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Writer's pictureLij Tedla Melaku Worede

Who are the Amhara People?

The Amhara people are a Semitic-speaking people who inhabit modern-day Ethiopia. The language of the Amhara people, Amharic, is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world after Arabic and has served as Ethiopia’s official language since the 13th century AD. The Amhara people have inhabited the Ethiopian plateau for thousands of years. Descendants of Axumites, Amhara's are considered cultural and political heirs of the ancient Axumite Empire. The Amhara people, along with related Ethiopian ethnic groups, are historically known as the Abyssinians.


Amhara kids on the side of Blue Nile, Ethiopia


The Solomonic dynasty, which hailed from Amhara in the medieval era, was the longest-surviving dynasty in the world until 1974. The restorer of the Solomonic dynasty, Yekuno Amlak, who reigned in 1270, hailed from the old province of Amhara. The Amhara culture and civilization are one of the greatest human achievements in the world with fascinating historical rock-hewn monuments, unique iconography, palaces and edifices, literature, music, and preserved Biblical practices dating to the First Temple period of Judea.

The most important book relating the origin of the people is known as the Kebra Nagast, and it recounts the tale of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon. According to the Kebra Nagast, the Queen of Sheba gave birth to Menelik I, the first King of Ethiopia’s Solomonic dynasty, from King Solomon, after conceiving the child during her visit in Judea. Recent scientific research on the genetics of Ethiopians has supported the claim of the Kebra Nagast, with the discovery of evidence of gene flow into the Ethiopian plateau from the Levant (modern-day Israel and Syria regions) 3,000 years.


Lij Tedla Melaku Worede

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