Archaeologists in Ethiopia uncover ancient city in Harlaa

14 Pages·2017·1.21 MB·English

Archaeologists in Ethiopia
uncover ancient city in
Harlaa

Prof Tim Insoll, University of Exeter
These are the remains of a 12th Century mosque
A forgotten city thought to date back as far as the 10th
century AD has been uncovered by a team of archaeologists in
eastern Ethiopia.
Artefacts from Egypt, India and China have been found in the
city in the Harlaa region.
The archaeologists also uncovered a 12th Century mosque which
is similar to those found in Tanzania and Somaliland.
Archaeologists says this proves historic connections between
different Islamic communities in Africa.
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“This discovery revolutionises our understanding of trade in
an archaeologically neglected part of Ethiopia. What we have
found shows this area was the centre of trade in that region,”
lead archaeologist Professor Timothy Insoll from the
University of Exeter said.
The team also found jewellery and other artefacts from
Madagascar, the Maldives, Yemen and China.
Harlaa was a “rich, cosmopolitan” centre for jewellery making,
Prof Insoll said.
“Residents of Harlaa were a mixed community of foreigners and
local people who traded with others in the Red Sea, Indian
Ocean and possibly as far away as the Arabian Gulf,” he said.
‘City of giants’
BBC Ethiopia correspondent Emmanuel Igunza says there was a
local myth that the area was occupied by giants because the
settlement buildings and walls were constructed with large
stone blocks that could not be lifted by ordinary people.
However the archaeologists found no evidence of this.
“We have obviously disproved that, but I’m not sure they fully
believe us yet,” said Prof Insoll.
Prof Tim Insoll, University of Exeter
These beads are signs of a lucrative trade in the region
Prof Tim Insoll, University of Exeter
Further excavations are expected to be conducted next year
A statement from the team says the remains of some of the 300
people buried in the cemetery are being analysed to find out
what their diet consisted of.
Further excavations are expected to be conducted next year.
A religious crossroads
Ethiopia was one of the earliest places known to be
inhabited by humans. In 2015 researchers discovered jaw
bones and teeth in the north-west of the country dating
to between 3.3m and 3.5m years old.
Coptic Christianity was introduced from Egypt and was
adopted as the religion of the Kingdom of Aksum in 333
AD. The Ethiopian church maintains that the Old
Testament figure of the Queen of Sheba travelled from
Aksum in northern Ethiopia to visit King Solomon in
Jerusalem.
Islam arrived in Ethiopia in the 7th Century as early
Muslim disciples fled persecution in Mecca. The main
seat of Islamic learning in Ethiopia was Harar, which
is located near Harlaa. Harar is said to be among the
holiest Islamic cities and has 82 mosques, including
three dating from the 10th Century, and 102 shrines,
according to Unesco.
Today there are about 30m Christians and 25m Muslims in
the country, according to 2007 census figures.
SOURCE – BBC

Islamic Trade Center Uncovered in
Ethiopia
Friday, June 16, 2017
EXETER, ENGLAND—BBC News reports that traces of a wealthy
medieval city, complete with a twelfth-century mosque and
Islamic burials and headstones, have been discovered at
Harlaa, located in eastern Ethiopia. Pottery, glass vessel
fragments, rock crystal, carnelian, glass beads, and cowry
shells imported from Madagascar, the Maldives, Yemen, and
China have been uncovered, along with bronze and silver
Egyptian coins dating to the thirteenth century. Timothy
Insoll of the University of Exeter explained that high-quality
jewelry was made at the site with silver, bronze, semi-
precious stones, and glass beads, using technology usually
associated with jewelry made in India at that time. He thinks
that jewelers from India may have been among the people who
migrated to the cosmopolitan city at Harlaa. And, the mosque
at the site resembles those built in Tanzania and Somaliland,
which suggests that the people who lived at Harlaa also had
contact with other Islamic communities in Africa. Human
remains from the site are being analyzed for further
information. For more, go to “Stone Towns of the Swahili
Coast.”
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
Lost Ancient Muslim City Discovered
in Ethiopia Could Reveal Details of
Islam’s History in Africa
Conor Gaffey
Newsweek
June 16, 2017
A lost city thought to be more than 1,000 years old has been
discovered in Ethiopia and may offer insight into Islam’s
origins in the country.
The settlement, located near Ethiopia’s second largest city of
Dire Dawa, in the east of the country, consisted of buildings
constructed with large stone blocks, which gave rise to a
local myth that giants lived there. Researchers believe it may
date back as early as the 10th century.
Archaeologists discovered a 12th-century mosque in the
settlement at Harlaa, as well as evidence of Islamic burials
and headstones. The team, from the University of Exeter and
the Ethiopian Authority for Research and Conservation of
Cultural Heritage, also found artifacts from as far afield as
India and China, suggesting that the region functioned as a
hub for foreign traders.
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A 12th-century mosque discovered in Harlaa, in eastern
Ethiopia. The mosque is similar in style to others found in
East Africa, suggesting connections between Islamic
communities in the region.
Archaeologists worked with the local community for two years
to make the discoveries, which will be exhibited in a heritage
centre run by local people designed to bring income to the
area
Professor Timothy Insoll, who led the research, said: ‘This
discovery revolutionises our understanding of trade in an
archaeologically neglected part of Ethiopia. What we have
found shows this area was the centre of trade in that region’
T. Insoll
Prophet Muhammad died in the mid-seventh century, and Islam is
thought to have spread to the East African coastline sometime
in the eighth century. But an earlier tradition holds that the
Prophet Muhammad sent some of his first followers to
Abyssinia—modern day Ethiopia—in the early seventh century.
There are almost 250 million Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa,
around 30 percent of the region’s total population, according
to the Pew Research Center. But Ethiopia has a strong
Christian majority: Almost two-thirds of the population are
Christian, while most of the rest are Muslim.
“Islamic archaeology has been neglected in Ethiopia because
people have concentrated on other things,” professor Timothy
Insoll, the project leader and an archaeologist at the
University of Exeter, tells Newsweek .

A burial site located in Harlaa, in eastern Ethiopia.
Researchers are analyzing the remains to try to determine the
diet of the area’s ancient inhabitants.
T. Insoll
Ethiopia has been an important excavation site for research
into the earliest human civilizations: Lucy, a 3.18 million-
year-old fossil, who was a member of the early human ancestor
Australopithecus afarensis, was discovered in Ethiopia in
1974.
“[The recent discovery] is addressing the almost complete
absence of Islamic archaeology [in Ethiopia,]” says Insoll.
The mosque bore similarities to others discovered in Tanzania
and Somaliland, a region of Somalia that has declared its
autonomy, suggesting contact and connections between early
Islamic communities in East Africa.
For years, local legend has had it that an ancient city built
by giants existed near Harlaa, in Eastern Ethiopia. Now, a new
dig has revealed that such a city really did exist in the 12th
century
Some of the jewellery found at the dig was also made using
delicate pieces in silver, bronze and semi-precious stones and
glass beads, which suggests it was made in India
The settlement, which is around 500m by 1,000m, has buildings
and walls constructed with large stone blocks. This lead
people to assume only those with enormous stature or strength
could have built it and encouraging local legends about giants
having inhabited the region
Amongst the findings were huge pieces of pottery from
Madagascar, the Maldives, Yemen and China, suggesting that the
city had thriving trade