History of Eritrea

From the ancient Greek language, Eritrea ( Greek Ἐρυθραία ) means red ( Greek ἐρυθρός ). From Greek, the term migrated to Latin in the form of lat. Erythræa ; thus, the Red Sea was called "Eritrean."

Eritrea was one of the regions where the first representatives of the genus Homo lived. Skull (UA 31), teeth and fragments of the pelvis of Homo erectus , but with some features of Homo ergaster , from Buia ^[1] in Danakil date from approx. 1 million years ^[2] . The pelvis of an erectus UA 173/405 from Bouilliot (1.07-0.99 million years ago) is almost impossible to distinguish in morphology from the pelvis of anatomically modern humans ^[3] .

On the reef in Abdur , the site of an ancient man about 125 thousand years old is known, where fragmented bones of large mammals, stone tools , including a knife made of obsidian volcanic glass, as well as the world's first “oyster bar” were discovered. According to the hypothesis of the geneticist Stephen Oppenheimer , 80 thousand years ago, a small population of anatomically modern people left Africa, crossing the Bab el-Mandeb Strait ("Gate of Sorrow"), which at that time resembled a chain of shallows in some places. And it was this population, once in Asia, that became the ancestor of all non-African peoples ^{[4] [5]} .

The first peoples known to us in the territory of modern Eritrea were the Nilot tribes who migrated from the Nile Valley and settled in the western and northwestern regions of the country. The modern Kunama and Nara tribes are descendants of those ancient settlers. Later, Hamitic peoples migrated from north to north and northwest regions, which gradually assimilated with the local Nilotic population. The immediate immediate descendants of the Hamitic settlers are the Gedareb and Bilin ethnic groups, although some ethnologists also include Afar and Sakho .

The first mention of the Beja tribe in the history of Ancient Egypt dates to approx. 2700 BC e. Probably, the territory of Eritrea was part of the country of Punt , where expeditions were set up by Queen Hatshepsut and other Egyptian pharaohs.

Around the 7th-5th centuries BC e. The migration of the Sabeans , the Semites from South Arabia , crossing the Red Sea, began. The second wave of resettlement occurred from the territory of modern Yemen between 400 and 100 years BC. e. Immigrants first lived on the coast, later began to move further south, settling in the highlands of Eritrea and the modern Ethiopian province of Tigray . Gradually, as a result of interethnic marriages, they intermingled with the local population, most likely - the badge. Modern ethnic groups that speak Tigrinya languages ​​are their descendants. The Sabeans brought with them the advanced methods of farming at that time, the construction of terraces on the slopes, iron tools , writing, and the state apparatus . Initially, the settlers were subordinate to the Sabei state that existed on the territory of Yemen. But gradually, the local population created their own proto-state entities with centers in Meter, Kokhaito, Tekondae and Keskesse. Port Adulis on the Eritrean coast of the Red Sea served as a gateway to trade with many countries of the ancient world, among which were Greece and Rome .

The territory of Eritrea was part of the Axumite kingdom , and later the Ethiopian state. In the 16th century, the port of Massaua fell under the control of the Ottoman Empire, and in 1868 the Turkish sultan transferred control to Egypt ^[6] .

Since 1882, the colonization of Italy began (the ports of Assab and Massaua ). From January 1, 1890 - the colony of Eritrea was proclaimed (from the name of the Red Sea in Greek). In 1895, the Italo-Ethiopian war began, culminating in 1896 with a peace treaty that defined the boundaries of the colony ^[7] .

Eritrea was under Italian rule until the defeat of the Italians (in Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea) from the forces of Britain during World War II , in the spring of 1941. After that, it was controlled by the British military administration until 1952, when it entered the Federation of Ethiopia and Eritrea.

In 1962, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, abolished the federal structure of the country, which significantly strengthened the separatist tendencies in the region. A year earlier, a group of Eritrean nationalists led by Hamid Avate launched the Eritrean War of Independence , which lasted with varying intensity for more than 30 years, especially after the seizure of power in Ethiopia by a group of officers led by Mengistu Haile Mariam . The resistance movement achieved its most significant successes during the Ogaden War , successfully using the Ethiopian army’s employment in the war against Somalia and Muslim insurgents.

In the late 1980s, in the midst of a general crisis of the Ethiopian socialist state, Eritrean rebels not only took control of most of Eritrea, but also actively supported the actions of other rebel groups, whose front leader was Meles Zenawi . In 1991, rebels entered Addis Ababa , Zenawi became president of Ethiopia, and 2 years after the referendum , Eritrea's independence was proclaimed.

From 1993 to the present, the country has been led by a group of veterans of the War of Independence led by Isayas Afevorki , which has concentrated all branches of power in its hands. The country's leaders systematically reject proposals for the democratization of political life and the holding of elections under the pretext of a weak economic base of the country and the presence of other priorities. International human rights organizations regularly criticize the situation in the country and give low assessments of the situation with human rights, freedom of the press in Eritrea, etc.

In 1995, Eritrea disputed the ownership of the Hanish Islands with Yemen . As a result, an armed conflict broke out between the states, which ended in the victory of Yemen.

In 1998, a new war broke out with Ethiopia over disputed territories, during which tens of thousands of soldiers on both sides died. The war led to enormous economic and social upheaval, leaving behind a ruined economy, as well as huge mined land. The war ended in 2000 with the defeat of Eritrea and the conclusion of a peace treaty, according to which the UN peacekeeping forces should observe the observance of the ceasefire.

According to the Government of Somalia and the regional bloc IGAD, since 2006, Eritrea has been actively assisting the Somali Union of Islamic Courts and its allies. Eritrea supplied the rebels with weapons and money, provided shelter and space for political activity to Islamic fundamentalists and militants, Eritrean “volunteers” participated in the civil war in Somalia ^[8] . According to the Government of Somalia, the main motive for such a strategy is the support by Eritrea of ​​the government of Abdullahi Yusuf ^[9] . However, President Isayas Afevorki denies everything, claiming that such accusations are the machinations of CIA agents who seek to denigrate the bright face of his country ^[9] .

Since 2008, in the territory of Eritrea, with the sanction and with the support of the Eritrean government, the armed formations of the Ethiopian anti-government rebels Ginbot 7 are based , headed by Berhanu Nega ^[10] .

From June 10 to 13, 2008, Eritrea was at war with Djibouti.

On December 23, 2009, the UN Security Council imposed an arms embargo on Eritrea; this decision was supported by all permanent members of the Security Council except China , which abstained. In addition, Eritrean leaders are denied entry to UN member countries , and their accounts in foreign banks are frozen. The embargo was called the support by Eritrea of ​​Islamic militants in Somalia and the border conflict with Djibouti ^[11] .

On July 8, 2018, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isayas Afevorki signed a declaration of peace and friendship , which announced the cessation of the state of war between the two countries, and also announced their readiness to cooperate in a number of areas, including economic and social areas.