Material cosmopolitanism: the entrepot of Harlaa as an Islamic gateway to eastern Ethiopia

Abstract

Abstract

The archaeology of complexity and cosmopolitanism in medieval Ethiopia: an introduction

“…Such changes in orientation, along with the use of stone slabs to cover some of the grave pits, precisely mirror the practices recorded in the Muslim cemetery at Harlaa (see Insoll et al 2021). This perhaps indicates that Muslim-Christian interaction was occurring at Lalibela, although the presence of ceramics in some graves (Derat et al 2021)-presumably as grave goods that are not usually found in Islamic contexts (Insoll 1999: 172)-suggests greater complexity.…”

“…Subsequently, excavations in Harar have revealed a range of settlement and mosque sites dating between the late fifteenth and nineteenth centuries (Insoll 2017;Insoll & Zekaria 2019). Much work, however, remains to be done, and ongoing excavations in Harlaa and Tigray (Insoll et al 2021;Loiseau et al 2021) attest the potential of archaeology both for reconstructing medieval Islamic life and the complexity and cosmopolitanism that defined it.…”

“…Finneran (2007: 225) has suggested that the late tenth-to mid twelfth-century Zagwe Dynasty re-aligned Ethiopian Christian culture away from the Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean. More recent archaeological research in eastern Ethiopia, however, disputes this, providing evidence that interaction with Muslim neighbours persisted (see Insoll et al 2021;Loiseau et al 2021), and an expansion of international contacts may have taken place. This may also be represented by a painting in the eleventh-to twelfth-century church of Debra-Salam in Tigray that depicts a realistic image of an elephant led by two mahouts (see Lepage & Mercier 2005: 101)-reflecting knowledge of, or contacts with, South Asia.…”

“…Yet there were also manifest differences. The types of imported objects, including glass vessels, glazed ceramics, glass and agate beads found in large quantities at Harlaa (see Insoll et al 2021), and more selectively at various funerary monuments associated with Indigenous religions (see below), are absent in centres such as Lalibela and almost absent across the highland Christian sites. With the defeat of the Zagwe in 1270, the Solomonic line was restored, and Semitic-language speakers (Amhara) were restored to power.…”

“…Worku 2018; Woldekiros 2019), medieval/historical archaeology has been neglected by Ethiopian scholars. This is, however, beginning to change, with a growth in interest in Islamic archaeology and active capacity-building initiatives embedded within, for example, two of the projects featured in this section (Insoll et al 2021;Loiseau et al 2021). Should such a collection as this be published a decade from now, it is likely that this imbalance will rightly have disappeared.…”