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IF ERITREA By: OTHMAN SALEH SABBY

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IF ERITREA By: OTHMAN SALEH SABBY THEHIST()RY (IF ERITREA By: OTHMAN SALEH SABBY Transtatedby: Muhanad Fawaz al-Azem DAR AL.MASIRAH P. O. Box 195299 BEIRUT- LEBANON ABOUTTHE AUTHOR Othma,fiSaleh Sabby is oneof the mostprominent foundersof the Eritrean Liberation Front and one of its most distinguished leaders.He is the olficial spokesmanfor the externalmission of the Popular Liberation Forces,and also a founding member of is joint comissionwith the Revolutionary Council. This joint.comis- sionhas beenworking for comprehensiveunification of the bases of the revglutionand is leaderships.Possibly, Osman Saleh Sabby is almostunique among his colleguesin pfactising book writing. Other than this book, he has already published "The Struggle In The Red Sea" and other works. ThisBook By Youssef Ibrahirn Yazbeck In introducing this vital book to rhe Arab reader, I am gladly and willingly fulfilling the wish of the brothers working for the liberation of Eritrea. I have deliberately described it as vital; it rates this descriptionjustly since the Arab library, whether in trre eastor the west, lacks a history of Eritrea, "the neighbour-sister',, which is a part of the Arab entity and whosereassuring neighbour- linesshas a great effect on thc fate of this Arab entity;rnd whose son'srights are a charge with which we were entrusted and about whose history, reality and just aspirations we are completely in the dark. Thus, this book comes along to fill a disturbing, harmful vaccum. Moreover, a double credit is due to Othman SalehSabby, since,in writing this book, he has given us an opportunity to know the history of Eritrea, the "neighbour-sister". I would like very much.to thank the author for this strenuous undertaking which he has completed with e{rort and persisrcnce. Being away from home; he had to secure referencesand sources to write his book and to pur up with all the hand work that ilris involves, while at the sarne time shouldcring a sacred national missionas secretary Ge'eral of the Eritrean Liberation Front and the official spokesman of for its revolution, charged with making its voice heard irr all parts of the world. If we could only visualize a poor, exiled combatant whoseonly weaponsare his faith in God almighty and a belief in his country's right to independenceand Freedom, pursed by oppression and accompanied by the ghosts of the persecutedand starving of his people, hearing the groans of his brothers, martyrs in the armed struggle, striving patiently to o[' sister" in its efforts to realizeis just demands. lLlfill his noble mission,only then catt we realize the magnitude lrislchicvcmcnt in finding the time to write this book' Finally, I fully appreciate the difficulties which the author that matter, to had to cope with. He merits a double praise, on the one hand, he I t is tlillicult lirr rnc or li,rr alryonc clsc, for sln115t*U hasrendered his opressedcountry a service,and, on the other hand, judgc this ncw work in our langua8e acadcm-icallV' he has rendered human knowledge a service. In both cases,his "ruui.", All this prevent us from pronounclng a and references. him "May of thc respectedwriter' serviceswere useful and generous. I sincerely say to specialist'sjudgement on it, but the effort and the liberation your handsthrive" and invite the Arab reader to read "The History the circumstancesunder which he worked' thank him and commend ofEritrea". missionwhich he shoulders,impel me to his effort and Perseverance' - sister"' is inseperable The future of Eritrea, the "neighbour fromthatoftheArabhomeland'Thewesterncoaststretching unfoldsfrom the Sudan along the Red Seawhere the area of Eritrea toBabelMendeb,andfacingtheArabPeninsulastrategically' o-fwhoever occupies economically and fraternally ("and "the Stfu AsmarahcanreachthePeninsula")is,fromthepointofviewof adjacency' a Part of the po iti"uf prr.uution and geographical not been able to separate it Peninsula from which the sea has and the duty of Arab Nationa- .r*ff."fy. It is wise, enlightcned heed the problems, risks lism that all Arabs in all ireir countries people of Eritrea' imperil and dangers that threaten the good threat to the security of the their destiny and ,fru" po'" a dirlct southern part of the Arab homcland' for their comPleteliberties' The Struggleof the Eritrean pcople ii toclay a ncw'tcst for world political, natil"nal and cconomii, right is lb-t all"for the consciencein support of right' Becattsc ::t the poor' alike' It is the duty strong and the *"uft, fot ttr"ericfr and conscienceand as we have of the Arabs, ^ *"'u'" part of world for the fact that whole been known fn, guttun"y, and known defending those who sought quarters of ours i'.* a*ityed in by brotherhood and neighbour- refugein ou, *iart, io U" -o'ivuted Dritrean interest in sympathiz-ingwith,.the liness,and by national - stand by the "neighbour struggle and to make our governments INTRODUCTION This book covers the history of Eritrea from the earliest ages till the present day. My motive in writing it is not only my wish to fill the gap in the Arabic library about the past of this counrry which eljoys historical, Geographical and cultural ties with the Arab world, but also my wish to make a modest contribution in refuting Ethiopia's allegationswhich have never ceasedto stnother historical factsin the interest of its expansiorristgoals, denying the very existenceof Eritrea as an historically seperateentity. when I embarked on writing, I was faced with many dirficur- ties amoung which is the fact that I am not a specializedhistorian and consequentlymy command of the historical facts concerning the area is limited. Moreover, it has to be noted that the history of Eritrea was associated,in most of its stages,with the history of the neighbouring countries in North East Africa and the basin of the Red sea, which requires a complete historical study of the area concerned,an undertaki'g the time for which I cannot allbrd, because of my national responsibilities.Furtherrnore, not enough rclbrcnccs about tlre history of'Dritrea arc available in the two languagesI am proficient in, Arabic and'English, what has been written about the history of Eritrea has been mainly written in Italian. There are. more than rwd hundred,,bqoksi.about, Eri!{g3. ir, in the library of the African Musium in Rome..Thesc books were,. i,.rrittenby scholarsspecialised in' the.fifi6tfrj ntrtr,ar r,"o*tJget' oustanding {re 1o1t amongwhom ii thahfioui Italiiii histori;ni Conti Rossini,who certainlymade grealefforts iniwritine thes-e books.I sincereryhope'that E.itrb.r,"roci..il;[ -;kJ ul.:or.. is lilir:crr ycals drrrirrg wlriclr I rcturncd to the rural arcas of my lil-rraryol' Dt'itrcarrstudies' wlrich c mii{Iiriliiir*library.antlo['thc country a few times only, and under such circumstancesas would. External Missiono[ the Popular now being estaUiisnedby the not grant the opportunity for historical research and the study LiberationFront':so that Eri-' LiberationF.";;iint' B;"tu" of archeological sites such as the ruins of Adulis, Matara and tpt"i alizedEritrean'writer$ I pil;antt","ry *if f il ru ii"" Uy' Quohito, which were thriving cities two thousand yean ago. which readings othistory-books However, I did not come out of thesereturn trips empty handed; I have drawn on my various basin of the Red oiNo"ft East Africa and the for example, in the Al Gheden area west of Eritrea I found some deal with tt'" and "gio; of Ethiopia' Sudan' Yemen historical sites of the ancient wars. Also, in the Dankalia area, in general, ;;; t* ni"ory Sea recorded here' for most of the information in south east Eritrea, I came acrossthe cubical and Pyramidical Egypt in pu'tit"iu' of has retained since childhood graves which have important historical connotations concerning in addition to what my memory which was the stories information the sourceof the relation ofAlfung Sultanatein Eritrea to the wars with Ethiopia general historical soul)' God have mercy on his I am looking forward, to t's by *t"iitft* t-ay if I survive, to devote myself to participate related and that of his irto*i., and Arab history in writing the history of my country after the victorious return, who was i.,r.."r,"J'in drew Babakr Aldikouni' God yilling, by relaying on direct contact and observationof the country. Ot" S"Juttse teachcr''fayfour about the history of Eritrea pttriit'i"uf i"fot-ution land and people concernedand not only by drawing on references op him fo, he used to in the intermediate school; written by forcign researcherswhose capacity to understand the which he used io "otft some Eritrean events' i;;;t-"ry the dates of Eritrean societyremains, no matter how great an effort they make, dictate to him in which such as the year 155? A'D'' lessthan that of the Eritrean, the son of the environment who's I memorized some of thesc and the year. 1869, in rr.r" occupied Massawa, versed in is idiosyncracies. the ottoma" from bought a piece of land 'multiplicity tt. Itutiui 't'i"io"uty' Sabito' The greatestdifficulty which faced me was the which shipsof the Italian to be a supply station fier the the sultan of Aseb the of Eritrean history'. Eritrea, in its present boundaries,did not live that this contract became *-;;;;;;ith tl'"^""tlt under the rule of one state,inspite of the unity of origins and forma- Rubatino of u"Y.l::? bethat 'r til'it'riu" 'olo"i"ution tion, until after the ltalian occupationin beginning sincechildhood' the last quarter of the ;;o ;;;i'uu"-tt.-'tt in my rnt-*o1 theyears 'rr, o[ Eritrea' nineteenth century. In view of its geographical position and the a turning point in the history becausethey lormed in[- many human migrations wlrich scttlcd in its various regions, thc dominanceof the Ottoman The first wasthe beginningof Eritrea was undcr thc inllucnceof variousstates at the samctime.
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