3000 B.C Ethiopia was a land of mystery to the classical world which labeled any unknown part of Africa “Ethiopia” meaning burnt face in Greek word
1500 B.C An Egyptian Queen, Hatshepsut, sailed down the red sea to the “land of punt” which was thought to be ruled by a serpent .She returned with gold and incense and depicted what she had seen on the walls of her temple at Deir el Bahari.Her inscription runs “No one yet knew the way to gold’s land…but it was heard of from mouth to mouth by hearsay of the ancestors. But I have lad them on water and on land ,to explore the waters of inaccessible channels ,and I have reached the Myrrh-terraces
1000 B.C People from Southern Arabia crossed the red sea to trade and settle on the cost of Eritrea. Gradually they moved into the highlands ,bringing their language {the forerunner of Ghe-ez and Amharic}and place names from their own country –Assab,Saba,etc Circa
1000 B.C The Queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to see King Solomon. “When the Queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, she came to prove him with hard question .And she came to Jerusalem with very great train, with camels that bare spice, and very much gold and precious stones…..And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty. And so she turned and went to her own country”
975 B.C The legend is that the Queen of Sheba and king Solomon had a son who was Menilik I.THE FIRST Emperor of Ethiopia, Emperor Haile Selassie claims to be the 255th monarch of this line .The official version of the Solomon and Sheba story was written in the 14th century in the Kebra Negast .A translation is given is chapter 26
100 A.D The settlers from Southern Arabia were building a great kingdom cantered round the city of Axum and trading with the middle East. A Greek merchant described the Axumite port of Adulis:“….on the mainland ,20 stadia from the sea ,stands Adulis ,a big village, whence it takes there days to coloe ,an interior town and the main ivory market .From this locality to the city of the people called Axumites the trip takes five days and more. It is here that all the ivory of the country beyond the Nile is brought through the district called Cyenum and from here it goes to Adulis”{periplus of the Eritrean sea}He said that Axum was ruled by King Zoscales{who is miserly in his ways and always striving for more ,but other wise upright and acquainted with Greek literature”
325-350 A.D The Axumite civilization reached its peak under king Ezana, a contemporary of the Emperor Constantine .LIKE Constantine he was converted to Christianity ,which has been Ethiopia’s state religion ever since .Ezana was converted consecrated by St. Athanasius and became Ethiopia’s first bishop
570 A.D Mohamed was born and aksumite king built a cathedral near Mecca this was the beginning of Ethiopia’s dark Ages of war against Islam:- “Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion ,the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years ,forgetful of the world by whom they where forgotten” {Gibbon, Decline and fall}
900 A.D The Aksumites were being forced South with Islam infiltrating behind them. They were also attacked by a pagan Queen called Gudit{the prodigious one or Monster}who ransacked Axum
1137 A.D A new zawge dynasty took the throne and king lalibela carved 11 rock churches in his capital .at the time of the crusades, a rumour circulated in the west that there was great Christian kingdom somewhere in this part of the world ruled by a prester {priest} John .From then on the Emperors of Ethiopia were often known as priest John.
1270 A.D The Solomon line was restored when king Yakuno Amlak seized the throne with the help of Tekla hymanot, founder of the monastery of Debre Libanos of shoa.
1434/1468 A.D Zara Yacob, a great Emperor, established the first diplomatic relation with Europe and offered his daughter in marriage to king Alphonsn of Aragon .The offer was not taken up. Zara Yacob associated himself closely with the church. which the reformed ,laying down saints’ days and days of feast and fast and decreeing that Christians should tattoo themselves with crosses. He wrote theological treatises and compiled the Feta Negast{low of the kings}which was used in the courts until 1930 he was buried on the island of Dak
1508/1540 A.D During the reign of Lebna Dengal, the wars against the neighboring sultanates reached a climax. Queen Helen, the Empress regent, sent to Portugal for help; a Portuguese fleet routed the Muslims on the coast and in 1520, a diplomatic mission arrived but left in 1526.
1531 A.D A Muslim General, Ahomed ibn ibrahim {nicknamed Gragn, the left-handed}, captured shoa, then Amhara and Lasta and in 1534 reaced Tigre.Lebna Dengal fled to Lake Tana and sent to Portugal again for help.
1541 A.D Christopher da Gama, son of the famous explorer, Vasco d agama, arrived at Massawa with 400 men. He was killed, but some of his force managed to join the new Emperor Claudius and slew general Ahmad ibn ibrahim near Lake Tana .from ten on Muslims were no longer a serious threat although the Ethiopian now started to be harried by pagan tribes from the South.
1557 A.D The pope sent a Jesuit mission to Ethiopia to convert the country to roman Catholicism. The Emperor rejected them and composed the confessions of Claudius in defiance of the Ethiopian church.
1578 A.D The Emperor sarsa Dengal defeated the Turks, who were occupying Massawa.
1607 A.D Spanish Jesuit, Pero Paez, managed to convert the Emperor Susenyos who then attempted to disestablish the church, suspend priests and make people be re-baptized .In 1632, He was forced to abdicate.
1632/1667 A.D His son Fasilidas banished the Jesuits and Ethiopia entered a long period of isolation and distrust of foreigners. Fasilidus chose Gondar as his capital.
1680/1706 A.D The reign of Iyasu, the Great ,who introduced tax reforms and improved the living conditions of the princes who where traditional kept in captivity on Amba Wahni .A French physician ,summoned to Gondar to treat the king for a skin disease, said he had “great qualities”
1706 A.D Eyasu the great was murdered by his son Tekla Haymanot, which led to a series of royal poisonings and assassinations.
1721 /1730 A.D Emperor Bakaffa traveled the country in disguise and tried to break the power of the nobles, his wife, Empress Mentuab, was much admired by James Bruce when he met her in her old age.
1730/1755 A.D Eyasu II or Iyasu the little, married the doughter of Galla chief and their son Iyolas become Emperor.Tigre was ruled by the powerful ras Mikael,who married Woizer Esther, Mentuabo’s daughter.
1800 This period was known as “MESAFEINT” chiefs era.
1813/1847 King Sahle Selassie,Haile selassie’s great-grandfather, was king of shoa
1855/1868 The reign of emperor Theodore, who had defeated all the other contenders to the throne .He was not royal ,had been brought up in a monastery and started life as a “shifta”he tried to modernize and unify the country .he transferred his capital from Gondar to the fortress of Madgala.
1862 Theodore wrote a latter to Queen Victoria which, by an oversight, went unanswered .He took offence and held 60 Europeans hostage.
1868 They were rescued by Lord Napier who led an expedition 325 miles through Ethiopia an elephant’s .Theodore shot himself when he saw that his army was being defeated by artillery fire.
1872 The Ras of Tigre was crowned Emperor Jhon IV and the khedive of Egypt attempted to conquer Ethiopia. He was dealt the final blow when the two armies met in 1876 near Gura .The Emperor came to terms with king Menelik of shoa, the Solomon claimant to the throne. The Empire was divided in half and it was agreed that Menelik should succeed Jhon IV as king of kings.
1882 The Italian Government bought Assab from the Italian company who had purchased it from Sultan.
1885 The beginning of the Italian’s “Abyssinian venture”. They landed at Massawa to reconnoiter, but were beaten back by Ras Alula. A general was sent with a strong expeditionary force, and the Emperor Jhon hesitated to fight because he was harassed in the west by the mahdists, who had burnt Gondar. In 1889, Jhon was mortally wounded in a great battle against the dervishes at Metemma.
1889 Emperor Menelik II was crowned in his new capital Addis Ababa .He was prepared to come to terms with the Italians and signed the Treaty of Uccialli, delineating the boundaries of a new Italian territory to be called Eritrea. The Italian version of the text also implied that Ethiopia was now an Italian protectorate but the Amharic text did not and when Menilik heard a bout this interpretation, relations become strained.
1891 The Italians tried to win over the rebellious Ras Mangasha of Tigre, but eventually he and Menelik joined forces and determined to throw the Italians out.
1896 On March 1, the Italians were defeated by the Ethiopians at Battle of Adowa and Ethiopia was recognized as an independent Nation. 1903 A.D Menelik began laying the foundation of modern state. Telephones and electricity were installed in Addis Ababa.
1909 Menelik become ill and his grandson Lij Iyasu was proclaimed heir to the throne, although Menelik’s wife, Empress Taitu, pressed a claim for Regency with their daughter Zauditu as Empress.
1913 Menelik died and Lij Iyasu, a boy of 17 years, proved to be a problem .he became Muslim, disclaiming his solomonic lineage and concocting a genealogy proving his decent from Mohammed .During World War I, he upset the British, French and Italians by sympathizing with the Turks.
1916 Lij Iyasu was excommunicated by the Church, and in February 1917, Zauditu was made Empress with Ras Tefari Mekonnen {Haile Selassie I} as regent and heir apparent .He was 25 year old.
1918 The first trains run between Addis Ababa and Djibouti.
1923 Ethiopia joined the League on Nations, having first been refused membership because of slave conditions in the country.
1924 Ras Tefari visited Europe and returned with Emperor Theodore’s crown from England.
1928 A 20 –year treaty of friendship was signed with Italy.
1930 The Empress Zauditu died and Emperor Haile Selassie was crowned in Addis Ababa in great splendor. The coronation was attended by all the foreign powers.
1931 Haile Selassie proclaimed a Constitution opened a parliament and issued a radical decree against slavery.
1934 A dispute with the Italians over water well at Wal Wal on the Somalia border was referred by Ethiopia to the League of Nations. They delayed action and Mussolini thought this meant they were turning a blind eye to his Empire-building in Africa.
1935 Haile selassie issued mobilization orders and the Black shirts, under General de Bono, crossed the Eritrean border into Ethiopia are quested a meeting of the League of Nation for aid as a victim of aggression.
1936 Ethiopia applied to the League again ,and Mussolini declared that the annihilation of Ethiopia could be ‘neither averted nor delayed’, on May 29th ,he formally annexed Ethiopia and on June 30th ,the Emperor made his historic speech at Geneva ,warning the League of Nations that failure to act would not only destroy the Legue ,but precipitate a world war .By the end of the tear ,the Italian conquest had been recognized by Germany,Austria,Hungary,Japan,Switzerland and later France and the United kingdom .
1936-1940 The years of occupation .After the Emperor had been defeated at Lake Ashangi, he returned to Addis Ababa and left the country via Djibouti. He went to Jerusalem, then London and was offered asylum in Bath, west of London. {It was at this time that he made his famous appeal in Geneva to the League of Nations for help.}Meanwhile, in Ethiopia, the fighting continued. Both Ras Imru and Ras Desta Were captured. As Desta was later executed. On February 19th, 1937 there was a daring attempt to shoot the Italian Viceroy, Marshal Graziani. This led to ‘the massacre of Addis Ababa’ when 37,000 Ethiopians were shot.
1940 The Emperor based himself in Khartoum, in the Sudan, and a British military mission under Brigadier Sanford entered Gojjam .In October Anthony Eden Flew to Khartoum to speed up operations against the Italians, and in November, major orde Wingate arrived.
1941 The year of Liberation .On January 20th Emperor re-entered Ethiopia. The Italians were driven back and he made a triumphal entry into Addis Ababa on May 5th .On July 3rd, the patriots forced the remnants of the Italian army to surrender.
1942 The British Army of Liberation evacuated 50,000 Italians. Parliament re-opened and a council of Ministers was appointed. The Emperor began his reconstruction programme.
1945 The United States lent silver and a new dollar currency was issued .Ethiopia Airlines was formed.
1952 A United Nations commission reported that the majority of Eritrean favored association with Ethiopia and on September 11th Eritrea became federated under the sovereignty of the Ethiopian crown. 1954 A.D His Imperial Majesty paid state visits to Canada, Mexico, Yugoslavia, Greece, the united kingdom, France, Netherands, West Germany, Sweeden, Norway, Denmark, Switherland and Austria.
1974 Majesty Haile Selasie been killed by Exec Ethiopian president Mengestu Hilemaryam, he take over the power .
