The last lecture of a three-day seminar “A virtual journey in the archaeological Tigray, Ethiopia” will be held on Zoom on 1st June. The seminat is part of a general course “the Archaeology of Ancient Ethiopia: the Aksumite Culture and Civilization” delivered by Dr. Michela Gaudiello of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology, University of Warsaw.
The seminar hosts invited speakers – the directors of three of the most important archaeological sites in the north Ethiopian region of Tigray. They present the results of decades of research on their sites (program PDF).
- Day 3: Wednesday, 1st June, 2022, 11 am CET
Title: A virtual journey in the archaeological Tigray, Ethiopia: YEHA, The Formation of a Complex Society in the Early 1st Millennium BC
Dr. Iris Gerlach, Dr. Sarah Japp, and Dipl. Eng. Mike Schnelle
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin
Abstract: In the early 1st millennium BC the migration of Sabaean populations from the region around Marib in present-day Yemen led to the formation of a complex society in the northern Horn of Africa. Economic interests, such as the lucrative trade in gold, obsidian as well as incense were probably the reasons for the founding of settlements on the African side of the Red Sea.
Social as well as technical innovations stemming from South Arabia shaped a culture called Ethio-Sabaean for about 300 years. Among the social changes was, for instance, the adoption of political and religious institutions of the Sabaeans; among the technical ones were the introduction of the Sabaean script and language, as well as the implementation of South Arabian architectural forms.
The lectures will be held on Zoom. To obtain a link, please write to Dr. Michela Gaudiello: m.gaudiello@uw.edu.pl