Re: EPRDF2( EPRDF- TPLF) was created, built & equipped by Meles. Abiy is only good at stealing & lie!
Axumkizenam,
the person with the name of a dead empire,
You are recycling old ideas!
TPLF is dead. Ethiopians are tired of the old idea of TPLF including its evil name. TPLF has never been Ethiopian and will never be. If the Tigre clan has hope in Ethiopian politics in the future, it has to reorganize in a new party without the TPLF criminals. Ethiopians may open to Tigre idea only when they rebrand Tigres (political idea) and come with all-inclusive proposition. I believe the turn is for Amhara and progressive Oromos to rule if they are able to play their cards well. You can piggyback them, best option for ya. Just don't bother anybody with your stinky TPLF idea as it will be considered trash and annoyance
the person with the name of a dead empire,
You are recycling old ideas!
TPLF is dead. Ethiopians are tired of the old idea of TPLF including its evil name. TPLF has never been Ethiopian and will never be. If the Tigre clan has hope in Ethiopian politics in the future, it has to reorganize in a new party without the TPLF criminals. Ethiopians may open to Tigre idea only when they rebrand Tigres (political idea) and come with all-inclusive proposition. I believe the turn is for Amhara and progressive Oromos to rule if they are able to play their cards well. You can piggyback them, best option for ya. Just don't bother anybody with your stinky TPLF idea as it will be considered trash and annoyance
Re: EPRDF2( EPRDF- TPLF) was created, built & equipped by Meles. Abiy is only good at stealing & lie!
Odie you are degrading yourself by insulting Axumezana because I always saw you as intellectual with sound reasoning !What I said is fact ! You could hate TPLF it is here to stay ! Get used of it! Long live TPLF who built the great Abay dam! Long live to the Tigray people who disproportionately contributed in developing Ethiopia. Imagine positive contribution to where Ethiopia was 7 years ago & you will find the legacy of Tigrayans have been involved every major strategic achievements. No defeat of Egypt in ጉንደት & ጉራእ with out Tigrayans, no defeat of Italian by the banda Minilik with out the Tigray people, no Abay dam with out the Tigray people. No history of Ethiopia with out the history of the Tigrayan people. Tigrayans are the corner stones of Ethiopia !Ethiopia with out the Tigray people will be history less, clue less & vision less and will be disintegrated with out the Tigray people.
1) For Anyone Who Forgets Tigrayans are the Corner Stone of Ethiopia!
The Persian religious leader Mani (who died in 274 A.D.) regarded the Axumite Empire as one of the four great powers of his time, alongside Persia (Iran), Rome and China. King Ezana’s stone inscription from around 300 A.D., still standing in Axum, also confirms Mani’s claim about the Axumite Empire. In the inscription, Ezana stated that “he was the king of Axumites, and Himyarite’s (Yemen & part of Saudi Arabia), and of Raeidan and Ethiopians, and Sabaites (South Arabia) and of Silee, and of Tiamo and Bogaities (Beja) and Kasu (Kush)”. Though there are various assumptions and contrasting historical evidence regarding to the origins of the Axumite civilization, one can reasonably assume that it was highland indigenous black African civilization crossbreed with Middle East civilizations of its time. The Empire of Axum at its height extended across most of the present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The Axumite Empire was destroyed by the internal revolt led by Yodit in the 10th century, following to its long decline starting the 7th century due to the expansion of the Persian Empire to its territories and control of trade routes and the rise of Islam.
Edward Gibbon in his 18th-century book titled “The decline and fall of the Roman Empire” stated, “encompassed on all sides by their enemies, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten”. Though the medieval to 20th century Ethiopian kingdoms such as Lasta, Showa, Gondar and Tigray were direct descendants of the Axumite Empire, none of them was able to awaken the Empire from its deep sleep and reposition it to its former glory.
When the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came with the motto of “ትልቅ ነበርን ትልቅ እንሆናለን” the “ትልቅ ነበርን” undoubtedly refers to the Axumite Empire. It is my strong belief that, PM Meles’s grand vision and strong conviction of Renaissance of Ethiopia and Africa was inspired and shaped by the former glory and success of the Axumite Empire as well us what he experienced during the armed struggle on the capability of the Tigrayans to fight and win their enemies against all odds whether man made or natural disasters. I think PM Meles had discovered during the armed struggle that the Axumite Empire’s indomitability and spirit of wisdom, bravery, justice, determination, technological, social, economic, and political advancement are still alive in each Tigrayan DNA, whether educated or uneducated or poor or rich. PM Meles on one of his famous speeches stated about the Tigrayan people “እንኻእ ታባኻትኩም ተፈጠርና፥እንኻእ አማእዲና እናረኤና ንቐንኧልኩም አይኮና”. The bravery inherited from the Axumites was at work when PM Meles, launched the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in Guba Benishangul Gumz, on April 02, 2011, even though he may had known very well that it may cost him his life.
The recent resurrection of TPLF/TDF after it was declared dead and buried by the Ethiopian government and Isaias army could only be explained by the intervention of the God and the indomitable culture inherited by the Tigrayans from the Axumites.
The following are few of the unique contributions of the Axumites and their direct descendants the Tigrayans (including the Tigrayans in Eritrea) which are named as Tigray-Tigrinya people that played unique role in technology, trade, religion, and philosophy which have shaped the Horn of Africa and impacted the world.
Videos From Around The World
- The Obelisks in Axum are unique (different to Egyptian Obelisks) in design with futuristic high-rise building architecture
- Alphabets, literature, and culture that is being used throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea
- The 1st nation on earth to engrave the Christian cross on its coin
- The keepers of the only and the original Arch of Covenant which was/will be the center of worship of the Jewish people
- Among the top three countries in the world that made Christianity as their state religion at the beginning of the 4th century.
- The first country in the world to host Muslims (1st Hijra) which established the foundation for the peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Christians in Ethiopia
- The innovators of the unique Christian worship of God (Yaredawi Zema)
- The world-famous Christian reformer Aba Estifanous of the 15th century, who started his reformistic work about 100 years ahead of the German reformer Martin Luther. Aba Estifanos was savagely and cruelly killed by Emperor Zara Yaqoob in Debre-Berhan Shewa.
- The world-famous philosopher Zera Yacob of the 17th century, who was denounced by Emperor Susenyos (1607-1632) in Gondar
- The defeat of the Colonizers (including Italy which is the descendant of the Roman Empire) at Kuatit, Sahati, Gurae, Gundet, Dogali and Adwa. It is obvious that Adwa’s victory was a shared victory of all Ethiopians, but the determinant role was played by the Tigrayan General Alula and his intelligence officer Bashai Awalom. The victory of Adwa resonated throughout the world and inspired the subsequent decolonization of the world.
- Meles Zenawi and his team designed and implemented the developmental state model, to the context of Ethiopia, which illuminated a light of hope at the end of the tunnel and brought millions of people out of poverty and positioned Ethiopia among the top fast-growing economies in the world. Such model is expected to be followed by other African countries in the years to come.
- Ethiopian Airlines was given a rebirth about 20 years ago under TPLF/EPRDF leadership which transformed the airline from highly vulnerable niche airline to global airline which has become number one in Africa and a success model for African countries.
- The Tigrayans have been recently savagely and cruelly invaded by highly disproportionate hundreds of thousands of well-equipped armies of their own brothers (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) and, United Arab Emirates state of the art attack drones which they have successfully defended and defeated. This achievement a lesson to the world on how a united, organized people with a just cause, the right strategy and leadership, though poorly equipped, could defeat and prevail against all the odds. It is also amazing to see how Tigray has humanly treated thousands of prisoners of war when most have committed barbaric crimes against the defenseless Tigrayan civilians which is like how Emperor Ezana treated his war subjects some 1700 years ago.
(2) The Spiritual Aspects of Tigray, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa
(2.1) The Spiritual Destiny of the Descendants of Axumite Empire
The spiritual destiny of the Axumite Empire is described in the bible in Isiah Chapter 18. Without going to the controversial and vague details, Isiah Chapter 18 verse 2 reads ‘’a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech whose land is divided by rivers (ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ወደ ለሰለሰ፣ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ወደሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ወደማይገባ፣ወንዞች ምድሩን ወደሚከፍሉት)”. Isaias chapter 18 illustrates the rise (verse 1 to 3), the fall and decay (verse 4 to 6) & and again the rise (verse 7) of the predecessor of Axumite Empire. At the end of verse 7 it is written that gifts will be brought to the Mount Zion (i.e., Jerusalem) to the Lord almighty (በዚያን ጊዜ ለሰራዊት ጌታ ለእግዚአብሔር፣ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ከለሰለሰ፣ ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ከሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ከማይገባ፣ወንዞችም ምድሩን ከሚከፍሉት መንግሥት፣ገጸ በረከት ይመጣለታል፤ ገጸ በረከቱም የሚመጣለት የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ስም ወዳለበት ወደ ጽዮን ተራራ ነው) ።
I am very sure that one of the gifts will be the Ark of Covenant from Axum with other material gifts (gold, precious stones etc.). Other gifts could be mighty men of God that will rise and win multitude of souls from the whole world to the Kingdom of God from the core descendants of the Axumite Empire, from the Tigray-Tigrigna people as well as the rest of Ethiopia. According to Isaiah 18 verse 7 and my own conviction, just as Israel was reborn in 1948 after about 2000 years absence, the Axumite Empire shall be reborn in the next 20 to 30 years (about 100 years after the rebirth of Israel and after more than 1000 years of its disintegration).
(2.2) The Ark of Covenant–A Blessing and Curse for the Axumite Empire and its descendants
Regarding how the ark of Covenant was brought to Axum the following are the main two theories:
- According to the Kebra Negast, the Ark of Covenant was stolen from the temple by Menelik I, with divine assistance. However, I do not understand the need for divine assistance to steal someone’s property!
- Graham Hancock in his 1992 book titled “The Sign and the Seal”, illustrated that the Ark of Covenant may had come via Egypt to Tana Lake by the Bete Israels’ but was later taken by force by the Axumites, probably during war among the two. He also tried to prove that the Ark of covenant was in the Jews Temple in Jerusalem for some hundred years later than claimed by the Kebra Negast that it was transferred to Axum.
Without going to the argument about which of the above theories is correct, one common fact is that the Ark of Covenant was stolen or forcibly taken from the Jews by the Axumites. 1st Samuel 4: 1-10 of the Bible states, the Ark of Covenant was captured by the Philistines after defeating the Israelites’ army. 1st Samuel 5 and 6 describe how God sent devastating punishment to Philistines for capturing the Ark of Covenant and how they were forced to return it, with gifts, to its rightful owners, the Israelites. The writer of this article has strong conviction that the fall of the Axumite Empire and the suffering and persecution of its descendants, the Tigrayans, until today are a punishment by God for stealing and hiding the Ark of Covenant. The immediate solution to come out of the curse is repentance and return of the Ark of Covenant with gifts (Isaiah 18:7) to the Jews when they are ready after building the third temple, which could happen soon. There is also no biblical foundation for hiding the Arc of Covenant from the public view (Matthew 5:14-15) and the Tigray Orthodox Church must display it to be visited by the whole world as a testimony that the word of God is true. As an information, I had a chance of meeting the guardian of the Arc of Covenant in Axum Zion Church a couple of years ago. I asked him, “What will be the church’s reply if Israel asks for the return of the Arc of the covenant to Israel”. He answered, “that depends on the will of God, He was the one who gave us to guard it and when God wants to take it back to is owners, we have to give it”, which I completely agree!
(2.3) Who are the descendants of the Axumite Empire?
To answer this question in a simplified way, I referred to Ezana’s stone inscription mentioned above, and all the people mentioned in that inscription are its descendants. All existing nations and nationalities of Ethiopia, all citizens of Horn Africa, Sudan, Yemen, Southern Saudi Arabia, and Southern Egypt are stakeholders to the Axumite Empire. Regarding which people of Ethiopia were the core part of the Axumite Empire there is obviously a competition between Tigrayan elites and Amhara elites. In my view considering the historical mix of people between North and South Ethiopia both Tigrayans and Amharas could claim to be the core of the Axumite Empire and work together for its rebirth. Its is important to note that both the old and new churches in the Axum, the Church of our Lady Mary of Zion, were rebuilt by Amhara "
"
1) For Anyone Who Forgets Tigrayans are the Corner Stone of Ethiopia!
The Persian religious leader Mani (who died in 274 A.D.) regarded the Axumite Empire as one of the four great powers of his time, alongside Persia (Iran), Rome and China. King Ezana’s stone inscription from around 300 A.D., still standing in Axum, also confirms Mani’s claim about the Axumite Empire. In the inscription, Ezana stated that “he was the king of Axumites, and Himyarite’s (Yemen & part of Saudi Arabia), and of Raeidan and Ethiopians, and Sabaites (South Arabia) and of Silee, and of Tiamo and Bogaities (Beja) and Kasu (Kush)”. Though there are various assumptions and contrasting historical evidence regarding to the origins of the Axumite civilization, one can reasonably assume that it was highland indigenous black African civilization crossbreed with Middle East civilizations of its time. The Empire of Axum at its height extended across most of the present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The Axumite Empire was destroyed by the internal revolt led by Yodit in the 10th century, following to its long decline starting the 7th century due to the expansion of the Persian Empire to its territories and control of trade routes and the rise of Islam.
Edward Gibbon in his 18th-century book titled “The decline and fall of the Roman Empire” stated, “encompassed on all sides by their enemies, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten”. Though the medieval to 20th century Ethiopian kingdoms such as Lasta, Showa, Gondar and Tigray were direct descendants of the Axumite Empire, none of them was able to awaken the Empire from its deep sleep and reposition it to its former glory.
When the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came with the motto of “ትልቅ ነበርን ትልቅ እንሆናለን” the “ትልቅ ነበርን” undoubtedly refers to the Axumite Empire. It is my strong belief that, PM Meles’s grand vision and strong conviction of Renaissance of Ethiopia and Africa was inspired and shaped by the former glory and success of the Axumite Empire as well us what he experienced during the armed struggle on the capability of the Tigrayans to fight and win their enemies against all odds whether man made or natural disasters. I think PM Meles had discovered during the armed struggle that the Axumite Empire’s indomitability and spirit of wisdom, bravery, justice, determination, technological, social, economic, and political advancement are still alive in each Tigrayan DNA, whether educated or uneducated or poor or rich. PM Meles on one of his famous speeches stated about the Tigrayan people “እንኻእ ታባኻትኩም ተፈጠርና፥እንኻእ አማእዲና እናረኤና ንቐንኧልኩም አይኮና”. The bravery inherited from the Axumites was at work when PM Meles, launched the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in Guba Benishangul Gumz, on April 02, 2011, even though he may had known very well that it may cost him his life.
The recent resurrection of TPLF/TDF after it was declared dead and buried by the Ethiopian government and Isaias army could only be explained by the intervention of the God and the indomitable culture inherited by the Tigrayans from the Axumites.
The following are few of the unique contributions of the Axumites and their direct descendants the Tigrayans (including the Tigrayans in Eritrea) which are named as Tigray-Tigrinya people that played unique role in technology, trade, religion, and philosophy which have shaped the Horn of Africa and impacted the world.
Videos From Around The World
- The Obelisks in Axum are unique (different to Egyptian Obelisks) in design with futuristic high-rise building architecture
- Alphabets, literature, and culture that is being used throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea
- The 1st nation on earth to engrave the Christian cross on its coin
- The keepers of the only and the original Arch of Covenant which was/will be the center of worship of the Jewish people
- Among the top three countries in the world that made Christianity as their state religion at the beginning of the 4th century.
- The first country in the world to host Muslims (1st Hijra) which established the foundation for the peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Christians in Ethiopia
- The innovators of the unique Christian worship of God (Yaredawi Zema)
- The world-famous Christian reformer Aba Estifanous of the 15th century, who started his reformistic work about 100 years ahead of the German reformer Martin Luther. Aba Estifanos was savagely and cruelly killed by Emperor Zara Yaqoob in Debre-Berhan Shewa.
- The world-famous philosopher Zera Yacob of the 17th century, who was denounced by Emperor Susenyos (1607-1632) in Gondar
- The defeat of the Colonizers (including Italy which is the descendant of the Roman Empire) at Kuatit, Sahati, Gurae, Gundet, Dogali and Adwa. It is obvious that Adwa’s victory was a shared victory of all Ethiopians, but the determinant role was played by the Tigrayan General Alula and his intelligence officer Bashai Awalom. The victory of Adwa resonated throughout the world and inspired the subsequent decolonization of the world.
- Meles Zenawi and his team designed and implemented the developmental state model, to the context of Ethiopia, which illuminated a light of hope at the end of the tunnel and brought millions of people out of poverty and positioned Ethiopia among the top fast-growing economies in the world. Such model is expected to be followed by other African countries in the years to come.
- Ethiopian Airlines was given a rebirth about 20 years ago under TPLF/EPRDF leadership which transformed the airline from highly vulnerable niche airline to global airline which has become number one in Africa and a success model for African countries.
- The Tigrayans have been recently savagely and cruelly invaded by highly disproportionate hundreds of thousands of well-equipped armies of their own brothers (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) and, United Arab Emirates state of the art attack drones which they have successfully defended and defeated. This achievement a lesson to the world on how a united, organized people with a just cause, the right strategy and leadership, though poorly equipped, could defeat and prevail against all the odds. It is also amazing to see how Tigray has humanly treated thousands of prisoners of war when most have committed barbaric crimes against the defenseless Tigrayan civilians which is like how Emperor Ezana treated his war subjects some 1700 years ago.
(2) The Spiritual Aspects of Tigray, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa
(2.1) The Spiritual Destiny of the Descendants of Axumite Empire
The spiritual destiny of the Axumite Empire is described in the bible in Isiah Chapter 18. Without going to the controversial and vague details, Isiah Chapter 18 verse 2 reads ‘’a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech whose land is divided by rivers (ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ወደ ለሰለሰ፣ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ወደሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ወደማይገባ፣ወንዞች ምድሩን ወደሚከፍሉት)”. Isaias chapter 18 illustrates the rise (verse 1 to 3), the fall and decay (verse 4 to 6) & and again the rise (verse 7) of the predecessor of Axumite Empire. At the end of verse 7 it is written that gifts will be brought to the Mount Zion (i.e., Jerusalem) to the Lord almighty (በዚያን ጊዜ ለሰራዊት ጌታ ለእግዚአብሔር፣ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ከለሰለሰ፣ ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ከሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ከማይገባ፣ወንዞችም ምድሩን ከሚከፍሉት መንግሥት፣ገጸ በረከት ይመጣለታል፤ ገጸ በረከቱም የሚመጣለት የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ስም ወዳለበት ወደ ጽዮን ተራራ ነው) ።
I am very sure that one of the gifts will be the Ark of Covenant from Axum with other material gifts (gold, precious stones etc.). Other gifts could be mighty men of God that will rise and win multitude of souls from the whole world to the Kingdom of God from the core descendants of the Axumite Empire, from the Tigray-Tigrigna people as well as the rest of Ethiopia. According to Isaiah 18 verse 7 and my own conviction, just as Israel was reborn in 1948 after about 2000 years absence, the Axumite Empire shall be reborn in the next 20 to 30 years (about 100 years after the rebirth of Israel and after more than 1000 years of its disintegration).
(2.2) The Ark of Covenant–A Blessing and Curse for the Axumite Empire and its descendants
Regarding how the ark of Covenant was brought to Axum the following are the main two theories:
- According to the Kebra Negast, the Ark of Covenant was stolen from the temple by Menelik I, with divine assistance. However, I do not understand the need for divine assistance to steal someone’s property!
- Graham Hancock in his 1992 book titled “The Sign and the Seal”, illustrated that the Ark of Covenant may had come via Egypt to Tana Lake by the Bete Israels’ but was later taken by force by the Axumites, probably during war among the two. He also tried to prove that the Ark of covenant was in the Jews Temple in Jerusalem for some hundred years later than claimed by the Kebra Negast that it was transferred to Axum.
Without going to the argument about which of the above theories is correct, one common fact is that the Ark of Covenant was stolen or forcibly taken from the Jews by the Axumites. 1st Samuel 4: 1-10 of the Bible states, the Ark of Covenant was captured by the Philistines after defeating the Israelites’ army. 1st Samuel 5 and 6 describe how God sent devastating punishment to Philistines for capturing the Ark of Covenant and how they were forced to return it, with gifts, to its rightful owners, the Israelites. The writer of this article has strong conviction that the fall of the Axumite Empire and the suffering and persecution of its descendants, the Tigrayans, until today are a punishment by God for stealing and hiding the Ark of Covenant. The immediate solution to come out of the curse is repentance and return of the Ark of Covenant with gifts (Isaiah 18:7) to the Jews when they are ready after building the third temple, which could happen soon. There is also no biblical foundation for hiding the Arc of Covenant from the public view (Matthew 5:14-15) and the Tigray Orthodox Church must display it to be visited by the whole world as a testimony that the word of God is true. As an information, I had a chance of meeting the guardian of the Arc of Covenant in Axum Zion Church a couple of years ago. I asked him, “What will be the church’s reply if Israel asks for the return of the Arc of the covenant to Israel”. He answered, “that depends on the will of God, He was the one who gave us to guard it and when God wants to take it back to is owners, we have to give it”, which I completely agree!
(2.3) Who are the descendants of the Axumite Empire?
To answer this question in a simplified way, I referred to Ezana’s stone inscription mentioned above, and all the people mentioned in that inscription are its descendants. All existing nations and nationalities of Ethiopia, all citizens of Horn Africa, Sudan, Yemen, Southern Saudi Arabia, and Southern Egypt are stakeholders to the Axumite Empire. Regarding which people of Ethiopia were the core part of the Axumite Empire there is obviously a competition between Tigrayan elites and Amhara elites. In my view considering the historical mix of people between North and South Ethiopia both Tigrayans and Amharas could claim to be the core of the Axumite Empire and work together for its rebirth. Its is important to note that both the old and new churches in the Axum, the Church of our Lady Mary of Zion, were rebuilt by Amhara "
"
Re: EPRDF2( EPRDF- TPLF) was created, built & equipped by Meles. Abiy is only good at stealing & lie!
Drones show in Addis sky recently was s show of Ethiopia's advancement in technology or of that of Chinses?
Re: EPRDF2( EPRDF- TPLF) was created, built & equipped by Meles. Abiy is only good at stealing & lie!
Axumezana,Axumezana wrote: ↑15 Sep 2025, 17:22Odie you are degrading yourself by insulting Axumezana because I always saw you intellectual with sound reasoning !What I said is fact ! You could hate TPLF it is here to stay ! Get used of it! Long live TPLF who built the great Abay dam! Long live to the Tigray people who disproportionally contributed in developing Ethiopia. Imagine positive contribution to where Ethiopia was 7 years ago & you will find the legacy of Tigrayans in every major strategic achievements. No defeat of Egypt in Gundet & Gurae with out Tigrayans, no defeat of Italian by the banda Minilik with out the Tigray people, no Abay dam with out the Tigray people. No history of Ethiopia with out the history of the Tigrayan people. Tigrayans are the corner stones of Ethiopia & Ethiopia history less, value less & vision less will be disintegrated with out the Tigray people.
1) For Anyone Who Forgets Tigrayans are the Corner Stone of Ethiopia!
The Persian religious leader Mani (who died in 274 A.D.) regarded the Axumite Empire as one of the four great powers of his time, alongside Persia (Iran), Rome and China. King Ezana’s stone inscription from around 300 A.D., still standing in Axum, also confirms Mani’s claim about the Axumite Empire. In the inscription, Ezana stated that “he was the king of Axumites, and Himyarite’s (Yemen & part of Saudi Arabia), and of Raeidan and Ethiopians, and Sabaites (South Arabia) and of Silee, and of Tiamo and Bogaities (Beja) and Kasu (Kush)”. Though there are various assumptions and contrasting historical evidence regarding to the origins of the Axumite civilization, one can reasonably assume that it was highland indigenous black African civilization crossbreed with Middle East civilizations of its time. The Empire of Axum at its height extended across most of the present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. The Axumite Empire was destroyed by the internal revolt led by Yodit in the 10th century, following to its long decline starting the 7th century due to the expansion of the Persian Empire to its territories and control of trade routes and the rise of Islam.
Edward Gibbon in his 18th-century book titled “The decline and fall of the Roman Empire” stated, “encompassed on all sides by their enemies, the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten”. Though the medieval to 20th century Ethiopian kingdoms such as Lasta, Showa, Gondar and Tigray were direct descendants of the Axumite Empire, none of them was able to awaken the Empire from its deep sleep and reposition it to its former glory.
When the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi came with the motto of “ትልቅ ነበርን ትልቅ እንሆናለን” the “ትልቅ ነበርን” undoubtedly refers to the Axumite Empire. It is my strong belief that, PM Meles’s grand vision and strong conviction of Renaissance of Ethiopia and Africa was inspired and shaped by the former glory and success of the Axumite Empire as well us what he experienced during the armed struggle on the capability of the Tigrayans to fight and win their enemies against all odds whether man made or natural disasters. I think PM Meles had discovered during the armed struggle that the Axumite Empire’s indomitability and spirit of wisdom, bravery, justice, determination, technological, social, economic, and political advancement are still alive in each Tigrayan DNA, whether educated or uneducated or poor or rich. PM Meles on one of his famous speeches stated about the Tigrayan people “እንኻእ ታባኻትኩም ተፈጠርና፥እንኻእ አማእዲና እናረኤና ንቐንኧልኩም አይኮና”. The bravery inherited from the Axumites was at work when PM Meles, launched the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in Guba Benishangul Gumz, on April 02, 2011, even though he may had known very well that it may cost him his life.
The recent resurrection of TPLF/TDF after it was declared dead and buried by the Ethiopian government and Isaias army could only be explained by the intervention of the God and the indomitable culture inherited by the Tigrayans from the Axumites.
The following are few of the unique contributions of the Axumites and their direct descendants the Tigrayans (including the Tigrayans in Eritrea) which are named as Tigray-Tigrinya people that played unique role in technology, trade, religion, and philosophy which have shaped the Horn of Africa and impacted the world.
Videos From Around The World
- The Obelisks in Axum are unique (different to Egyptian Obelisks) in design with futuristic high-rise building architecture
- Alphabets, literature, and culture that is being used throughout Ethiopia and Eritrea
- The 1st nation on earth to engrave the Christian cross on its coin
- The keepers of the only and the original Arch of Covenant which was/will be the center of worship of the Jewish people
- Among the top three countries in the world that made Christianity as their state religion at the beginning of the 4th century.
- The first country in the world to host Muslims (1st Hijra) which established the foundation for the peaceful co-existence of Muslims and Christians in Ethiopia
- The innovators of the unique Christian worship of God (Yaredawi Zema)
- The world-famous Christian reformer Aba Estifanous of the 15th century, who started his reformistic work about 100 years ahead of the German reformer Martin Luther. Aba Estifanos was savagely and cruelly killed by Emperor Zara Yaqoob in Debre-Berhan Shewa.
- The world-famous philosopher Zera Yacob of the 17th century, who was denounced by Emperor Susenyos (1607-1632) in Gondar
- The defeat of the Colonizers (including Italy which is the descendant of the Roman Empire) at Kuatit, Sahati, Gurae, Gundet, Dogali and Adwa. It is obvious that Adwa’s victory was a shared victory of all Ethiopians, but the determinant role was played by the Tigrayan General Alula and his intelligence officer Bashai Awalom. The victory of Adwa resonated throughout the world and inspired the subsequent decolonization of the world.
- Meles Zenawi and his team designed and implemented the developmental state model, to the context of Ethiopia, which illuminated a light of hope at the end of the tunnel and brought millions of people out of poverty and positioned Ethiopia among the top fast-growing economies in the world. Such model is expected to be followed by other African countries in the years to come.
- Ethiopian Airlines was given a rebirth about 20 years ago under TPLF/EPRDF leadership which transformed the airline from highly vulnerable niche airline to global airline which has become number one in Africa and a success model for African countries.
- The Tigrayans have been recently savagely and cruelly invaded by highly disproportionate hundreds of thousands of well-equipped armies of their own brothers (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia) and, United Arab Emirates state of the art attack drones which they have successfully defended and defeated. This achievement a lesson to the world on how a united, organized people with a just cause, the right strategy and leadership, though poorly equipped, could defeat and prevail against all the odds. It is also amazing to see how Tigray has humanly treated thousands of prisoners of war when most have committed barbaric crimes against the defenseless Tigrayan civilians which is like how Emperor Ezana treated his war subjects some 1700 years ago.
(2) The Spiritual Aspects of Tigray, Ethiopia, and the Horn of Africa
(2.1) The Spiritual Destiny of the Descendants of Axumite Empire
The spiritual destiny of the Axumite Empire is described in the bible in Isiah Chapter 18. Without going to the controversial and vague details, Isiah Chapter 18 verse 2 reads ‘’a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech whose land is divided by rivers (ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ወደ ለሰለሰ፣ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ወደሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ወደማይገባ፣ወንዞች ምድሩን ወደሚከፍሉት)”. Isaias chapter 18 illustrates the rise (verse 1 to 3), the fall and decay (verse 4 to 6) & and again the rise (verse 7) of the predecessor of Axumite Empire. At the end of verse 7 it is written that gifts will be brought to the Mount Zion (i.e., Jerusalem) to the Lord almighty (በዚያን ጊዜ ለሰራዊት ጌታ ለእግዚአብሔር፣ረጃጅምና ቈዳው ከለሰለሰ፣ ከቅርብም ከሩቅም ከሚፈራ ሕዝብ፣ኀያልና ቋንቋው ከማይገባ፣ወንዞችም ምድሩን ከሚከፍሉት መንግሥት፣ገጸ በረከት ይመጣለታል፤ ገጸ በረከቱም የሚመጣለት የሰራዊት ጌታ እግዚአብሔር ስም ወዳለበት ወደ ጽዮን ተራራ ነው) ።
I am very sure that one of the gifts will be the Ark of Covenant from Axum with other material gifts (gold, precious stones etc.). Other gifts could be mighty men of God that will rise and win multitude of souls from the whole world to the Kingdom of God from the core descendants of the Axumite Empire, from the Tigray-Tigrigna people as well as the rest of Ethiopia. According to Isaiah 18 verse 7 and my own conviction, just as Israel was reborn in 1948 after about 2000 years absence, the Axumite Empire shall be reborn in the next 20 to 30 years (about 100 years after the rebirth of Israel and after more than 1000 years of its disintegration).
(2.2) The Ark of Covenant–A Blessing and Curse for the Axumite Empire and its descendants
Regarding how the ark of Covenant was brought to Axum the following are the main two theories:
- According to the Kebra Negast, the Ark of Covenant was stolen from the temple by Menelik I, with divine assistance. However, I do not understand the need for divine assistance to steal someone’s property!
- Graham Hancock in his 1992 book titled “The Sign and the Seal”, illustrated that the Ark of Covenant may had come via Egypt to Tana Lake by the Bete Israels’ but was later taken by force by the Axumites, probably during war among the two. He also tried to prove that the Ark of covenant was in the Jews Temple in Jerusalem for some hundred years later than claimed by the Kebra Negast that it was transferred to Axum.
Without going to the argument about which of the above theories is correct, one common fact is that the Ark of Covenant was stolen or forcibly taken from the Jews by the Axumites. 1st Samuel 4: 1-10 of the Bible states, the Ark of Covenant was captured by the Philistines after defeating the Israelites’ army. 1st Samuel 5 and 6 describe how God sent devastating punishment to Philistines for capturing the Ark of Covenant and how they were forced to return it, with gifts, to its rightful owners, the Israelites. The writer of this article has strong conviction that the fall of the Axumite Empire and the suffering and persecution of its descendants, the Tigrayans, until today are a punishment by God for stealing and hiding the Ark of Covenant. The immediate solution to come out of the curse is repentance and return of the Ark of Covenant with gifts (Isaiah 18:7) to the Jews when they are ready after building the third temple, which could happen soon. There is also no biblical foundation for hiding the Arc of Covenant from the public view (Matthew 5:14-15) and the Tigray Orthodox Church must display it to be visited by the whole world as a testimony that the word of God is true. As an information, I had a chance of meeting the guardian of the Arc of Covenant in Axum Zion Church a couple of years ago. I asked him, “What will be the church’s reply if Israel asks for the return of the Arc of the covenant to Israel”. He answered, “that depends on the will of God, He was the one who gave us to guard it and when God wants to take it back to is owners, we have to give it”, which I completely agree!
(2.3) Who are the descendants of the Axumite Empire?
To answer this question in a simplified way, I referred to Ezana’s stone inscription mentioned above, and all the people mentioned in that inscription are its descendants. All existing nations and nationalities of Ethiopia, all citizens of Horn Africa, Sudan, Yemen, Southern Saudi Arabia, and Southern Egypt are stakeholders to the Axumite Empire. Regarding which people of Ethiopia were the core part of the Axumite Empire there is obviously a competition between Tigrayan elites and Amhara elites. In my view considering the historical mix of people between North and South Ethiopia both Tigrayans and Amharas could claim to be the core of the Axumite Empire and work together for its rebirth. Its is important to note that both the old and new churches in the Axum, the Church of our Lady Mary of Zion, were rebuilt by Amhara "
"
Good will respect you though I won't allow you to play me soft. The idea you post here are old and Ethiopians have moved on. Lots of damages have been done since TPLF come to power and left with its divisive and cannibalistic ethnic projects. I have no problem with Tigrayans but their ideology of ethnic politics, hate and violence is not something from civilized world. Tigrayans specially TPLF supporters and TPLF itself have disreputation for that. I repeat, Tigrayans have to re-invent their politics to be accepted by the country. You have bad reputation and healing will need time. If you are not a cadre, I would advise you to move on. Stop hating other Ethnics specially Amhara, opposing or down talking Fano. Although you guys are ok to have good relationship with Eritrea, that should be under Ethiopian framework as far as Eritrea is independent and you are part of Ethiopia. I don't think OPP will usher a country for equal right or unified country, but it will die with its bellicose behavior. Begging OPP to forgive and include TPLF is ridiculous as it shows you are still hell-bent supporter of TPLF ethnic politics. Both OPP and TPLF are criminal parties that committed atrocities on all walks of Ethiopians including in their own regions. And good for you to be Christ focused Christian but down talking the EoC is also not fruitful. EoC and Tigray part of EoC should have conversation and sort out their differences, doctrinal or political
. These are some of the things I wish you did to get a respect, but I don't think you will change. Axum was historically a melting pot of all ethnics and now no one Ethnic can take ownership of the Axumite history alone. All Ethiopians have ownership of that history although the relevance now for future progress is useless in my opinion. It is a false narrative played by ethno-fascists from Tigray to initiate the self-destruction of Tigrayans themselves (via false pride) and to play hegemony on the rest of the ethnics in the country during their power peak. That is dead now whatever pride you want to have in it; no body will allow that or play into your drama. This is the REALITY, but you have a right to live in parallel universe Re: EPRDF2( EPRDF- TPLF) was created, built & equipped by Meles. Abiy is only good at stealing & lie!
With respect to ethnic division it has been there before TPLF was established. "የትግሬ ገዳይ ቀረርቶ, ትግሬ መጮህያ" ይባል የነበረው በጎንደር ነገስታት ዘመን መሆኑን ድረስበት፤ ደቂቀ እስቲፋኖስ እየተባለ የትግራይ ህዝብ ይሳደድና ይገደል የነበረው በሽዋ ነግስታት ነበር።