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Agʿazi or Agazi (Ge'ez: አግዓዚ) is the name of a people and region of the Aksumite Empire in what consists today of Eastern Tigray in Ethiopia and the Debub region of Eritrea (Eritrean Highlands).[1][2] 8th to 10th century manuscripts refer to them as Gaze.[3] E. A. Wallis Budge's theory of the origin of the term Aga'azyan is that it referred to several tribes that migrated from Arabia to Africa either at the same time as or after the Habesha had migrated. He stated that the word "Ge'ez" had come from "Ag'azyan."[1] All of this is most likely false and stems from a period in anthropology and Abyssiniology where not much about near-eastern and Ethiopian history were known. The contemporary Monumentum Adulitanum likely lists the group as having warred with the Axumite king for the same reason the Ezana Stone distinguishes between the city state and both the Habashat and wider region of Aethiopia,[4] a similar dynamic to that of the Romans and Latins (Roman–Latin wars).

The word Ag'azyan means "free" or "to lead to freedom" in Ge'ez, and Medra Agazian (lit. land of liberators, the free) was used to refer to the Ethiopian Empire in medieval royal chronicles.[5][6] This is nearly identical to the ethnonym of the Amharas. Hiob Ludolf was a German orientalist who upon befriending Abba Gorgoryos (a monk from the province of Bete Amhara)[7] "acquired from him an intimate knowledge of the Ethiopian language of Amhara," along with it's script and aspects of the regions culture.[8][9] A pioneer of Ethiopian studies in the western world, his 1684 book A New History of Ethiopia states:[10]

"The origin name of Abassines is Arabian; but they rather chose to be called Ethiopians; more particularly, Agazian (i.e.) Free, as the Germans call'd themselves Franks. For they rather choose called their Kingdom, Menghesta a Itjopia, the Kingdom of Ethiopia and themselves Itjopiawjan, Ethiopians ..[complexion people of africa, to the black of Ethiopia] (c) But if you require a special name from them, then they call their Kingdom Geez; also the country of Ag-azi; or the land of Ag-azian (d) Freeman from the liberty they enjoy; or their transporting themselves from one place to another"

A 1948 book by Aklile Berhan Welde Qirqos, Ethiopian historian & linguist, states “Amhara means ‘free people’ in Ge’ez. While they spoke Ge’ez, they were called Agazi. After Amharic replaced their original language, they adopted an ethnonym akin to that of their Himyarite ancestors: Amhara.” This unlikely connection to Himyar is repeated by historian Getachew Mekonnen Hasen.[11] Both Abba Gorgoryos and 16th century Emperor Gelawdewos would refer to themselves and their homeland as Agazi.[12] The Chronicle of King Gelawdewos states "In that year, God glorious and the most high sent his mercy into the whole land of Agazi and restored peace to the land" and the footnotes of the translation explain:

"probably only the highlands are meant, as the Chronicle uses the word Ityopya for the entire state (e.g. The Critical Text, 3, 22, 34, 56 etc.). This interpretation is partially supported by the use of the term by Abba Gorgoryos (who was actually from Amhara) in a letter to Hiob Ludolf, where he said that he was from Ag'azi (Uhlig 1983, 1, 32 and fn. 13). Madrā Ag'azi also appears in the Gädlä Marqorewos (Conti Rossini 1904, 27 (text) 38 (tr.), here as the realm of King Mənəlik 1) and in the Mãşhafa məsțir (Yaqob 1993-1994, 1, 125 (text) = 73, 75 (tr.)). On the ancient ethnic term for the 'Aksumites'"[13]

Meaning Agazi was historically synonymous with the Christian highland population of what was historically referred to as Abyssinia. The Ge'ez phrase “Ethiopia, land of the free" (Ge'ez: ብሔራ አግዓዚ, bəḥera ʾägʿazi) makes use of the name.

The Agazi were a separate ethnolinguistic group from the Tigraei who were first mentioned in the 2nd-century CE[14][15] and are likely the ancestors of the Tigray-Tigrinya who now make up the majority of the regions population.[16][17] A marginal 10th-century gloss to the works of Cosmas Indicopleustes, a 6th-century Alexandrian merchant and Christian monk who had traveled to the Red Sea states the inhabitants of the northern Ethiopian highlands are referred to as the Tigrētai (Greek: Τιγρήται) and the Agazē (Greek: ἀγαζη), the latter being associated with the Aksumite ruling elite.[18] The Gaze are also recorded in the Monumentum Adulitanum as a separate people from the Agame, the Athagaous (likely Agaw people, also mentioned in the Ezana stone), and more. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, the Tigretai were a tribe living near the port of Adulis and not Axum proper.

Origins

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An Ethiopian regnal list from 1922 claimed that an "Ag'azyan" dynasty had reigned from 1985 to 982 BC.[19][20] The dynasty was allegedly founded by a man named Akbunas Saba (Sheba), "of the posterity of the kingdom of Joctan," a descendant of Shem (ሴም, Sēm), and the last ruler of this line was Makeda (the queen of Sheba).[20] This regnal list, however, is not considered historically accurate and has been treated by historians as little more than a vague notion of historical tradition in Northeast Africa.[21] Historian Manfred Kropp states the spelling is likely a transcribal error and meant to say as the Ethiopian syllable signs da and 'a are relatively easy to confuse with each other.[5] They are said to have pushed the tribe of Kam (Ham), also referred to as "Kasu" (Ethiopian term for Kushites also used in both the Ezana Stone and Kebra Nagast) out of the region and forming their own dynasty, being the ancestors of the Queen of Sheba and ultimately the Solomonic Dynasty. This likely describes the arrival of the Ethio-Semites in the horn of Africa and origin of Dʿmt. According to both Alaqa Taye Gabra Mariam's History of the People of Ethiopia and Heruy Wolde Selassie in his book Wazema, this originated from the liberation of Ethiopia from the rule of the Kamites and three of Joktan's sons divided Ethiopia between themselves. Sheba received Tigre, Obal (Hebrew: עובָל) received Adal and Ophir received Ogaden.[6][2] So according to this, the later monarchs who followed Sheba ruled from the region around Axum. Agazi, the progenitor of the eponymous dynasty, is instead said to have slain the serpent Arwe, which is credited to Menelik I in the Kebra.[22][23] Agazi, the progenitor of the eponymous dynasty, is instead said to have slain the serpent Arwe, which is credited to Menelik I in the Kebra.[24][25]

History

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The earliest attestation of this name can be found in the determined nisba-form yg'ḏyn in three pre-Aksumite Royal inscriptions: [rb]h/mlkn/sr'n/yg'ḏyn/mkrb/d'mt/web' 'RBH, the victorious king, he of (the tribe?) YG'Ḏ, mukarrib of D'MT and SB' (RIE 8:1-2); lmn/mlkn/sr'n/yg/ḏyn/mkrb/d'mt/wsb'/bn/rbb 'LMN, the victorious king he of (the tribe?) YG'Ḏ, mukarrib of D'MT and SB', son of RBH' (RIE 5 A:1-2, the same formula in RIE 10:1-5).[26] YG'Ḏ seems to be the name of the leading tribe or royal family settled in the region of Akele Guzai.[27]

In the Greek Monumentum Adulitanum (RIE 277), the author (an Aksumite king of the 2nd-3rd century AD) states: Γάζη έθνος έπολέμηα ("I fought the Gaze-people").[28] This people's name has been connected with the term Ge'ez. The Sinaiticus and Laurentianus manuscripts (both 11th century) explain in margin: "Gaze means the Aksumites. Until now they are called Agaze". The reconstruction [ag]āzә[yān] in RIE 264 from Zafār (Yemen) (late 5th-early 6th century AD) has been proposed by Müller, but the fragment is too badly damaged to provide any help as to who could be meant by this name.[29]

Another attestation is found in Abraha's Sabaean dam-inscription CIH 541 from Mārib (dated 543/548 AD), where he calls himself mlkn gzyn ("The Ag'azyan King").[30] A connection between agāzī and the people Agēzāt, mentioned in two of Ezana's inscriptions seems questionable.[31]

Despite this, other uses for the term include the military operation "Agazi" conducted in Mekelle during the 1983–85 famine and the Agazian Movement, formed in 2016 by Eritrean refugees in Israel.[32] A far-right nationalist movement It seeks to establish a Highlander-centric Orthodox-Christian state in what is currently Eritrea and part of Ethiopia,[33] The movement is characterized by its anti-Muslim rhetoric, militant politics, and its impact on the already divided Eritrean opposition, many of which view its proponents as agents of Tigrayan nationalism which opposes the continued existence of an Eritrean identity or state.[34][35][36][37][38]

Flag variant of the Agazia movement
Flag variant of the Agazia movement
Flag of the Agazia movement
Flag of the Agazia movement

The movement's primary objective is the establishment of a state that would unite Tigrinya-speaking Orthodox Christians from both Eritrea and Ethiopia.[39][40] This vision includes rejecting the current Eritrean state, which the movement views as a product of colonialism. Its leaders advocate for the dismantling of Eritrea's territorial boundaries, arguing that they were artificially imposed by colonial powers.[41]

References

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  1. ^ a b Budge 1928a, p. 130.
  2. ^ a b Kropp 2006, p. 322.
  3. ^ Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity, Stuart Munro-Hay, 1991
  4. ^ Anfray, Francis; Caquot, André; Nautin, Pierre (1970). "Une nouvelle inscription grecque d'Ezana, roi d'Axoum". Journal des Savants. 4 (1): 266. doi:10.3406/jds.1970.1235.|quote=Moi, Ézana, roi des Axoumites, des Himyarites, de Reeidan, des Sabéens, de S[il]éel, de Kasô, des Bedja et de Tiamô, Bisi Alêne, fils de Elle-Amida et serviteur du Christ
  5. ^ a b Kropp 2006, p. 321f.
  6. ^ a b Gabra Maryam 1987, p. 27.
  7. ^ Richard Pankhurst, Travelers in Ethiopia, p.59
  8. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 113–114.
  9. ^ Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, second edition (London: Oxford University Press, 1965), p. 9.
  10. ^ A new history of Ethiopia being a full and accurate description of the kingdom of Abessinia, vulgarly, though erroneously called the empire of Prester John : in four books ... : illustrated with copper plates / by ... Job Ludolphus ... ; made English, by J.P., Gent. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/A49450.0001.001/1:4.1.1?rgn=div3;view=fulltext
  11. ^ Getachew Mekonnen Hasen. Wollo, Yager Dibab, p. 11. Nigd Matemiya Bet (Addis Ababa), 1992.
  12. ^ CHRONICLE OF KING GÄLAWDEWOS, (1540-1559), p. 191, TRANSLATED BY SOLOMON GEBREYES, LOVANII IN AEDIBUS PEETERS, 2019
  13. ^ CHRONICLE OF KING GÄLAWDEWOS, (1540-1559), p. 191, TRANSLATED BY SOLOMON GEBREYES, LOVANII IN AEDIBUS PEETERS, 2019
  14. ^ Ptolemy, Geographia, Book 4, Chapter 7; see also: Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, Oxford University Press, 1965, pp. 8–9.
  15. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (1270–1527), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, p. 1.
  16. ^ Ptolemy, Geographia, Book 4, Chapter 7; see also: Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, Oxford University Press, 1965, pp. 8–9.
  17. ^ Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (1270–1527), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972, p. 1.
  18. ^ Wolska-Conus, Wanda. Cosmas Indicopleustès: Topographie Chrétienne, vol. 1, Paris: Éditions du CNRS, 1968, commentary and notes on Book 2, pp. 108–110.
  19. ^ Kropp, Manfred (2006). "Ein später Schüler des Julius Africanus zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts in Äthiopien". In Wallraf, Martin (ed.). Julius Africanus und die christliche Weltchronistik (in German). Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. p. 321f. ISBN 978-3-11-019105-9.
  20. ^ a b Rey, C. F. (1927). In the Country of the Blue Nile. London: Camelot Press. pp. 265–266.
  21. ^ Kropp 2006, p. 315
  22. ^ Kalu, Anthonia C., ed. (2007). "How Makeda Visited Jerusalem, and How Menelik Became King". The Rienner Anthology of African Literature. Boulder: Lynn Rienner. pp. 137–44. ISBN 9781626375833.
  23. ^ — (2000), The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (Kĕbra Nagast) (PDF), Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-30
  24. ^ Kalu, Anthonia C., ed. (2007). "How Makeda Visited Jerusalem, and How Menelik Became King". The Rienner Anthology of African Literature. Boulder: Lynn Rienner. pp. 137–44. ISBN 9781626375833.
  25. ^ — (2000), The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (Kĕbra Nagast) (PDF), Cambridge, Ontario: In Parentheses Publications, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-30
  26. ^ Sima, Alexander (2003). "Agazi". Encyclopaedia Aethiopica. Vol. 1. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 144–45.
  27. ^ Drewes, Abraham (1956). "Nouvelles inscriptions de l'Éthiopie". Bibliotheca Orientalis. 13: 179–83.
  28. ^ Robin, Christian (1998). "après la première campagne de fouilles de la mission française" (PDF). Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres: 737–98. doi:10.3406/crai.1998.15906.
  29. ^ Müller, Walter (1978). "Abessinier und ihre Titel und Namen in vorislamischen súdarbischen Inschriften". Neue Ephemeris für semitische Epigraphik. 3: 159–68.
  30. ^ "DASI: Digital Archive for the Study of pre-islamic arabian Inscriptions: Epigraph details". dasi.cnr.it. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  31. ^ Brakman, Heinzgerd (1994). TO ΠAPA TOIC BAPBAPOIC EPΓON ΘEION (in Greek). Bonn. p. 9.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  32. ^ [https://972mag.com/the-far-right-nationalist-movement-roiling-eritreans-in-israel/135179/ +972 Magazine The far-right nationalist movement roiling Eritreans in Israel
  33. ^ "Time for Ethiopians to start talking and deal with the Agazain movement". Tigrai Online. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  34. ^ "Tesfazion Gerhelase | The Washington Institute". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  35. ^ "The Agazian Movement: Exhuming a Corpse?". Horn Affairs. March 18, 2017. Archived from the original on April 26, 2024.
  36. ^ Omer, Mustafa. "The conflict in Ethiopia and TPLF's ultra-nationalist ideology". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  37. ^ Johar, Saleh "Gadi" (2021-08-17). "Eritrea: "A Foolish Undertaking"". Awate.com. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  38. ^ Ateweberhan, Mebrahtu (2020-12-11). "Eritreans caught in dilemma over Tigray conflict". The Africa Report.
  39. ^ Mohammad, Abdulkader Saleh (April 2021). "The Resurgence of Religious and Ethnic Identities among Eritrean Refugees: A Response to the Government's Nationalist Ideology". Africa Spectrum. 56 (1): 39–58. doi:10.1177/0002039720963287. ISSN 0002-0397.
  40. ^ Temare, Getachew Gebrekiros (2019-09-28). "The Republic of Tigray? Aydeln, yekenyeley!". Ethiopia Insight. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  41. ^ "Opportunities for Tigari State in Post-Esayass Eritrea". Tigrai Online. Retrieved 2024-08-15.

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