Sabean colonization of Africa

Sabean colonization of Africa

Date	The Kingdom of Saba in its later days
Location	Modern day Ethiopia and Eritrea

The Sabean colonisation of Africa was a process of colonization by Sabeans that occurred in the Horn of Africa during the first millennium BC.^[1]

One of the oldest colonisation process in history occurred around 1000 BC, when the Sabeans of Southern Arabia, with a civilization based on agriculture, began to colonize the highlands of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea.^[2][3][4][5] Many hold to this view, because according to archeology, "epigraphic and monumental evidence point to an indisputable South Arabian influence suggesting migration and colonization from Yemen in the early 1st millennium BC as the main factor of state formation on the highlands. Rock inscriptions in Qohayto (Akkala Guzay, Eritrea) document the presence of individuals or small groups from Arabia on the highlands at this time."^[6]

The professor of anthropology Joseph W. Michels discovered based on his archeological surveying at Aksumite sites that "there is abundant evidence of specific Sabean traits such as inscription style, religious ideology and symbolism, art style and architectural techniques."^[7] Some other significant elements from this event, include the introduction of South Semitic languages to Ethiopia, replacing the native Cushitic languages, and the adoption of Ancient South Arabian script by Ethiopians, where it would later evolve into the Ge'ez script.

Sabean cultural diffusion into the Horn of Africa influenced the development of several civilizations like D'mt as well as the Kingdom of Aksum, and left an important mark in Ethiopian history and culture. Scholarly consensus had previously been that Sabaeans had been the founders of Semitic civilization in Ethiopia, though this has now been contested, and their influence has been reassessed for its impact on architectural, sociopolitical, religious, and cultic spheres.^{[8][9][10][11]} The Sabaean presence likely lasted only for a matter of decades, but their influence on later Aksumite civilization included the adoption of Ancient South Arabian script, which developed into Geʽez script, and Ancient Semitic religion.^[12][13] The Sabean character of the pantheon is clearly evident in the worship of 'Almaqah, to whom, in addition to the Great Sabean Temple at Yeha,^[14] four other sanctuaries are known. Some of these are accompanied by the building dedications of Sabean stonemasons and can be identified archaeologically.^[15] There are many other archaeological sites of this period in Ethiopia where some inscriptions have also been found which were executed in a Sabean-Himyaritic script. Near Makalle, for example, is where a seated female figure was found with a South Arabian inscription on the pedestal which also makes reference to South Arabia.^[16] Older inscriptions were found at Yeha, which some scholars identify with Ava, a city built by Sabean colonists, and which apparently fell into decay after the building of Aksum the "Sacred City of the Ethiopians."^[17] Not only Yeha but also the ancient city of Aksum is considered by some scholars to have been founded by these Sabeans,^[18] where old Sabaic inscriptions have also been found.^[19]

Anthropogenetic studies using blood samples on Ethiopians, have found that their allele and haplotype frequencies appear quite similar to South Arabians, and were considerably differentiated from that of other African peoples. Results were consistent with a common origin from a Cushitic-speaking group living in eastern Africa, with signals of influence from Arabia.^[20] The populations used for identifying genetic relationships were: 1. Hutu, Sukuma, Nyaturu and Sandawe, 2. Sara, Mbugu and Sango, 3. South Arabians, Libyans and Egyptians, 4. Amhara, Oromo, Beja and Falasha, which all grouped into four tight clusters. On the projection axis, Amhara, Oromo, Beja and Falasha were genetically located in an intermediate position between the cluster made by Southern Arabians, and that of the Sub-Saharan Africans, with these tribes exhibiting high affinity towards Arabians.^[21]

A 2010 study found that their phylogenetic clock estimates of the Haplogroup J1 in the Horn of Africa, were indirectly supported by a linguistic model for an introduction of Semitic from Arabia 2800 years ago.^[22]

In 2014, a paper concluded that a likely source of some of the west Eurasian admixture in East Africans, especially the Amhara and Tigray who speak Ethiosemitic languages, could have been from southern Arabia and associated with the D’mt kingdom. They also noted the archeological work during this time period, shows architecture in the Ethiopian culture of D’mt has an “unmistakable South Arabian appearance in many details.” However, the team acknowledges there is debate as to whether these are from large movements of people, or simply adopted elite-driven cultural practices.^[23]

The population geneticist and professor David Reich noted in his 2018 publication on human origins: "There is significant archaeological evidence of intense contact and migration between Ethiopia and southern Arabia around 3,000 years BP. During the first millennium BC, southern Arabians from the Saba territory established a polity in the Abyssinian highlands of Ethiopia, and a new conglomerate cultural landscape called the Ethio-Sabean society emerged. This event overlaps with the timing of Eurasian genetic admixture signals in Ethiopian populations and is a good candidate for the source of Eurasian admixture in East Africa."^[24]

Some academics and Ethiopian scholars have highlighted issues with the extent of this migration, and argue for mutual cultural exchange without demographic replacement. Stuart Munro-Hay and related researchers believe that the Sabaean "colonization" was minor, and limited to a few localities. It may have even simply represented a trading colony (trading outposts) or military installations in a symbiotic or military alliance between Sabaeans and the Ethiopian population of D'mt.^[25] Although the script is clearly identical to that in southern Arabia, evidence exists of pre-Sabaean Semitic languages or a group of languages in Ethiopia during the Sabaic period already. Even with the similarities in writing, language, pantheon, and monuments with South Arabian civilizations, researchers contend there is no strong indication of a domination, dependency or control. It appears that, if the Sabaeans did move to Ethiopia, they were integrated by the local population by the 8th century BC, and likely even earlier.^[26]

• Kingdom of Saba
• History of Yemen
• Habesha people
• Colonialism
• Colonization
• Ethiopia
• Eritrea