Wednesday 28 February 2018

'Italian Proceedings on the African Coast of the Red Sea.' 1880




'Italian Proceedings on the African Coast of the Red Sea.' 1880 Confidential correspondence by the British Foreign office

The first section describes the course of events at and around Assab from May 1880 to September 1881, including protests made by the Egyptian Government to the Italian Government at their purchase of the whole coastline around Assab Bay and the islands nearby, and an enquiry that followed the massacre of an Italian exploring party. This section concludes with two reports suggesting that, although the Italians had not made much progress at Assab Bay, they had shown their intention to get a foothold on the African continent.

The second section reproduces correspondence between the British, Italian and Egyptian governments, and between the India Office and the Foreign Office from May 1880 to September 1881. The correspondence relates to the purchase of land at Assab Bay by the Rubattino Company; Italian Government denials that the territory would be used for military purposes; attempts made by the Italian Government to legitimise their occupation of the place by encouraging the British Government to accredit a British Agent there, both for commercial purposes and for the purpose of co-operation in the suppression of the slave trade; and a British Government proposal that the Italian Government enter into a formal convention about the matter with the Egyptian Government.
The final section reproduces correspondence connected with a proposed disembarkation of Egyptian troops at Raheita to the south of Assab Bay; Egyptian appeals for a British warship to be sent to the area; Italian protestations that disembarkation at Raheita would constitute a provocation; and the British Government's reaffirmation that the sovereignty of the coastline at Raheita and Assab Bay belongs to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and the Khedive of Egypt.



Source: British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, IOR/L/PS/18/B22a, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100000000788.0x0003e5> [accessed 18 February 2018]
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Thanks to Dawit Ayalew Makonnen fo sharing


Kush: Journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service 1954 - 2002


Open Access Journal: KUSH : Journal of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM)

KUSH: Journal of the National Corporation for Antiquities and Museums (NCAM)
[Formerly Kush : journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service ISSN: 0075-7349]

Kush:   Journal of the Sudan Antiquities Service

The Editorial Notes of the first issue of KUSH, stated: ' The Sudan, by its intermediate position between the Near East and Central Africa has a peculiarly important position in archaeology '. Unfortunately for too long the importance of this position was not adequately appreciated by scholars, and the archaeology and ancient history of the Sudan was considered but a poor relation of Egyptian history.
It includes articles in English, French and German and includes an editorial note on " The countries of the Ethiopian Empire of Kash (Kush) and Egyptian old Ethiopia in the New kingdom",  By Ernest Zyhlarz

The full volumes are available here>
http://ancientworldonline.blogspot.no/2015/12/open-access-journal-kush-journal-of.html

Arkell's , 1954 on the  Agordat Four Occupation Sites can be accessed here, pp. 33 - 62 on this issue:

http://sfdas.com/IMG/pdf/kush_ii.pdf


http://www.mediafire.com/file/xli7kmoc4fabfmd/Kush+II+journal.pdf

 Vol VI 1958:




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Wednesday 21 February 2018

THE HOLOCENE PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TEMBEN REGION, NORTHERN ETHIOPIA


THE HOLOCENE PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE TEMBEN REGION, NORTHERN ETHIOPIA By Agazi Negash, a PhD thesis, Graduate School of the University of Florida 

Abstract


Evidence from agronomy and bio-geography shows that northern Ethiopia is a center of origin of several economically important African plant domesticates that played a major role in the emergence of Neolithic societies. Although archaeologists have speculated on how and why these food producing societies have emerged, in the past, there was virtually no archaeological data with which to test the hypotheses they have developed. Recent systematic archaeological surveys and excavation in the Temben area of northern Ethiopia have identified sites that have provided radiometrically datable stratified cultural sequences containing preserved faunal remains, a necessary temporal sequence that would allow us to begin testing the various hypotheses. The analysis of the cultural materials and ecofacts t recovered from these sites would lay the groundwork for future archaeological investigations in northern Ethiopia by furnishing significant necessary data towards the understanding of the Neolithic of northern Ethiopia, an area that is situated in the bio-geographical heart of the hypothesized center of Ethiopian plant domestication.

Can be downloaded at: 

https://ia800404.us.archive.org/28/items/holoceneprehisto00nega/holoceneprehisto00nega.pdf

Tuesday 20 February 2018

The Hanish Islands on the spotlight between Italy and Britain 1928 - 1935

The Hanish Islands on the spotlight between Italy and Britain 1928 - 1935

This file primarily concerns the sovereignty status of the Hanish Islands, as well as that of other islands in the Lower Red Sea. It documents concerns held by the British Government that the Italian Government is in the process of attempting to establish some kind of informal control over certain islands.

Matters discussed in the correspondence include:

• The content and wording of a proposed Red Sea Lights Convention, the result of negotiations between the British and French governments, which ostensibly relates to the construction and maintenance of lighthouses – both on islands in the Lower Red Sea and in the territory of Mocha – but also concerns questions of sovereignty.
• Whether the Italian Government's plan to construct a lighthouse on South-West Haycock Island constitutes a claim of sovereignty over the island.
• The establishment of Italian military posts on the Hanish and Jebel Zukur [Jazīrat Jabal Zuqar] islands.
• Concerns expressed by the Admiralty and Foreign Office that by establishing these posts the Italian Government could be attempting to enforce rights of sovereignty over the islands.
• The extent to which either the Treaty of Lausanne (1923) or the Rome Conversations of 1927 (between Britain and Italy) provide any basis to contesting an Italian claim to sovereignty over the islands.

• Reports of attempts by the Italian military posts to restrict fishing and pearling

http://www.mediafire.com/file/g6zbypbi6i6nbbn/Hanish+islands+1931.pdf
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Source: Qatar University digital archive

http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100000000555.0x000292

Saturday 17 February 2018

Treaties signed between foreign powers and Afar Sultanates, Shoa, Abyssinia and Ethiopia

The Treaties and Conventions signed between foreign powers (Italy, Great Britain and France) and the independent Afar Sultanates and between those powers and Abyssinia, Shoa, Ethiopia. For convenience purposes those treaties are inserted under Abyssinia.  Ranging from 1841 - 1908

This is a book by Sir E. Hertslet  with 582 pages with a collection of maps, published in 1909 and is Vol II of the series, Map of Africa by Treaty

المعاهدات والاتفاقيات الموقعة بين القوى الأجنبية (إيطاليا وبريطانيا وفرنسا) والسلطانات العفرية المستقلة وبين تلك القوى والحبشة ، وشوا ،وإثيوبيا. لأغراض التسهيل وضعت هذه المعاهدات تحت الحبشة . وكانت الاتفاقيات بين عام ١٨٤١ و  ١٩٠٨
Some of the treaties in the book 

https://ia600802.us.archive.org/17/items/mapofafricabytre02hert/mapofafricabytre02hert.pdf

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Thanks to Mauro Ghermandi for sharing

Saturday 10 February 2018

A SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF NORTH SHÄWA, ETHIOPIA (1880s - 1935)


A SOCIO-ECONOMIC HISTORY OF NORTH SHÄWA, ETHIOPIA (1880s - 1935), a 2015 PhD thesis by Dechasa Abebe, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA

http://uir.unisa.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10500/19891/thesis_demisie_da.pdf?sequence=1

The Journal of Oromo Studies VOLUME 6, Nos. 1 & 2, 1999

The Journal of Oromo Studies VOLUME 6, NUMBERS 1 & 2, JULY 1999

https://zelalemkibret.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/jos-volume-6-numbers-12-1999.pdf

ITALY THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: ASPECTS OF BRITISH POLlCY AND INTELLIGENCE CONCERNING ITALY, 1939-1 941


ITALY THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS: ASPECTS OF BRITISH POLlCY AND INTELLIGENCE CONCERNING ITALY, 1939-1 941, a 1997 PhD thesis by Dawn Marie Miller

This thesis examines British policy and intelligence concerning Italy between 1939 and 1941, paying particular attention to British images of Italy. In this period, British policy ran the gamut from appeasement to a pre-emptive strike, each corresponding to the prevailing image of Italy. This image was determined by the combination of net assessments, British fondness for the indirect approach and intelligence whose inability to ascertain Italian intentions gave expectations disproportionate influence over assessments. Chief among these expectations was the belief that Italian policy would further British plans to satisfy its strategic needs. After Italy joined the war on 10 June 1940, intelligence's inability to penetrate Mussolini's mind was less critical. Italy's declaration of war shattered the illusion that its policy would be compatible with Britain's strategic needs while breakthroughs in signals intelligence improved operational intelligence. In East Africa, this resulted in a policy of "raising the tribes", a plan to defeat Italy by supporting an indigenous rebellion in the Italian territories. British success in Abyssinia in May 1941 was a turning point in Anglo-Italian relations because it marked the end of Italy's ability to fight a parallel war. This thesis examines the interplay of image, intelligence and policy in Britain's relations with Italy between 1939 and 1941 in order to increase understanding of the nature and results of British policy for Italy in this period.

http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp02/NQ28018.pdf

Discussing ethnohistory: The Blin between periphery and international politics in the 19th century


Discussing ethnohistory: The Blin between periphery and international politics in the 19th century, a 2006 article by Wolbert Smidt 

http://journals.openedition.org/cy/1373

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Thanks to Mauro Ghermendi for sharing the link

History, Historical Arguments and the Ethio-Eritrean conflict: between xenophobic approaches and an ideology of unity


History, Historical Arguments and the Ethio-Eritrean conflict: between xenophobic approaches  and an ideology of unity, an 2012 article by Wolbert Smidt


http://www.mediafire.com/file/41kss6vz27gr0sb/History_historical_arguments_and_the_Eth+%281%29.pdf

Source: https://www.academia.edu/21221634/History_historical_arguments_and_the_Ethio-Eritrean_conflict_between_xenophobic_approaches_and_an_ideology_of_unity?auto=download

Thanks to Mauro Ghermandi for sharing the link

For the Motherland (ለእናት ሀገር): Traditional Music Performance and Nationalism in Addis Ababa, 2016


For the Motherland (ለእናት ሀገር): Traditional Music Performance and Nationalism in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, a 2016 M.A. Thesis by Sara Bishop, Florida State University

This thesis examines staged performances of traditional music in Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. It includes the history of traditional performing groups in Ethiopia and their purposes, the continuities and changes in performance practices from the early twentieth century to the present day, and audience perceptions of these performances. Particular attention is given to the relationships between traditional musics and Ethiopian nationalism. In response to the rise of ethno-nationalism in the latter part of the twentieth century, the new government regime that came to power in 1994 employed ethnicity as an organizing principle of the state. 

It can be downloaded at:

https://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A360323

Tuesday 6 February 2018

The Struggling State: Nationalism, Mass Militarization, and the Education of Eritrea


The  Struggling State: Nationalism, Mass Militarization,  and the Education of Eritrea , a book by Jennifer Riggan, 2016



Can be dowloaded here:

http://www.oapen.org/search?identifier=605457

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"A state like Eritrea that prohibits citizens from leaving, engages in mass round-ups, detains arbitrarily, permanently conscripts a large swathe of its population into the military, and utilizes schools as a conduit for military conscription might seem like a “strong” state in the sense that it has the capacity to implement policies and enact sovereignty over its people. Such a state might not seem to be “struggling,” yet I argue that states in Eritrea and elsewhere struggle in a variety of ways. States struggle to legitimately enact their own nation-building projects. Authoritarianism and state coercion, in particular, reveal weaknesses in the hyphen between nation and state, weaknesses that are present in all states, even those that we might not label as authoritarian or coercive. The case of Eritrea highlights these state struggles in several ways. "


 "In short, the Eritrean state struggled to be legitimate, to produce loyal national subjects, to reproduce and reify itself, and to achieve institutional coherence. These struggles are certainly not unique to Eritrea; indeed, all states struggle to produce these effects. But the conditions in Eritrea produced by mass militarization, the party’s orthodox adherence to its revolutionary nationalist agenda, and the government’s increased reliance on coercion amplify these struggles and expose the paradoxes of state legitimacy and control."
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Thanks to Jonathan Miran for sharing the link

Agordat, Eritrea one of the most extensive pre-historic materials in the Horn of Africa



New perspectives on the Agordat material, Eritrea: A re-examination of the archaeological 
material in the National Museum, Khartoum

Agordat in Eritrea has provided one of the most extensive pre-historic materials in the Horn of Africa. The materials were collected and presented to the Sudan National Museum by A. J. Arkell and Major J. S. Last, the political governor of Eritrea in 1942

في أغوردات في إريتريا تم العثورعلى واحدة اقدم اثار ومواد ما قبل التاريخ في القرن الافريقى تم جمع المواد وعرضها في المتحف القومي السوداني من قبل أركيل و ماجور الذي كان آخر حاكم السياسي لإريتريا في عام 1942. معظم من المواد المستخرجة من سطح الموقع من أربع مناطق مختلفة في ضواحي أغوردات: جبل كوكان، نتاني، شابيت، وداندانيت. وقد وجدت اكثر المواد في كوكان  وتشمل القطع الأثرية ، شظايا هيكل عظمي الإنسان والأسنان، وادوات اثرية صورها ملحقة، آركل (1954) يرى أن الاكتشافات موحدة تماما ويعتبر انهم ينتمون إلى ثقافة واحدة. التحليل الجديد من المواد يدل على أن المواد هي متنوعة جدا ومع ذلك، يظهر الاتصال الرئيسي، كما اقترح أركيل، أن تكون ذات صلة بثقافات وادي النيل ويرجع تاريخها إلى حوالي الألفية الرابعة










Agordat material, Eritrea, implication on Early Food Production


Early Food Production & Regional Contact


By Alemseged Beldados, 2012




Based on M.A. thesis at the University of Bergen.

Agordat in Eritrea has provided one of the most extensive pre-historic materials in the Horn of Africa. This thesis is primarily based on the analysis of archeological materials from Agordat and comparing this with contemporary sites in the Sudan.

The thesis is primarily based on the analysis of archeological materials from Agordat, Eritrea and is comparing this with contemporary sites in the Sudan. It is structured into five chapters. Chapter I deals with the history of research and the culture history of Agordat and its environs. Under the topic the history of research, a summary of the researches done on the economic prehistory of the Horn of Africa is given. The summary is done with the intention of drawing an image on the paucity of prehistoric research in the Horn of Africa and to show the contribution of the Agordat material in filling up the gap required for a better understanding of the period. The main manifestations of the archeological groups and the description of the sites in the eastern desert and along the Nile Valley of the Sudan that are contemporary with Agordat is dealt in detail under the culture history of Agordat and its environs.

Chapter II describes the study area and the palaeo-environment of the study area. A brief overview is made on how climatic fluctuations influenced the settlement of people in this area under the title palaeo-environment and human settlement.

A synopsis of the pottery classification and the stone tools from Agordat is presented in Chapter III. A detail description for each of the pot shreds (n=1469) in accordance with their inventory number is presented in the appendix of this part of the thesis. The analysis of the pottery from Agordat is followed by a comparison of the main features (dominantly based on decoration patterns) with some other co-existing sites.

Chapter IV discusses the prehistoric exchange trade that the Horn of Africa had with the Nile valley of the Sudan and Egypt. Obsidian (hard, dark glass like volcanic rock), cowry shells (highly polished, usually brightly colored shell of a marine gastropod used as money or ornament in certain parts of Asia and Africa), and incense were dealt as items of exchange. The influence of trade for the evolution of some archeological groups in Lower Nubia is also presented. This chapter shows how easily ideas can flow from one cultural group to the other though medium of exchange trade.

The result of the analysis of plant impressions on pot shreds from Agordat is dealt in Chapter V. This chapter gives a general view of the types of plant recovered in relation to recent archaeobotanical works in the nearby regions. The last part of this thesis synthesizes the five chapters and gives a concluding remark.

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Agordat in Eritrea has provided one of the most extensive pre-historic materials in the Horn of Africa. The materials were collected and presented to the Sudan National Museum by A. J. Arkell and Major J. S. Last, the political governor of Eritrea in 1942


The article can be downloaded at:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/vdmsa5nezly49to/Agordat+material+2007.pdf

The full article: Arkell, A.J. 1954.  Four occupation sites at Agordat. Kush, 2: 33 – 62

http://www.mediafire.com/file/jmcc12a79be934t/Agordat+occupation+sites+arkell+1954.pdf

OR can be accessed here: http://sfdas.com/IMG/pdf/kush_ii.pdf

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Thanks to Mahmoud Lobinet for the links
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Another related article:

From the sea to the deserts and back: New research in Eastern Sudan and Eritrean lowlands

https://unora.unior.it/retrieve/handle/11574/40503/30413/Manzo_BMSEAS_18_2012_light.pdf

To sum up, all of these elements may point to intense contact between the Eritrean-Sudanese lowlands and Upper Nubia and suggest that, as expected, the south-easternmost region of the Kerma cultural area, i.e., the Fourth Cataract region, played an important part in this interaction. These remarks also suggest that the Eritrean-Sudanese lowlands had contact with the Red Sea coast and the Eastern Desert and may have had direct contact with Lower Nubia via the Eastern Desert, Arabia and perhaps Egypt via  the Red Sea. It should be stressed that the processes of interaction between Nubia and Eastern Sudan led not only to the exchange of goods but also to the local production in Eastern Sudan of recorded in Gash Group and Jebel Mokram Group assemblages, described.
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Implications of a Test Excavation At Kokan Rockshelter, Agordat Eritrea 1994



UNESCO: Preservation and Presentation of the Cultural Heritage in Eritrea


UNESCO Report: Preservation and Presentation of the Cultural Heritage in Eritrea , 1994

http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0009/000986/098638eo.pdf

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Thanks to Mahmoud Lobinet for sharing the link

Sunday 4 February 2018

Saturday 3 February 2018

The Indigenous population of Eritrea by Alberto Pollera, in Italian, 1935



The Indigenous population of Eritrea by Alberto Pollera, in Italian, 1935:

Le Popolazioni Indigene Dell' Eritrea



http://www.mediafire.com/file/fdl5oqwpxso39k9/Indigenous+population+Eritrea+Pollera.pdf

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Source: http://www.centrocabral.com/1226/



Thanks to Mauro Ghermandi for making aware of the website

Thursday 1 February 2018

I BARIA E I Cunama by Alberto Pollera 1913, a 351 page original monograph, in Italian

       الكتاب الاصلي عن الباريا والكوناما التي كتبها ألبرتو بوليرا عام ١٩١٣، وهي دراسة من ٣٥١  صفحة، باللغة الإيطالية   مع 
١٥٨ رسوم توضيحية و ٥٠ جداول، رسم تخطيطي وخريطة

                                         
I BARIA E I Cunama by Alberto Pollera 1913, a 351 page original monograph, in Italian on the Baria (Nara) and Kunama with 158 illustrations and with 50 Tables, a diagram and a map
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http://www.mediafire.com/file/3blvbu7cvpc56j2/Baria+e+i+cunama.pdf

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Source: http://www.centrocabral.com/1226/

Thanks to Mauro Ghermandi for making aware of the website

Old Maps of the Horn of Africa region from 1821

Old Maps of the region from 1821




https://digital.library.illinois.edu/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&q=Eritrea

Bollettino della societa geografica italiana 1869

Bollettino della societa geografica italiana 1869









https://ia801408.us.archive.org/24/items/bollettinodella39italgoog/bollettinodella39italgoog.pdf