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The Escalation of War in Ethiopia

153 points · 167 comments · mooreds

  1. csense · · focus · HN ↗
    Interestingly, Ethiopia wasn't always poor and backward. Back in the classical era, Ethiopia (then known as Axum or Aksum) was a major power [1].

    [1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kingdom_of_Aksum" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Kingdom_of_Aksum

    1. miohtama · · focus · HN ↗
      Same is for Songhai empire, a great power most Western people have never heard of

      <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Songhai_Empire" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Songhai_Empire

      1. oppaoppa · · focus · HN ↗
        What is the Songhai empire known for, apart from size, gold and slave trading? Any great architecture or scientific achievements?
        1. jltsiren · · focus · HN ↗
          Its cultural and scholarly centers were Timbuktu and Djenne. They were effectively inaccessible to Europeans during their golden age, but they had established connections to Morocco and Egypt. Hundreds of thousands of historical manuscripts were preserved in Timbuktu. The manuscripts are still largely unstudied, though I guess the digitization efforts should have finished by now.
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