A history textbook full of flat-out lies & deliberate omissions

A history textbook full of flat-out lies & deliberate omissions

It has been a number of years since the “Ethiopian History” course has been canceled from Ethiopian colleges and universities for its supposed biases and question of inclusiveness. A new textbook has been written by a government-appointed panel of four academics to replace the former one. But the new one is also sparking controversy. For a second series on the subject, Ethiopia Observer is publishing an article based in an interview conducted with an archaeologist and heritage management teacher at Addis Ababa University, Mengistu Gobezie who says the module is culpable of some serious lapses.

In my view, the module demonstrates five glaring shortcomings. Firstly, in an apparent attempt to redress past historical underrepresentation, it has chosen to be restricted and rather parochial in scope and accordingly sidelines the national history, with a selective focus on certain ethnic communities. It glosses over and trivializes the greater national history and reframes and reconstructs selective regional history at the expense of the big picture. Even though the module is supposed to be a national history, one is hard-pressed to find the nation’s history in the book. In the introduction, it is stated that the module aims at « making this course as inclusive and representative as possible; the module also includes regional histories across the period,» but as it turns out, it is neither inclusive nor representative. Rather, it is thin on detail, partisan on its treatment and devoid of a shared national vision. Histories of certain regions loom large while other regions are pushed to the background.

Omissions about the contribution and achievements of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church

The second problem is the module’s exploration and depiction of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. By largely ignoring its contribution, achievements, and rich national legacy, it rather focuses on the negative aspects of history. For example, in the section dealing with the history of religion and religious process, the module devotes disproportionately much attention to « indigenous religions », particularly on the waaqeffata. In comparison, Orthodox Christianity has not received as close attention. In Ethiopian religious history, the faith that deserves considerable treatment and with a rich history that can be analyzed in detail is Orthodox Christianity, yet it is unjustly presented in a demeaning and contemptuous way.  The module acknowledges the existence of the Bete Isreal but it says they « began to be clearly noticed in the 4th century AD when the community refused to be converted to Christianity.” But there has been no evidence offered to support the claim. Narrating the history of Judaism in such a manner is likely to offend the community concerned and is not appropriate.

Another incendiary claim is EOC spread to central, south, east, and western parts following their conquests by the northern Christian kingdom. «People were baptised as government obligatory decree. Lately, monopolization of burial places by Church forced people to accept Tewahiido. » On the other hand,  when it relates the introduction of Islam in Ethiopia, the module alleges that the Aksumite king who sheltered Prophet Mohammed’s followers was converted to Islam, citing « a grown tradition, chiefly in Arabic sources and among Ethiopian Muslims. »  Accordingly,  it goes on to say that « Islam was introduced to the Horn of Africa not through Jihad, but through trade routes. »  When we look at this, we could see the extent of the misrepresentation, distortion and assertions without evidence than with those with evidence. Another account in connection with the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is that « the people especially in Arssi, Bale and Hararghe adopted Islam en masse as opposition to the imposed EOC.» This is wrong, and purposely deceptive. In another account of how Chrisitan faith comes to Ethiopia, the module contends that it came to Ethiopia from Egypt. But the truth is different. Ethiopia has not imported Christianity from Egypt. As a matter of fact, it is one of the first Christian countries in the world. It was the first patriarch in Ethiopia who was consecrated in Egypt in the fourth century, but he was not even Egyptian.

A mixture of grand and unsupported generalization about the Oromo

The fourth one is the module furnishes an unbalanced account of certain ethnic groups, particularly that of the Oromo. Actually, the Oromo history is part and parcel of our history but it should be presented with evidence that could be established. The module claims the Oromos were one of the Ethiopia’s primordial people, who lived in the north, west, central and south of Ethiopia and even goes as far as saying that the Oromo had already settled in the whole parts of East Africa before the first millennium, which is nothing more than a fairy tale that will collapse under historiographical scrutiny.

Inaccuracies about the Zagwe dynasty

Lastly, another inaccurate statement that should be mentioned is with regards to the Zagwe dynasty. At some point, it was stated that the Zagwe dynasty stretches from 1150-1270 whereas, on another page, there is a reference saying the Lalibela period lasted from 1160-1211. First, it is astonishing that the module could give such precise years, again without providing any evidence. There are ample credible references and chronicles that show that the establishment of the Zagwe Dynasty goes back to the end of the tenth century and lasts for about 300 years, a fact that the textbook writers disregarded. But they appear to have no qualms about making allegations which are either false or entirely unsupported by the evidence. Even the illustrations and maps are not dated and the sources are not given. This is alarming considering that the material would be put out statewide to be used as instructional material. Manufacturing myth and deliberate fabrication could only deepen existing divisions, not build national unity.

Interview conducted with Alemayehu Anbese of Addis Admass. Translated from Amharic into English by Arefaynie Fantahun.

Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. Please cite Ethiopia Observer prominently and link clearly to the original article if you republish. If you have any queries, please contact us at ethiopiaobserver@protonmail.com.

Share this post

15 thoughts on “A history textbook full of flat-out lies & deliberate omissions

  1. Thank you very much
    We need all the scholars we can reach to do their best to challenge the revisionists. The current regime has declared an all-out war to legitimize itself based on invented or distorted history. Our people need to know the truth and the truth is there. Ethiopia will never ever have peace unless the truth is told and taught. There is no country in Sub-sahara Africa that has recorded history like Ethiopia has. They cannot cheat the people only themselves. If our historians diligently work on this: it will be one form of patriotism and contribution to peace stability and unity because it is invented and distorted history that is creating divisions and hostilities amongst our people.

  2. The legend about the Oromo being the first and original inhabitants of the Ethiopian highland was word-for-word taken from Mohammed Hassen’s book, The Oromo of Ethiopia published in 1990. The claim and many of the allegations in the book were derided and ridiculed by the scholarly community. For example, one of his claims which says that « there is conclusive evidence which demonstrates beyond the shadow of a doubt that some settled sedentary agricultural Oromo groups lived in and to the south of what is today the administrative region of Shawa before the fourteenth century.” But readers are not told that the footnotes for this quote cities Mohammed’s own dissertation. During those times such narrations were viewed as fringes but now with the control of the government, they have gone to the extent of including it in a national textbook. A tactic to deceive the public into accepting unreliable sources as fact.

    1. The Amhara and Tigray (cousins) think they got there first. Professor Getachew has been the proponent of this racist thesis though he can not support it with evidence other than his own words. The professor in fact believes as an article of faith that the Oromo are guests who ovetstayed. Not kidding.

      Why should it surprise any one that another professor (Mohammed) responded in kind? Both professors happen to be petty ideologues despite their great learning.

      Here is a thought. Why is it important that one ethnic group got there first? We are all there now, period. The older folk are dead and burried long, long time ago.

      Historiography in Ethiopia is like the blind leading the blind. How far in the past can any of us see to make such absurd claims?

      Chill out guys. Don’t waste time over ideas like that. Instead discuss about jobs, about beautiful things, and have a cup of coffee.

  3. Very weak criticism!!!! The wonderful quality of Habasha is criticism. If they requested to write, they would exclude the history of all people and fill with their fake and myth story. I think, let they learn their story and we other nation and nationalities in Ethiopia learn our history. Criticizing is very easy, but doing is very difficult don’t forget!

  4. This antithesis of the module should bring competing evidence beyond counter claim.
    The counter argument should have been about methodological issue to agree on the way Ethiopian History was written in the past.
    The critical inquiry paradigm followers have the right to reject past history of Ethiopia based on the view that …history was written and accordingly distorted to favour the dominant group at that time, etc.

  5. History “in the making”…
    This goes out to prove that ‘his-story’ is always shaped up and (re-) written by the ‘winners’… or those on top of the food chain.
    Some of the points listed above are certainly valid and -like it or not- others are also accurate when the reader rids his/her reasoning from tribalism or religious fanaticism…
    Simply because previous elites are guilty of the same crime and because the assessments of (our) Education Ministries have never been unbiased, ending up with shortsighted and rather uneducated choices they have and still impose on gullible masses for personal and political gains.
    All in all, in Ethiopia -as well as elsewhere- very few are the places where one can reliably impart valuable education to their children without subjecting them to propaganda and covert agendas that do infect any and every subject including Science…
    Some things are better done by oneself and if at all possible, it is best for any parent to undertake the responsibility of that task called ‘education’.

  6. ለመተቸት ከሞከረው ነገር ያልተሻለ። ድሮስ በውሸት ላይ የተመሰረተ ታሪክ አራጋቢ ምን የተሻለ ነገር ያመጣል? ምንኛ ሚዛናዊ ለመሆን ቢሞክር ገና ሁለት ዐረፍተነገር ሳይፅፍ በሚደግፈው ወገን መሃል ሲቧዝን ይገኛል።ግን ግን ታሪክ ማስተማር ግድ ነው’ንዴ? ጠቃሚ በሆነ በሌላ ኮርስ ለምን አይቀየርላቸውም?

  7. Anyone who could recommend books about the Zagwe dynasty and the rock-hewn churches of Ethiopia, please. i mean genuine schoalrly work.

  8. A large portion of the ancient text in the Ethiopian Orthodox church was destroyed by Ahmed Gragn. This extract from Tadesse Tamrat’s Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527 could help to clarify. ‘The Muslim occupation of the Christian highland under Ahamd Gragn lasted for a little more than ten years, between 1531 and 1543. But the amount of destruction brought about in these years can only be estimated in terms of centuries. Ahmad Gragn and his followers were dazzled at the extent of the riches of the church, and at the splendour of Ethiopia Christian culture at the time. And, as the most important repository of the cultural heritage of Christian Ethiopia, the church was a special target for the destructive furies of the Imam. His chronicler outlines in the Futuh al Habasha a large number of cases in which beautiful churches were pulled down, their riches plundered, the holy books burnt to ashes, and the clergy massacred.”This says it all.

  9. ‹ለታሪክ ያለን ግንዛቤ የተዛባው ታሪክንና ፕሮፖጋንዳን ባለመለየታችን ነው፣ ዋናው መረዳት የሚገባው የአገር ታሪክና የታሪክ ትምህርት የተለያዩ መሆናቸውን ነው›› ሲሉ የቀድሞ የትምህርት ሚኒስትር ዶክተር ጥላዬ ጌቴ አስታወቁ።

    ሚኒስትሩ ከአዲስ ዘመን ጋዜጣ ጋር በነበራቸው ቃለ ምልልስ እንደተናገሩት፤ ታሪክ ያለፈ ጉዳይን የሚነግር፤ መጥፎም ጥሩም ሳይሸሽግ የሚገልጥ ነው። በዚህም ታሪክ የሚሰናዳበት የራሱ አግባብና የአጻጻፍ ስልትን ተከትሎ ስለሚሆን ማንንም ሊያጋጭ አይችልም። ሆኖም ዛሬ ብዙዎች እየተነታረኩበት ያሉት ታሪክንና ፕሮፖጋንዳን ሳይለዩ በመንቀሳቀሳቸው ነው ብለዋል። “የአገር ታሪክ ሁሉም ወጥቶ በአደባባይ በፈለገው መንገድ የሚተረክ አይደለም። ለትምህርት ሲሆን ደግሞ ከዚህ የበረታ ልዩና ጥልቀት ያለው ጥናትን ይፈልጋል” የሚሉት ዶክተር ጥላዬ፤ ታሪክን መጻፍም ሆነ መተንተን ያለበት የታሪክ ምሁር ብቻ ነው። ይህ ደግሞ የሚሆነው ምሁራኑ ሁሉም በሚባል ደረጃ በትክክል የአገራቸውን ታሪክም ሆነ ለትምህርት የሚሆነውን ታሪክ ተስማምተውበት ሲያጸድቁት እንደሆነ አስታውቀዋል።

    ‹‹የአፍሪካ፣ የአለምና የአውሮፓ ታሪክ ምንም ስለማያከራክር ዩኔስኮ አጥንቶ ያስቀመጠው መረጃ ስላለ ከዚያ ወስዶ ለትምህርት ማቅረብ ቀላል ነው›› የሚሉት ዶክተር ጥላዬ፤ ችግሩ እየተፈጠረ ያለው የአገር ታሪክ ላይ በመሆኑ ይህ ሲሰናዳ መሰረታዊ ምርምርና ጥናት ተደርጎ እንደሆነ አስታውሰው አሁንም ተዘጋጅቶ ለውይይት የቀረበው በዚህ መልኩ የተዘጋጀ እንደሆነ አመልክተዋል። እንደ ዶክተር ጥላዬ ገለጻ፤ መቼም ቢሆን ፕሮፓጋንዳ ትምህርት ቤት ተወስዶ ትውልድን መቅረጫ ሊሆን አይችልም። ለትውልድ ማስተማሪያ መወሰድ ያለበት እውነታውን የሚያሳይ ብቻ ነው። ስለሆነም ግለሰቦች የራሳቸውን ስሜት እንዳያንጸባርቁበት ጥንቃቄ ተደርጎ ተሰርቷል ብለዋል። ሆኖም አንዳንድ ክፍተቶች ስለነበሩ ቅሬታ ቀርቦባቸው እንደገና እንዲታዩ መደረጋቸውን ጠቁመዋል።
    የታሪክ ባለሙያዎች ሚዛናዊ፣ ሀቁን የሚያስቀምጡ፣ ከስሜት ነጻ የሆኑ መሆን እንዳለባቸው የሚናገሩት ዶክተር ጥላዬ፤ የሚያዘጋጁት የታሪክ መማሪያ መጽሐፍ የእነርሱን ደረጃ እንኳን መናገር የለበትም። ታሪክ የሚሰራ እንጂ የሚሰረዝ ባለመሆኑም ትውልዱ ፈልፍሎ ያወጠዋልና ጥንቃቄ የሚፈልግ ስራ መሆኑን አስገንዝበዋል። በዚህ መመዘኛም የታሪክ ምሁራኑ ተመርጠዋል ብለዋል።
    በአዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርስቲ ለአጠቃላይ ትምህርቱ እየተጻፈ የነበረው የታሪክ መማሪያ ሙሉ ለሙሉ በተግባር ላይ የዋለ እንዳልነበረ የገለጹት ዶክተር ጥላዬ፤ በዚህም ወደትምህርት ተቋማት የሚወሰዱ የማስተማሪያ መጸሐፍት አንድን ብሔር ከአንዱ የሚያጋጩ ሊሆኑ አይገባም።

    አሁንም ለሙከራ የቀረበው መማሪያ ለጊዜው ማሻሻያ እየተደረገበት ነው። የአገሪቱ ታሪክ ብዙው የሚያስማማን እንጂ የሚያጋጭ ባለመሆኑ በአግባቡ አይቶ ለማስተማሪያ ብቁ እንዲሆን ማድረግ ላይም መስራት ያስፈልጋል ብለዋል።

    ይህንን የሙከራ መማሪያ ጽሁፍ እንዲዘጋጅና ወደ ትግበራ እንዲገባበት ያደረገው የከፍተኛ ትምህርት ተቋማት ሚኒስቴር ሲሆን፤ አሁንም ክትትል እያደረገበት ይገኛል። ገና ትምህርቱ በአግባቡ ሳይሰጥ ጭቅጭቅ በማስነሳቱም ማስተካከያ እንዲደረግበት ተወስዷል። ስለዚህም ታሪኩ አሁን ሲጻፍ እውነታውን እንጂ ምስል ከስቶ የሚፃፍበት እድል እንደማይሰጠው አስረድተዋል።
    አሁን ስምምነት ላይ የደረሰ የአገር ታሪክ ለትምህርት እንዲሆን ለማስቻል አገር ውስጥ የሌሉትን በአውሮፓ አይጠፉምና የመማሪያ መጸሐፍ ዝግጅቱ ላይ የሚሳተፈው የታሪክ ምሁር መርምሮ በማግኘት ለአገርና ለወገን ኩራት በሚሆን መልኩ ማዘጋጀት እንደሚጠበቅበትም አሳስበዋል። ታሪክን ለመጻፍ ከታማኝ ምንጮችና ኃላፊነት ከሚወስዱ እንዲሁም በአዋጅ ስልጣን ካላቸው አካላት መረጃው መወሰድ እንደሚገባም አስገንዝበዋል።

    አዲስዘመን ጥር 1/2012

Comments are closed.