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Start Over Publication Year Range Last 10 years Language german Publisher institut des mondes africains
4 results

1. Un manuscrit éthiopien chrétien sur papier (ca. 1755) : une singularité royale

Author

Anaïs Wion

Subjects
Ethiopia, Gondar, material culture, paper, codicology, luxury, History of Africa, DT1-3415
Abstract

In the mid-18th century, at the royal court of Gondar, the scriptorium of King Iyo’ās (1755-1769) imported sheets of paper to make a lectionary (senkesar) in three volumes. Today, one volume remains in Addis Ababa at the Ethiopian National Archives and Library Agency, Department of Manuscripts, under the serial number 197. It is the only known Ethiopian Christian manuscript on paper. In Ethiopia, Christians copied their manuscripts exclusively on parchment. This innovative and ambitious project met the most sophisticated Ethiopian standards while adapting the codicological norms to the requirements of this new medium. Craftsmen who knew how to work on paper, foreigners or Ethiopians trained by foreigners, made this volume. The status of this manuscript was high enough to be part of the imperial library at the turn of the twentieth century and then included in the national heritage collection.

Published
2017
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2. Slavery, antislavery, political rivalry and regional networks in East African waters, 1877-1883

Author

Alpers, Edward A.

Subjects
abolitionnisme, Zanzibar, antislavery, DT1-3415, voix africaines, African voice, History of Africa, traite négrière, slave trade, Comoros
Abstract

This paper explores the dynamic between local, regional, and global forces for the Comoro Islands between the 1873 treaty mandating abolition of the export slave trade from Zanzibar to the imposition of French suzerainty over the Comoro Islands in 1886. Locally, my context is the Comoro Islands; regionally, it takes in the Mozambique Channel and wider southwest Indian Ocean; globally, it is the larger British imperial antislavery campaign in the western Indian Ocean. My paper seeks specifically to understand how the final years of political rivalry and slaving in this region affected matters both local and regional. By examining these events in some detail I hope also to reveal the economic and social networks that connected the people of the Comoros to each other, and beyond the Comoros to Zanzibar and coastal Mozambique. In the process, I illustrate how British abolitionism played out in the Comoros. Cette étude explore les dynamiques locale, régionale et globale à l'œuvre aux Comores entre 1873 (traité d'abolition du commerce des esclaves depuis Zanzibar) et 1886 (domination française aux îles Comores). Le contexte local de cet article est celui des îles Comores ; au niveau régional, il considère le canal du Mozambique et le sud-ouest de l'océan Indien ; enfin c'est la politique anti-esclavagiste de l'empire britannique dans la partie occidentale de l'océan Indien qui fournit le cadre global. Il s'agit de comprendre quelles furent les conséquences locales et régionales de ces dernières années de rivalité politique et du commerce de traite dans la zone. En étudiant certains événements particuliers, il est possible de mettre en lumière les réseaux économiques et sociaux connectant les populations des Comores entre elles, et au-delà avec Zanzibar et l'espace littoral du Mozambique. Enfin je m’interroge sur la façon dont l'abolitionnisme britannique s’est exprimé aux Comores.

Published
2015

3. A historical overview of the Wärğəḥ Muslim community in the Christian highland of Šäwa

Author

Deresse Ayenachew

Subjects
Islam, Wärğəḥ, Šäwa, Stelae, History of Africa, DT1-3415
Abstract

The Wärğəḥ Muslim community constitutes more than 22,000 people in Ethiopia. They live in diverse parts of the country, but the largest number of Wärğəḥ are found in north Šäwa and near Dəre Dawa. In north Šäwa, the community of Wärğəḥ has established scattered pockets of villages between Däbrä Berhan and Säbäta towns. Linguistically, they speak Oromo and also Amharic. Fragmentary medieval Ethiopian historical sources describe the Wärğəḥ as inhabitants of the lowlands of south-east Šäwa. They were herdsmen, particularly camel keepers. Post-16th century sources record that the Wärğəḥ transformed their way of life to become traders following the great medieval caravan trade routes. Due to their resistance against expansions, they were described as warriors and a ferocious people. For the purpose of this paper, we have gathered oral accounts from 13 local villages of north Šäwa to identify how these people reconstruct their history and to understand how all these villages networked with each other to endure the waves of dynamic religious and population movements of these periods. Funerary stelae were also surveyed to determine whether their styles could be related to the megalithic cultures of south-west Ethiopia.

Published
2016
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4. Recognizing plague epidemics in the archaeological record of West Africa

Author

Daphne E. Gallagher and Stephen A. Dueppen

Subjects
Second Plague Pandemic, West Africa, Burkina Faso, DT1-3415, Black Death, History of Africa, Mali, plague
Abstract

Many archaeological sites in the central West African savanna were either abandoned or reduced in size between the 14th and 15th centuries CE. Explanations have tended to invoke the effects of climate change (increasing aridity), political transformations, and religious conversion. However, more recently scholars have increasingly suggested that this regional pattern could be in part the result of plague epidemics. In this paper we explore the methodological challenges inherent in linking abandonments with the effects of epidemics in the archaeological record through a contextualized examination of settlement pattern data from recent archaeological research at sites in Burkina Faso and Mali. While plague cannot be definitively identified based on settlement pattern data alone, current evidence supports the possibility that plague affected populations in this area of West Africa. A broader view of sites throughout West Africa indicates that the possible effects of plague were widespread.

Published
2018