yates Brian J 2017 Ethnicity as a Hindrance for Understanding Ethiopian History An Argument Against an Ethnic Late Nineteenth Century History in Africa 44 101 131 doi 10 1017 hia 2016 13 S2CID 164336903 Gashaw Solomon 1993 Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia In Young Crawford ed The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism The Nation State at Bay Madison WI University of Wisconsin Press pp 138 157 ISBN 978 0 299 13884 4 Teka Tegegne 1998 Amhara ethnicity in the making In Salih M A Mohamed Markakis John eds Ethnicity and the State in Eastern Africa Uppsala Nordiska Afrikaininstutet pp 116 126 ISBN 978 91 7106 418 9 Levine Donald N 2003 Amhara In von Uhlig Siegbert ed Encyclopaedia Aethiopica A C pp 230 232 a b Taddese Takkele 1994 Do the Amhara Exist as a Distinct Ethnic Group In Marcus Harold G ed New Trends in Ethiopian Studies Papers of the 12th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies Vol II Lawrenceville NJ Red Sea Press pp 168 186 ISBN 978 1 56902 015 9 Richard Pankhurst Travelers in Ethiopia p 59 Bulatovich Alexander 2000 Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes Country in Transition 1896 1898 Translated by Seltzer Richard Lawrenceville NJ Red Sea Press pp 345 346 ISBN 978 1 56902 116 3 Moges Zola 1 September 2020 Shaping Amhara nationalism for a better Ethiopia Ethiopia Insight Retrieved 28 November 2020 Tesfaye Amanuel 4 May 2018 Commentary The Birth of Amhara Nationalism Causes Aspirations and Potential Impacts Addis Standard Retrieved 25 June 2021 Pickrell Joseph K Patterson Nick Loh Po Ru Lipson Mark Berger Bonnie Stoneking Mark Pakendorf Brigitte Reich David 18 February 2014 Ancient west Eurasian ancestry in southern and eastern Africa Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 111 7 2632 2637 arXiv 1307 8014 Bibcode 2014PNAS 111 2632P doi 10 1073 pnas 1313787111 ISSN 0027 8424 PMC 3932865 PMID 24550290 Jason A Hodgson Connie J Mulligan Ali Al Meeri Ryan L Raaum 12 June 2014 Early Back to Africa Migration into the Horn of Africa PLOS Genetics 10 6 e1004393 doi 10 1371 journal pgen 1004393 PMC 4055572 PMID 24921250 Supplementary Text S1 Affinities of the Ethio Somali ancestry component doi 10 1371 journal pgen 1004393 s017 nbsp Coates Karen The Heights We Go To Archaeology Retrieved 28 October 2023 Khan Razib How the Amhara Breathe Differently Razib Khan Discover Magazine Retrieved 28 October 2023 Semino O Santachiara Benerecetti AS Falaschi F Cavalli Sforza LL Underhill PA January 2002 Ethiopians and Khoisan Share the Deepest Clades of the Human Y Chromosome Phylogeny American Journal of Human Genetics 70 1 265 8 doi 10 1086 338306 PMC 384897 PMID 11719903 Cruciani et al 2004 1 Archived 2006 05 22 at the Wayback Machine Phylogeographic Analysis of Haplogroup E3b E M215 Y Chromosomes Reveals Multiple Migratory Events Within and Out Of Africa Semino O Magri C Benuzzi G et al May 2004 Origin Diffusion and Differentiation of Y Chromosome Haplogroups E and J Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area American Journal of Human Genetics 74 5 1023 34 doi 10 1086 386295 PMC 1181965 PMID 15069642 Belcher Laura 2012 Abyssinia s Samuel Johnson Ethiopian Thought in the Making of an English Author p 114 Rambali Paul 2007 Barefoot Runner The Life of Marathon Champion Abebe Bikila Serpent s Tail a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Tolossa Fikre April 1993 Amhara Contributions to Ethiopian Civilization Ethiopian Review Retrieved 13 December 2020 Abbay Alemseged 1998 Identity Jilted Or Re imagining Identity The Divergent Paths of the Eritrean and Tigrayan Nationalist Struggles p 46 Barder Brian 25 May 1999 Asrat Woldeyes The Guardian Retrieved 9 February 2015 Administrator Belay Zeleke Archived from the original on 13 January 2015 Retrieved 9 February 2015 Lebna Dengel Ethiopian Ruler epicworldhistory blogspot nl Graca John V Da 18 June 1985 Heads of State and Government Springer ISBN 978 1 349 07999 5 via Google Books Hubert Jules Deschamps sous la direction Histoire generale de l Afrique noire de Madagascar et de ses archipels Tome I Des origines a 1800 p 406 P U F Paris 1970 Gelila Bekele Ethiopia Interview with Model Gelila Bekele www amharictube com Archived from the original on 7 January 2017 Retrieved 6 January 2017 Model Gelila Bekele Interview VIDEO in Amharic Ethiopiaforums com 11 November 2010 Senamirmir Projects Interview with Dr Getatchew Haile Retrieved 9 February 2015 Fantahun Arefayne 2015 Intellectual Outlook of Kebede Michael Foster Mary Rubinstein Robert 1986 Peace and War Cross Cultural Perspectives p 137 Kubik Gerhard 2017 Jazz Transatlantic p 64 James Bruce Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile 1805 edition vol 3 pp 93f J Spencer Trimingham Islam in Ethiopia Oxford Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press 1952 p 74 Gordon Howard 2011 Be Not Thy Father s Son p 128 Vitae Sanctorum Indigenarum I Acta S Walatta Petros Ii Miracula S Zara Baruk edited by Carlo Conti Rossini and C Jaeger Louvain L Durbecq 1954 pg 62 Young John 1997 Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia The Tigray People s Liberation Front 1975 1991 p 44 Stewart John 2006 African States and Rulers 3rd ed Jefferson NC USA McFarland amp Company p 93 ISBN 978 0 7864 2562 4 a b Shinn David H Ofcansky Thomas P 2013 Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia 2nd ed Plymouth UK Scarecrow Press ISBN 978 0 8108 7194 6 Kessler David F 1996 The Falashas A Short History of the Ethiopian Jews London Frank Cass p 94 ISBN 978 0 7146 4646 6 OCLC 33078505 Further readingWolf Leslau and Thomas L Kane collected and edited Amharic Cultural Reader Wiesbaden Harrassowitz 2001 ISBN 3 447 04496 9 Donald N Levine Wax amp Gold Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture Chicago University Press 1972 ISBN 0 226 45763 XExternal links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amhara people Lemma Marcos MD PhD Who ruled Ethiopia The myth of Amara domination Ethiomedia com Archived from the original on 28 March 2005 Retrieved 28 February 2005 People of Africa Amhara Culture and HistorySee alsoAmhara Region coup d etat attempt Habesha people History of EthiopiaFurther readingWolf Leslau and Thomas L Kane collected and edited Amharic Cultural Reader Wiesbaden Harrassowitz 2001 ISBN 3 447 04496 9 Donald N Levine Wax amp Gold Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture Chicago University Press 1972 ISBN 0 226 45763 XExternal links nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Amhara people Lemma Marcos MD PhD Who ruled Ethiopia The myth of Amara domination Ethiomedia com Archived from the original on 28 March 2005 Retrieved 28 February 2005 People of Africa Amhara Culture and History Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Amhara people amp oldid 1207726762, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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