In the Shadow of the King:
the Hunter-gatherer, the Livestock Breeder,
the Metallurgist, the Artist, …
François-Xavier FAUVELLE-AYMAR
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Toward the first third of the 4th century AD, in the far north of what is now Ethiopia, King Ezana of Aksum ordered a stone engraved giving thanks to his gods. The stone bore a long bilingual inscription in Greek and Ge’ez in which the king told of the victorious expedition led by his brothers against the Bougaeitai tribe. The Bougaeitai had revolted, but were subdued, following which 4400 of them were brought to the capital, along with their livestock – cattle and sheep – and their draught animals – probably camels and donkeys and for four months sustained upon spelt bread and wine. The king then transferred them to another location, establishing them permanently and endowing each kinglet (basiliskos in Greek, which we are here translating as “chief”) with a much greater number of cattle than had been taken as the spoils of war. We recognise the name of the Bougaeitai; they are the Beja, a nomadic pastoral population that live, now as before, in the lowlands of Sudan and Eritrea. We are not certain whether a population displacement conceived by the king (basileus in Greek) and the plan – which we deduce by implication – of more or less “subsidised” settlement succeeded, but there are grounds to believe that it did not. For many centuries, the Beja remained what they were at the time of the kingdom of Aksum: troublesome nomads on the outskirts of the major political formations dominating the Nile valley and the Horn of Africa, creating sufficiently constant and insidious embarrassment to require the regular dispatch of troops.
To cite this article
Fauvelle-Aymar F.-X., 2012 – In the Shadow of the King: the Hunter-gatherer, the Livestock Breeder, the Metallurgist, the Artist, …, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 5-10.
The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela
in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts
on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti
Roger JOUSSAUME
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Abstract
In Gedeo Country, southern Ethiopia, the tumulus of Tuto Fela has yielded two groups of steles, some phallic and some anthropomorphic. The latter belong to a monument formed by the successive addition of the tombs of which they are the markers. The phallic steles, which could have been re-employed for this use, originate from an earlier period of the monument characterized by tombs dug into the substratum. This first period has been dated to between the 11th and the 13th centuries AD. It was possible to verify some of the hypotheses proposed for Tuto Fela through the study of the neighboring site of Chelba Tutitti, which has phallic steles only.
To cite this article
Joussaume R., 2012 – The Superimposed Cemeteries of Tuto Fela in Gedeo Country (Ethiopia), and Thoughts on the Site of Chelba-Tutitti, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 87-110.
Libyco-Berber Rock Engravings:
From One Shore of the Sahara to the Other
Michel BARBAZA
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Abstract
Based on recent observations of Libyco-Berber rock representations (mainly engravings), I propose new elements concerning their nature, chronology and meaning. Current studies, while part of a general inventory, are also involved in the implementation of an analytical approach without which the final corpus is likely to be lacking in eloquence, as are the many representations already identified and published. A number of sites with Libyco-Berber engravings distributed between the great bend of the river Niger and the Maghreb, when considered in the light of the work carried out by the research community, will facilitate solid commitment to this analysis.
To cite this article
Barbaza M., 2012 – Libyco-Berber Rock Engravings: From One Shore of the Sahara to the Other, in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 167-191.
The Role of Ethnohistoric Data in Reconstructing
Ancient Siderurgy in Dogon Country (Mali)
Caroline ROBION-BRUNNER
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Abstract
Since 2002, research on paleometallurgy in Dogon Country has revealed an exceptional history of siderurgical activity. More than one hundred smelting sites have been recorded, mapped and studied for the first time. Based on technological, cultural and economic criteria, we have attributed these sites to seven different siderurgical traditions. The existence and cohabitation of such diverse metallurgical remains within a limited geographic area (15000 km2) are very surprising. In this paper, we attempt to interpret this archaeological observation with the aid of ethnohistoric data. Based on this comparison of several sources, we propose a new historic scenario retracing the evolution of the traditional production of iron in Dogon Country.
To cite this article
Robion-Brunner C., 2012 – The Role of Ethnohistoric Data in Reconstructing Ancient Siderurgy in Dogon Country (Mali), in F.-X. Fauvelle-Aymar, Palethnology of Africa, P@lethnology, 4, 209-234.
Archéologie et Sciences humaines
