Chapter Two

Peoples and Cultures in Ethiopia

and the Horn

By: Beyene Biftu

Oct. 2023
 Outlines
2.1. Human Evolution

2.2. Neolithic Revolution

2.3. The Peopling of the Region

3.4. Religion and Religious

Processes
 Introduction
 Ethiopia and the Horn is referred to as the
cradle of humankind.
 It is also a region where early civilizations
including food production, making tools and
religion took place.
 These developments contributed to the social
evolutions, economic formations, and socio-
cultural and political settings.
 This unit traces human evolution and Neolithic
Revolution and then describes languages and
peoples settlement along with cultural settings
of the region.
 The purpose is to show that the region is home
to diverse peoples, and cultures (languages,
 Engrossing Questions
 How do you think human beings came into
being?

 What do you think is cultural evolution?

 What do you think is the Neolithic

Revolution?

 What is religion?

 Can you name some religious practices in

 Theories on the Origin of Human
Species: Evolutionist Vs Creationist

 How Different the Creationist Theory is

from the Evolutionary Theory?
 The Evolutionist Vs. the Creationist
A) The Creationist View:
 Is the belief that the universe and the various
form of life were created by the Supernatural
forces.
 The creationist view believe that human was
created by a supernatural force with all complete
physical shape and structure.
 The creator created all living things to be unique.
 God created the world and its inhabitants as a
finished product.
 It is further divided into two:
a) Biblical Creationists
b) Scientific Creationists
 Cont’d…
The Biblical Creationists: (Young-Earth-Creationists)
 Believe that the story told in Genesis of God’s six-
day creation of all things is literally correct. (Gen.
1:27)
 The story of Adam and Eve was accepted, therefore,
it is believed that the two were the first to be
created and that all humans originated from them.
 God had created everything as a finished products.
 The world has 6000 years age.
The Scientific Creationists (Old-Earth-Creationists)
 Believe that a creator made all that exists but they
may not hold that the Genesis story is a literal
history of the creation.
 Cont’d …
 Both types of creationists, however, believe
that changes in organisms may involve
changes within a species (often understood as
the “kind” mentioned in Genesis 1:24) or
downward changes such as
negative mutations, but they do not believe
that any of these changes can lead to the
evolution of a lower or simpler species into a
higher or more-complex species.
 Thus, the theory of biological evolution is
disputed by all creationists.
 The Evolutionist View
What is Evolution?
 Evolution is the theory in which humans
evolved, or changed over time, from a common
ancestor.
 In a broad sense, the theory which postulates
that the various types of plants, animals, and
other living things on Earth have their origin in
other preexisting types and that the
distinguishable differences are due to
modifications in successive generations.
 It is the view that human being were developed
from lower being through gradual and natural
process of change.
 The Evolutionist View
 Accordingly, modern humans evolved over the past
seven million years from ape-like-ancestors who
were the earliest members of our lineage.
 Scientists agree that the origin of humans was in
Africa (blse of the availability of fossil evedences).
 It was assumed that human and the two African
apes (chimpanzee and gorilla) belongs to the same
family called pongidae.
 It was from pongidae that human beings evolved
and separeted through gradual and natural process
of change into more complex modern human
being.
 Pongidae was neither human nor ape but common
ancestor for both
 Cont’d…

The First Humans, Australopithecines

 By around 6 m.y.a. in Africa, an ape like species had
evolved with two important traits that distinguished it
from apes: (1) small canine teeth
(2) bipedalism- that is walking on two legs as
the primary form of locomotion.
 Scientists refer to these earliest human species as
australopithecines or australopiths for short.
 The name ausralopithecines translates literally as
''southern ape'', in reference to south Africa, where the
first known australopith fossils (Aus. africanus) were
found, in 1924 by Raymond Dart
 Countries in which scientists have found australopiths
fossils include Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya, S.Africa and
Chad. Thus, autralopiths ranged widely over African continent.
 2.1. Human Evolution
 Archeological evidences suggest that East
African Rift Valley is a cradle of humanity.
 Evidences related to both biological and
cultural evolution have been discovered in the
Lower Omo and the Middle Awash River
valleys both by Ethiopian and foreign scholars.
 A fossil named:
 Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba,
 Ardipithecus ramidus ramidus,
 Australopithecus afarensis,
 Australopithecus anamensis,
 Australopithecus garhi, and many species of
 genus Homo have been discovered in Ethiopia.
 Cont’d…
i) Ardipithecus ramidus kadabba
 Ardi-earth/ground in Afar language

 Pithecus- “ape” in Greek;

 Kadabba- “elder” or “father of a family” in Afar

language
 Discovered in Middle Awash in 2001 by

Yohannis Haile-sillassie.
 Lived in about 5.8-5.2 million years B.P

 Was bipedal

 is very similar in most features to Ardipithecus

ramidus ramidus but in certain features of its

teeth is more apelike than its younger relative.
 Cont’d…
ii) Ardipithicus ramidus ramidus
 Lived at about 4. 2 million B.P.

 was discovered at Aramis in Afar in 1994.

 Its brain size 400 CC (cubic centimeter)

 Was Bipedal

 Ardi’s fossils were found alongside faunal

remains indicating she lived in a wooded
environment.
 This contradicts the Open-Savanna Theory for
the origin of bipedalism, which states that
humans learned to walk upright as climates
became drier and the environments became
 Cont’d…
iii) Australopithecus afarensis , Lucy
 Nick-named lucy or Dinknesh

 Discovered in 1974 in Afar region, Ethiopia, at

Hadar site, middle Awash, Afar.

 By Donald Johanson

 One of the longest lived and best known early

human species, and, closely related to the Genus

Homo
 Lived about 3.18 mya with brain size 375-500cc

 with 40% complete body parts, weight 30kg,

height 1.07 meters and pelvis looks like bipedal

female.
Fossils of Australopithecus afarensis
(Lucy)
 Cont’d…
iv) Australopithecus afarensis, Selam
 Australopithecus afarensis, Selam, was three
years old child’s fossil (female hominin)
 dated to 3.3 million years B.P
 was discovered at Dikika site, Mille, Afar in
2000, which is very older than Hadar.
 Discovered in 2,000 by Dr Zeresenay
Alemseged
 She has often been nicknamed Lucy’s baby
although she is approximately 120,000 yrs.
older than Lucy
 She was the most complete (60% of her
anatomy)
 Cont’d…
v) Australopithecus anamensis
 The oldest known australopithecine

 discovered at Kanapoi, a site near Lake

Turkana, Kenya.
 It is a 4.2-m.y.o bipedal species

 has many features in common with its younger

relative, Australopithecus afarensis.

 is more primitive in other characteristics, such

as its teeth and skull.

 It is estimated to have been between 1.3 and

1.5 m tall and weighed between 33 and 50 kg

 Cont’d…
vi) Australopithecus garhi
 Discoverd in 1996, by Tim White & Berhane Asfaw
 was discovered at Bouri, Middle Awash, Afar
 Garhi – in Afar language = “surprise”
 Dating 2. 5 mya
 Co-existed with Homo habilis
 Was “tool-maker”
Question
What are the two traits that differentiate species of
Genus Homo from its predecessors?
Answer
@ larger brains
@ smaller jaws
 Cont’d…
 The development of the human brain and
reduction is size of jaws are the main feature of
the next stage of human evolution, which
produced the genus Homo, believed to have
emerged 2-2.5 million years B.P.
 Different evidences of the genus homo have
been recovered in different parts of Ethiopia
and the Horn.
 A partial skull of a fossil termed as Homo
habilis, which is derived from Latin terms
"Homo" (human being) and "Habilis" (skillful
use of hands), dated 1.9 million years B. P. has
been found in the Lower Omo.
 Cont’d…
 A fossil named Homo erectus (walking upright,
dated 1. 6 million years B. P.) was discovered at
Melka Kunture, Konso Gardula and Gadeb with
900-1100 cc brain size.
 Homo erectus seems to have originated in
Africa and then spread out to the rest of the
world. (the first to move out of Africa)
 Skeleton of Archaic Homo sapiens
(knowledgeable human being, dated 400, 000
years B.P.) named Bodo with brain size of 1300-
1400cc was discovered in Middle Awash.

 Cont’d…
 Fossils of Homo sapiens sapiens (100, 000
years B.P.) were discovered at Porc Epic near
Dire Dawa, and Kibish around Lower Omo (in
1967).
 In 2004, Kibish fossils were re-dated to 195,
000 B. P, the oldest date in the world for
modern Homo sapiens.
 Homo sapiens Idaltu, found in Middle Awash in
1997, lived about 160, 000 years B.P
 Cultural Evolution
 Cultural evolution is related to technological
changes that brought socio-economic
transformation on human life.
 It can be conventionally grouped in to
1. Stone Age,
2. Bronze Age and
3. Iron Age.
 1) The Stone Age
 Is a period of human technological development
characterized by the use of stone as the principal
raw material for tools.
 It is the first of the Three-Age-System of pre-
history.
 Lasted from 3.4 mill. yrs. to 6000 years ago.

 Stone age artifacts include tools used by humans

and by their predecessor species in the genus
Homo, as well as the earlier partly
contemporaneous genera Australopithecus &
Paranthropus.
 Cont’d…
Division of Stone Tools:
 Archaeologists have divided the Stone-Age into
different types of tools or tool-manufacturing
techniques.
 The most widely used designation for the
successive stages are:
 The Paleolithic (Old-Stone-Age) 3.4 million -
11,000 yrs. BP
 The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) 11,000-
10,000 yrs. BP
 The Neolithic (New Stone Age) since 10,000-
6,000 yrs. BP.
 Cont’d…

Division of Stone Tools:

 By taking their features, ways and period of
production, stone tools can be grouped in to
1. Mode I (the Olduwan tools, which was named
based on the first report made at Olduvai
Gorge, Tanzania),
2. Mode II (the Acheulean tools, named after the
first report at St. Acheul, France) and
3. Mode III (the Sangoan tools) which is broadly
analogous to the Mousterian tools in Europe
Mousterian, named after the site of Le-Moustier in
France).
4. Mode IV (the Aurignacian Industry)
5. Mode V (Microlithic industries)
Mode-1, Oldowan stone tools
Mode-2, Acheulean stone tools
Mode-3, Mousterian stone tools
Mode -4, stone tools
Mode-5, Microlithic stone tools
 2.2. The Neolithic Revolution
 What do you think is the Neolithic Revolution?
 The term Neolithic is from Greek term: neo-new; lithic-
stone, hence, the New Stone Age.
 The Neolithic Revolution was the radical shift that resulted
in the birth of agriculture (the domestication of plants and
animals), taking Homo sapiens from scattered groups of
hunter-gatherers to farming villages.
 During the Neolithic period human beings transformed
from mobile to sedentary way of life.
 It was characterized by stone tools shaped by polishing or
grinding, dependence on domesticated plants or
animals, permanent settlement in villages, and the
appearance of such crafts as pottery and weaving.
 Cont’d…
 Most archaeologists believe that the
development of farming in the Neolithic was
one of the most important and revolutionary
innovations in the history of mankind.
Because it allowed:
 More permanent settlements
 Much larger and denser populations
 The accumulation of surplus and wealth
 The development of more profound status
and rank differences with population
 The rise of specialized crafts
 Cont’d…
Process of domestication
 The process of domestication took place
independently in the various parts of the
world.

 In Ethiopia and the Horn chiefly in the more

elevated and wetter-parts, people cultivated
plants including
 Teff (Eragrotis teff),
 Dagussa (Eleusine coracana),
 Nug (Guzotia abyssinica),
 Enset (Ensete ventricosum) etc. are known as
indigenous crops to Ethiopia
 Evidences of the Neolithic culture in Ethiopia

 What are evidences of the Neolithic Culture in

Ethiopia?
 The discovery of polished axes, ceramics, grinding
stones, beads, and animal remains in sites like Emba-
Fakeda around Adigrat in Tigray as well as Aqordat
and Barentu in Eritrea.
 The discovery of agricultural stone tools in the
Gobdera rock-shelter (near Aksum) which are dated
back to at least 5000 BC and comprises axes,
grinding stones, ceramics, beads.
 In the same site, Gobdera, the remains of dental
fragments of a camel dated to 2500 BC were also
 Evidences of…Cont’d
 Remains of domesticated cattle, chickpeas and
vegetables have been excavated from a cave around
Lalibela .
 Stone tools used for cutting grass and grass like
plants as well as rock paintings of domesticated
animals, dated back to 4000 BP, have been discoverd
at Laga Oda rock shelter near Charchar, west
Hararghe.
 Evidence for domesticated cattle dated to the 2nd
millennium BC were also discovered around Lake
Basaqa near Matahara.
 Playa Napata and Kado in the Sudan, Cyrenaica in
Libya and Futajalon in West Africa were among known
places of domestication of animals like Nidamawa
and Zebu (Bos indicus) cattle that in due course
 2.3. The Peopling of the Region
2.3.1. Languages and Linguistic Processes

 There are about 90 languages with 200 dialects

in Ethiopia and the Horn.
 Linguists classify languages of Ethiopia and the
Horn into two major language super families.
These are Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan.
A. Afro-Asiatic Super Family is sub-divided into
Cushitic, Semitic and Omotic families:

 1.1. Cushitic: linguists divided this language

family into four branches
 A) Northern Cushitic: is represented by Beja,
spoken in northwestern Eritrea bordering the
 Cont’d…
 B) Central cushitic: Agaw includes Awign,
Kunfel, Qimant; Hamtanga and Bilen.
 C)Eastern Cushtic: this includes diversified
linguistic groups like Afar, Ale, Arbore,
Baiso, Burji, Darashe, Dasanech, Gedeo,
Hadiya, Halaba, Kambata, Konso, Libido,
Mosiye, Oromo, Saho, Sidama, Somali,
Tambaro, Tsemai, etc.
 D) Southern Cushitic: represented by Dhalo
in Kenya and Nbugua in Tanzania.
 Cont’d…
 1.2 Semitic: is divided into two:
 A) North Semitic: Ge'ez, Rashaida (spoken
around Eritrea-Sudanese border); Tigre (spoken
in Eritrean Lowland); Tigrigna (spoken in
highland Eritrea and Tigray).
 B) South Semitic: is further divided into two
 i) Transverse: Amharic, Argoba, Harari,
Silte, Wolane and Zay.
 ii) Outer: Gafat (extinct), Gurage and
Mesmes (endangered).
 Cont’d…
 1.3. Omotic: Anfillo, Ari, Bambasi, Banna,
Basketo, Bench, Boro-Shinasha, Chara,
Dawuro, Dime, Dizi, Dorze, Gamo, Ganza,
Gayil, Gofa, Hamer, Hozo, KachamaGanjule,
Karo, Keficho, Konta, Korete, Male, Melo,
Nayi, Oyda, Sezo, Shekkacho, Sheko, Wolayta,
Yem, Zayse etc. Among its groups, Ometo
includes Wolayta and Gamo while main Gonga
is Keficho.
 B. Nilo-Saharan: Anywa, Berta, Gumuz,
Kacipo-Balesi, Komo, Kunama, Kwama, Kwegu,
Majang, Mi'en, Murle, Mursi, Nara, Nu’er,
Nyangatom, Opo, Shabo, Suri and Uduk
 Cont’d…
 Language classification did not remain static.
Factors like population movements, warfare,
trade, religious and territorial expansion,
urbanization etc. have resulted in intense
linguistic processes that forced languages to
be affected.
 In this process, some languages died out or
have been in danger of extinction while others
thrived off the social phenomenon that is
evidently observed.
 2.3.2. Settlement Patterns
 A settlement pattern, the distribution of
peoples across the landscape, is the results of
long historical processes in northeast Africa.
 In some areas, settlement was dense and in
other areas sparse.
 Some people inhabited extensive highlands
and others the lowlands.
 Based on historical linguistic and history of
inter-peoples relations, studies indicate that
environmental, socio-economic, and political
processes significantly shaped and reshaped
the spatial distribution of peoples in the
region.
 2.3.3. Economic Activity
 The Neolithic Revolution (domestication of plants
and animals) gave humanity two interdependent
modes of life: agriculture and pastoralism.
 While there may be pure pastoralists, it is very
rare to think of a farmer without a head of cattle
or two.
 Likewise, in Ethiopia and the Horn, these two
forms of livelihood have coexisted and quite
often interrelated.
 Yet, topographic features and climatic conditions
largely influenced economic activities in Ethiopia
and the Horn.
 Cont’d…
 The plateaus have sustained plough agriculture
for thousands of years supporting sizable
populations. Majority of the populations were
engaged in mixed farming. It is here that
sedentary agriculture had been started and
advanced at least since 10, 000 years B. P. by the
Cushites, Semites and Omotic groups.
 The major economic activity of the Omotic has
been mixed farming and trade in northern Omo
while southern Omo have predominantly
practiced pastoralism and fishing.
 Many of the Omotic groups have also been
famous in metallurgy, weaving and other crafts.
 Cont’d…
 Eastern lowland region: pastoral economy
Pastoral economy namely the production of
camel, goat, and cattle has been the most
common economic practice of region since
early periods.
 Pastoralism is major economic activity for Afar,
Saho and Somali as well as Karayu and Borana
Oromo.
 While the Afar and Karrayu have depended on
the Awash River, the Somali have owed a
great deal to Wabi Shebelle and Genale
(Jubba) Rivers.
 Cont’d…
 In the sparsely populated western lowland
region, the dominant economic formations were
pastoralism, shifting agriculture, fishing,
apiculture and hunting.
 For instance, sorghum, millet, cotton and others
have been largely cultivated in the lowlands
along Ethio-Sudanese border since antiquity.
 The Nilotes along the Blue Nile and Baro-Akobo
Rivers have been shifting cultivators where
sorghum has been a staple food.
 Among majority Nilotic communities, cattle
have high economic and social values. Berta
and other Nilotes had trade and other social
contacts with northern Sudan.
 Reading Assignment
2.4. Religious Dynamics In Ethiopia And The Horn
1.Indegenious Religion
2. Judaism
3. Christianity
4. Islam
Thank
you!