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.
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- 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 lead the construction of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam upto 68% completion
- 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 Israel).
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