A page of history

3000 BC – In the classical world, Ethiopia, associated with a land of legends, referred to any unknown part of Africa and meant the land of “burnt faces.”

1500 BC – Hatshepsut, the Egyptian queen, launched an expedition on the Red Sea to the land of Punt, which was believed to be ruled by a Serpent. She returned with gold and incense and had what she saw engraved on the walls of her temple at Deir el-Bahari. The inscription reads: “No one yet knew the way to the land of the Gods, but we had heard of it by word of mouth since the time of our ancestors. But I led them across waters and lands to explore the inaccessible channels, and I reached the terraces of myrrh.”

1000 BC – The inhabitants of southern Arabia, the Sabaeans, crossed the Red Sea to trade and settle on the coast of Eritrea. They gradually moved onto the highlands, bringing their language (the ancestor of Ge’ez and Amharic) and place names from their own lands — Assab, Saba, etc.

1000 BC – The Queen of Sheba traveled to Jerusalem to meet King Solomon. “When the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s reputation concerning his knowledge of the justice of the Lord, she came to test him with difficult questions. And she came to Jerusalem with a sumptuous caravan of camels laden with spices, much gold, and precious stones…”

975 BC – Legend has it that the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon had a son, Menelik, the first Emperor of Ethiopia. Emperor Haile Selassie claimed to be the 225th monarch of this legendary lineage. The official version of the story of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon was written in the 14th century in the Kebra Nagast (The Glory of Kings).

100 AD – The Sabaeans built a great kingdom centered in the capital of Axum and traded with the Middle East.

300 – An Axumite king invaded South Arabia, occupied part of it, and proclaimed himself King of Axum, Himyar, Saba, Raydan, and Salhen, and minted coins. Axum was described as one of the four greatest kingdoms in the world.

325–350 – Axumite civilization reached its peak under the reign of Ezana, a contemporary of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Like Constantine, he converted his empire to Christianity. Ezana was converted by a Syrian shipwreck survivor, St. Frumentius, who was likely consecrated by St. Athanasius and became the first Bishop of Ethiopia.

570 – Muhammad was born and an Axumite king built a cathedral near Mecca. This marked the beginning of a dark era for Ethiopia, marked by war against Islam. According to Gibbon in “The Decline and Fall”: “Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion, the Ethiopians slept for nearly a thousand years, forgetting the world by which they had been forgotten.”

900 – The Axumites were pushed to migrate southward due to Islamic raids. They were also attacked by the pagan queen Gudit, who devastated Axum.

1137 – The new Zagwe dynasty came to power. King Lalibela had 11 churches carved into the rock in his capital. At the end of the Crusades, rumors spread of a distant and fantastical Christian kingdom ruled somewhere by a priest-king named John.

1270 – The Solomonic line was restored when King Yekuno Amlak seized the throne with the help of Tekle Haymanot, founder of the Debre Libanos monastery.

1434–1468 – Emperor Zara Yaqob initiated the first diplomatic relations with Europe and offered his daughter in marriage to King Alfonso of Aragon. The offer went unanswered. In close collaboration with the clergy, Zara Yaqob established days of celebration and fasting and decreed that Christians must tattoo crosses on themselves. He wrote several theological treatises and compiled the Fetha Nagast (Law of the Kings), used in courts until 1930.

1508–1540 – During the reign of Lebna Dengel, wars against neighboring sultanates reached dramatic proportions. Empress Helena, the queen regent, was sent as a delegation to Portugal to request aid. A Portuguese fleet pushed the Muslims back to the coast, and in 1520 a diplomatic mission arrived but departed in 1526.

1531 – A Muslim general, Ahmed Ibn Ibrahim, nicknamed Gragn (the left-handed), conquered Shoa, the Amhara and Lasta provinces, and reached Tigray in 1534. Lebna Dengel fled to Lake Tana and again sent a delegation to Portugal.

1541 – Cristóvão da Gama, son of the famous explorer Vasco da Gama, landed at Massawa with 400 men. He was killed, but his troops joined those of Emperor Gelawdewos and killed Gragn the left-handed near Lake Tana.

1578 – Emperor Sarsa Dengel defeated the Turks who had occupied Massawa.

1632–1667 – Fasiladas came to power and chose Gondar as his capital.

1680–1706 – Reign of Iyasu the Great, who imposed fiscal reforms.

1706 – Iyasu the Great was assassinated by his son Tekle Haymanot, a sinister event that inaugurated a series of royal poisonings and assassinations.

1800 – This period is known as the Era of the Mesafint (the Era of the Princes).

1855–1868 – The reign of Emperor Tewodros, who defeated all other contenders for the throne and tried to modernize and unify the kingdom. He moved his capital from Gondar to the fortress of Magdala.

1862 – Tewodros wrote a letter to Queen Victoria that went unanswered. He took offense and, as reparation, took 60 Europeans hostage.

1868 – The hostages were rescued by Lord Napier, who launched an expedition across Ethiopia on elephants. Tewodros took his own life upon seeing his army defeated by artillery fire.

1872 – The Ras of Tigray was crowned Emperor under the name Yohannes IV. The Khedive of Egypt attempted to conquer Ethiopia and received the final blow when the two armies clashed in 1876 near Gura. The Emperor reached an agreement with King Menelik of the Shoa province, the Solomonic line’s claimant to the throne. The Empire was divided in two, and it was agreed that Menelik would succeed Yohannes IV as King of Kings.

1882 – The Italian government purchased Assab from an Italian company that had bought it from the sultan.

1885 – The beginning of the “Italian enterprise in Abyssinia.” The Italians landed at Massawa on a reconnaissance mission but were repelled by Ras Alula.

1889 – Emperor Menelik II was crowned in his new capital of Addis Ababa.

March 1, 1896 – The Italians were defeated at the Battle of Adwa.

1903 – Menelik had water and electricity installed in Addis Ababa.

1905 – The first modern school, Menelik II School, was opened.

1910 – The first government hotel, named in honor of Empress Taytu, the Itegue Taitu, was inaugurated in Addis Ababa.

October 1907 – The country’s first ministerial cabinet was formed, initially composed of trusted nobles.

1909 – Lij Iyasu was proclaimed heir to the throne as Menelik fell ill.

1910 – The first government hospital in Addis Ababa, Menelik II Hospital, was founded.

December 13, 1913 – Menelik II passed away.

June 7, 1916 – Construction of the Ethio-Djibouti railway line was successfully completed.

1917 – Zewditu was made Empress with Ras Tafari Makonnen (Haile Selassie) as regent and heir presumptive.

September 28, 1923 – Ethiopia became a member of the League of Nations, founded four years earlier in 1919.

1923 – The first modern printing press, Berhanenna Selam, was established.

1928 – An official 20-year treaty of friendship was signed with Italy.

1930 – Empress Zewditu died and Emperor Haile Selassie was crowned in Addis Ababa.

1931 – The first girls’ school, Empress Menen School, was opened.

1931 – Haile Selassie proclaimed a constitution, established a parliament, and issued a decree against slavery.

1934 – A confrontation with the Italians over a water well on the Somali border erupted and was reported to the League of Nations.

1935 – Haile Selassie issued a general mobilization order and the Blackshirts under the command of General De Bono crossed the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Ethiopia, a victim of international aggression, called for a summit at the League of Nations.

1936 – The Italian fascists invaded Ethiopia. Ethiopia appealed to the League of Nations once again. Mussolini declared that the annexation of Ethiopia could neither be avoided nor delayed.

May 9, 1936 – Italy officially annexed Ethiopia.

June 30, 1936 – Haile Selassie delivered his famous speech in Geneva, warning the League of Nations that this tragic event would not only bring about the end of the League but would plunge the world into war.

February 19, 1937 – Abraha Deboch and Moges Asgedom threw a grenade at General Graziani in Addis Ababa.

1941 – The year of liberation. On January 20, the Emperor returned to Ethiopia.

February 1942 – The modern Ethiopian police forces were organized.

December 30, 1945 – Ethiopian Airlines was established by government proclamation.

February 10, 1947 – A peace treaty was signed between Italy and Ethiopia.

1950 – Higher education in Ethiopia began with the establishment of the University College of Addis Ababa (UCAA), which comprised the Faculties of Arts and Sciences.

September 11, 1952 – Eritrea federated with Ethiopia. The revised constitution was promulgated, providing for the formation of the Crown Council, the Council of Ministers, the Senate, and the Chamber of Deputies.

November 15, 1962 – The Imperial Government of Ethiopia announced the unification of the Federal State of Eritrea with the Ethiopian Empire.

1963 – Haile Selassie chaired the first Conference of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), whose headquarters remain in Addis Ababa to this day.

1964 – The Ethio-Somali war broke out.

1972 – Famine in Wollo caused over 200,000 deaths. The incompetence of Haile Selassie’s regime was denounced.

February 1974 – An unprecedented wave of protests by students and teachers was accompanied, for the first time in Ethiopian history, by military mutinies.

September 12, 1974 – Haile Selassie was deposed. The constitution was suspended and parliament dissolved. A Coordinating Committee of the Armed Forces (Derg = committee, in Amharic) assumed power. The Derg announced the establishment of socialism in Ethiopia and the nationalization of land, industries, businesses, and urban properties. Neighborhood committees (kebele) were created.

August 27, 1975 – Emperor Haile Selassie died under mysterious circumstances.

1977–1978 – Colonel Mengistu, the “Red Negus,” became head of state and launched the “Red Terror” against “counter-revolutionaries.”

1977–1978 – Ogaden War.

1984 – A famine ravaged the country.

November 21, 1984 – Operation Moses. Israel organized the immigration of 6,500 Ethiopian Falashas threatened by famine.

1991 – The forces of the EPRDF (Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front), which united various regional fronts, entered Addis Ababa. Mengistu went into exile in Zimbabwe. A provisional government was led by Meles Zenawi, the undisputed leader of the movement.

1993 – Eritrea became independent following a referendum.

1994 – A new constitution divided Ethiopia into regions based on ethnic affiliations.

1997 – Trial of Mengistu in absentia in Addis Ababa, accused of genocide and crimes against humanity.

1998–2000 – Eritrea attacked Ethiopia. A new war broke out, which was won by Ethiopia.

April 2005 – The first section of the Axum Obelisk, stolen by Italy in 1937, was returned to Ethiopia from Rome.

2007–2009 – Ethiopia intervened militarily in Somalia, with the support of the United States, against Islamist groups.

August 2012 – Death of Meles Zenawi after 21 years in power. In accordance with the Constitution, Hailemariam Desalegn was appointed Prime Minister.

April 2018 – Abiy Ahmed, a member of the Oromo ethnic group, prevailed over his rivals and became the leader of the ruling party, the EPRDF, and thus Prime Minister. He launched a vast program of domestic political reforms and diplomatic rapprochement abroad.

2018 – The government released thousands of political prisoners. Ethiopia and Eritrea declared their war over as Ethiopia agreed to vacate the disputed territory. The government signed a peace agreement with the Ogaden National Liberation Front, a separatist party, ending a 34-year armed rebellion.

2019 – Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

2020–2022 – Tigray War.

November 12, 2022 – A peace treaty was signed, officially ending the Tigray War.