Amhara people

The earliest extants of the Amhara as a people, dates to the early 12th century in the middle of the Zagwe Dynasty, when the Amhara were recorded of being in conflict in the land of Wärjih in 1128 AD.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 81IL SULTANATO DELLO SCIOA NEL SECOLO XIII, page 10, Enrico Cerulli., 1941

Another early reference of the Amhara comes from the mid 12th century source by Umara al-Yamani, where he explicitly mentions that one of the rulers of the Najahid Dynasty belonged to the "tribe of Amhara". A non-contemporary 13th or 14th century hagiographical source from Saint Tekle Haymanot traces Amhara even further back to the mid 9th century AD as a location.The Life of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos and the Miracles of Takla Haymanot in the Version of Dabra Libanos, and the Book of the Riches of Kings. Translated by E. A. Wallis Budge. London 1906.{{Cite book |last=al-Ḥakamī |first=ʻUmārah ibn ʻAlī |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HD_PAAAAMAAJ |title=كتاب تاريخ اليمن |date=1892 |publisher=E. Arnold |page=117 |language=en}}

Amharic is a South Ethio-Semitic language, along with Gurage, Argobba and others.{{cite book |last=Meyer |first=Ronny |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SMzgBLT87MkC&dq=amharic+proto+ethio+semitic&pg=PA1178 |title=The Semitic Languages: An International Handbook |date=2011 |publisher=Walter De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-025158-6 |editor-last=Weninger |editor-first=Stefan |location= |pages=1178–1212 |chapter=Amharic }}{{cite book |last=Edzard |first=Lutz |title=The Semitic Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=2019 |editor1=John Huehnergard |location=London |pages=202–226 |chapter=Amharic |editor2=Naʽama Pat-El}}{{Cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |title=Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-7190-1123-8 |page=36 |language=English}} Some time before the 1st century AD, the North and South branches of Ethio-Semitic diverged.{{cite book |last1=Fage |first1=J.D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&dq=amhara+semitic+migration&pg=PA128 |title=The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050 |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |date=1975 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20981-6 |location= |page=126}} Due to the social stratification of the time, the Cushitic Agaw adopted the South Semitic language and mixed with the Semitic population.{{Cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |title=Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-7190-1123-8 |pages=36, 87–88 |language=English}}{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Appleyard |first=David |title=Amharic: History and dialectology of Amharic |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Aethopica |volume=1 |page=235}}{{cite book |last=Butts |first=Aaron Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lai8CgAAQBAJ&dq=amhara+old+agaw&pg=PA22 |title=Semitic languages in contact |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn= 978-90-04-30015-6|location=Leiden, Boston |pages=18–21 |oclc=1083204409 }}{{Cite web |title=Amhara {{!}} Definition, History, & Culture {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amhara |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}} Amharic thus developed with a Cushitic substratum and a Semitic superstratum.{{Cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |title=Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-7190-1123-8 |page=88 |language=English}}{{Cite book |last=Demeke |first=Girma |title=The Origin of Amharic |publisher=The Red Sea Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-56902-379-2 |pages=45–52 |language=English |oclc=824502290}} The proto-Amhara, or the northernmost South Ethio-Semitic speakers, remained in constant contact with their North Ethio-Semitic neighbors, evidenced by linguistic analysis and oral traditions.{{cite book|title=Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia: Monarchy, Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi|date=2015|publisher=C. Hurst & Co.|isbn=978-1-84904-261-1|editor1-last=Prunier|editor1-first=Gérard|location=London|page=19 |editor2-last=Ficquet|editor2-first=Éloi}}{{Cite book |last=Hetzron |first=Robert |title=Ethiopian Semitic: Studies in Classification |publisher=Manchester University Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-7190-1123-8 |page=124 |language=English}} A 7th century southward shift of the center of gravity of the Kingdom of Aksum and the ensuing integration and Christianization of the proto-Amhara also resulted in a high prevalence of Geʽez sourced lexicon in Amharic.{{Cite book |last=Demeke |first=Girma |title=The Origin of Amharic |publisher=The Red Sea Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-1-56902-379-2 |pages=15, 133–138 |language=English |oclc=824502290}}{{cite book |last=Butts |first=Aaron Michael |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lai8CgAAQBAJ&dq=amhara+old+agaw&pg=PA22 |title=Semitic languages in contact |date=2015 |publisher=Brill |isbn= 978-90-04-30015-6|location=Leiden, Boston |page=22 |oclc=1083204409 }}{{Cite book |last=Tamrat |first=Taddesse |title=Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527 |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-19-821671-1 |pages=34–38 |language=English}} By about the 9th century AD, there was a linguistically distinct ethnic group called the Amhara in the area of Bete Amhara.

The origin of the Amhara name is debated. A popular Folk etymology traces it to amari ("pleasing; beautiful; gracious") or mehare ("gracious"). Another popular etymology claims that it derives from Ge'ez {{lang|am|ዐም}} (ʿam, "people") and {{lang|am|ሐራ}} (ḥara, "free" or "soldier").Uhlig, Siegbert, ed. "Amhara" in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, p. 230. Harrassowitz Verlag (Wiesbaden), 2003.

{{main|History of Ethiopia}}

File:Yekuno Amlak.png founder of the Ethiopian Empire|259x259px]]"Amhara" was historically a medieval province located in the modern province of Wollo (Bete Amhara), the area which is now known as the Amhara Region was composed of several provinces which had little or no autonomy, these provinces included Dembiya, Begemder, Gojjam, Wollo, Lasta, Shewa, Semien, Angot and Wag.{{cite book|author=E. A. Wallis Budge|title=A History of Ethiopia: Volume I (Routledge Revivals): Nubia and Abyssinia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KWQtBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA123|year=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-317-64915-1|pages=123–124}}

Evidence of a traceable Christian Aksumite presence in Amhara dates back to at least the 9th century AD, when the Istifanos monastery was erected on Lake Hayq.Taddesse Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1972), p. 36. Several other sites and monuments indicate the presence of similar Axumite influences in the area, such as the Geta Lion statues, which are located 10 km south of Kombolcha, and are believed to date back to the 3rd century AD, though they may even date back to pre-Axumite times.{{cite journal |last1=Anfrey |first1=Francis |title=Le lion de Kombolcha et le léopard d'Aksum : des félins rupestres paléochrétiens ? |journal=Annales d Ethiopie |date=January 2011 |volume=26 |page=274 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262198342}}Briggs, P. and Wildman, K. (2014). Ethiopia. Chalfont St Peter: Bradt Travel Guides, p.357.

In 1998, ancient pieces of pottery were found around tombs in Atatiya in Southern Wollo, in Habru which is located to the south-east of Hayq, as well as to the north-east of Ancharo (Chiqa Beret). The decorations and symbols which are inscribed on the pottery substantiate the expansion of Aksumite civilization to the south of Angot.{{Cite journal |last=Asfaw |first=Aklilu |date=2000 |title=A Short History of the Argobba |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_2000_num_16_1_973 |journal=Annales d'Éthiopie |volume=16 |pages=173–183 |doi=10.3406/ethio.2000.973 |via=Persée}}

According to Karl Butzer "By 800, Axum had almost ceased to exist, and its demographic resources were barely adequate to stop the once tributary pastoralists of the border marches from pillaging the defenseless countryside." With some of the common people the Axumite elite abandoned Axum in favor of central Ethiopia.{{cite journal |last1=Butzer |first1=Karl W. |title=Rise and Fall of Axum, Ethiopia: A Geo-Archaeological Interpretation |journal=American Antiquity |date=1981 |volume=46 |issue=3 |pages=471–495 |doi=10.2307/280596 |jstor=280596 |s2cid=162374800 |issn=0002-7316}} Christian families gradually migrated southward into Amhara and northern Shewa. Population movement from the old provinces in the north into more fertile areas in the south seems to have been connected to the southward shift of the kingdom.{{Cite book |last1=Fage |first1=J. D. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWjxR61xAe0C&dq=ya'q%C5%ABbi+almas%C3%AD%C5%ABdi's&pg=PA101 |title=The Cambridge History of Africa: From c. 500 B.C. to A.D. 1050 |last2=Oliver |first2=Roland Anthony |date=1975 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20981-6 |page=101 |language=en}}

The Christianization of Amhara is believed to have begun somewhere during the Aksumite period. The political importance of Amhara further increased after the fall of Aksum, which marked the shift of the political center of the Christian Ethiopian state from Aksum in the north to the Zagwe region of Lasta further inland.{{cite book |ref=none |last=Demeke |first=Girma A. |date=2014 |title=The Origin of Amharic |publisher=The Red Sea Press |location= |page=53 |isbn=978-1-56902-379-2 |issn= |oclc=824502290 }}"Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 168.

The Amhara nobles supported the Zagwe dynasty prince Lalibela in his power struggle against his brothers which led him to make Amharic Lessana Negus ({{lit|language of the king}}) as well as fill the Amhara nobles in the top positions of his Kingdom.Mohammad Hassan, The Oromo of Ethiopia, pp.3

{{main|Ethiopian Empire|Solomonic Dynasty}}

File:EfYWwDRXoAEmWYv.png, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Cristofano dell'Altissimo|248x248px]]

File:Illuminated Gospel late 14th–early 15th century Amhara peoples.jpeg ]]

Yekuno Amlak, a prince from Bete Amhara (lit: House of Amhara) claimed descent from Solomon,{{cite journal |last1=Pankhurst |first1=Richard |title=Fear God, Honor the King: The Use of Biblical Allusions in Ethiopian Historical Literature, Part I |journal=Northeast African Studies |date=1986 |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=11–30 |jstor=43660191}} and established the Solomonic Dynasty in 1270 AD.{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zagwe-dynasty#ref184296|entry=Zagwe dynasty |encyclopedia=Britannica |title=Zagwe dynasty | Solomonic dynasty, Lalibela, Axumite Empire | Britannica }} The early rulers of the Solomonic Dynasty may have been referred to as the "kings of Amhara", due to the origin of their founder, Yekuno Amlak, and therefore, their followers were called "Amhara" and brought this new name with them when they conquered new lands. Characterized by a Christian feudal culture, and by the adoption of Amharic, which from became the lingua franca. This population of a rather small province became the dominant group in the empire."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 230.

Around this time, Medieval Arab historians state that Christian Ethiopia was under the sovereignty of "the Lord of Amhara" which confirms that the new Solomonic dynasty appears to be stock of the Bete Amhara in the eyes of the contemporary. The Egyptian historian al-Mufaddal ibn Abi al-Fada'il in 704 Hijri (1304-1305 AD) labelled the Emperor of Abyssinia as al-Malik al-Amhari or "the Amhara King".{{cite book |last1=Cerulli |first1=Enrico |title=Islam: Yesterday and Today translated by Emran Waber |publisher=Istituto Per L'Oriente |page=315 |url=https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g-LkxaXWZopjLCFEuWm8wnly2lh4WvFp/view}} In 1436 Ibn Taghribirdi wrote a passage about the death of Emperor Yeshaq referring to him as the Lord of Amhara, "The Hatse, the Abyssinian king, the infidel and the Lord of the Amhara in Abyssinia died (in this year). His estates were much enlarged after wars waged and led by him against Sultan Sa'ad ad-Din, the Lord of the Jabarta."

The cultural contact and interaction between the Amhara and the indigenous Agaw accelerated after the 14th century. As the Agaw adopted the Amharic language and converted to Orthodox Christianity, they increasingly succumbed to Amhara acculturation. Other

South Semitic speakers like the Gafat and Argobba in Shewa also began to adopt Amharic and assimilate into Amhara society. By the end of the 16th century, the populations of Gojjam, Lasta and Begemder were almost completely made up of Christian Amharic speakers."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 231.

Despite every work on Ethiopia stressing the political dominance of the Amhara people in the history of the Ethiopian Christian empire. In both Christian and Muslim written traditions up to the 19th century, and in the Ethiopian chronicles of the 14th to 18th centuries, the term "Amhara" is a region, not an ethnonym. In pre-17th century Ethiopia, Amhara was described as the heartland of the Empire and the cradle of the monarchy. Medieval European maps suggest that within the Ethiopian Empire, Amhara had a higher position as a "kingdom" among provinces. The Italian (Venetian) cartographer Fra Mauro, notes a Regno Hamara or "Kingdom of Amhara" in his famous Mappomondo in 1460. Important information on Amhara is provided in the Historia Aethiopica by Hiob Ludolf, the data of which came from Abba Gorgoryos, himself a native of Amhara. On the map of Historia Aethiopica, Amhara is situated between the Abay River to the west, the Bashilo River in the north, the Afar Depression to the east and the Awash River to the south. The province consisted of much of Wollo and northern Shewa, and encompassed the region of Lake Hayq and the famous Istifanos Monastery.

File:Kaiser Theodoros II von Abessinien.jpg from the German-born missionary, Johann Martin Flad, who was one of the European prisoners at Magdala]]

The Amhara monarchs moved continuously from region to region living in katamas, showing a particular preference for the southernly regions of Ifat, Shewa and Dawaro until the political upheavals of the 16th century, after which the province of Begemder became home for the city of Gondar, royal capital for the Ethiopian polity from the 1630s to the mid-19th century. Within the broader territory of Amharic speakers, certain regions developed into autonomous political centers. To the south, beyond Lake Tana, the province of Gojjam developed a dynasty of rulers and became a powerful kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire. The district of Menz in Shewa became the center for the development of a political dynasty culminating in King Sahle Selassie, Emperor Menelik II and Emperor Haile Selassie."Amhara" in Siegbert Uhlig, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), p. 232.

Through their control of the political center of Ethiopian society and via assimilation, conquests, and intermarriages, the Amhara have spread their language and many customs well beyond the borders of their primary homeland in Bete Amhara. This expansion served as a cohesive force, binding together the disparate elements of the larger Ethiopian polity. This cohesion proved crucial for the Ethiopian state as it engaged in the process of modern nation-building in the 19th century, thereby preserving its independence against potential threats from European colonial powers. Additionally, it facilitated various modernizing initiatives, including the abolition of the slave trade, the implementation of new communication and transportation systems, the establishment of schools and hospitals, and the creation of modern government institutions.

{{Further|Caste systems in Africa#Amhara people}}

File:Amhara chef de la garde du Négus.jpg."]]Within traditional Amharic society and that of other local Afro-Asiatic-speaking populations, there were four basic strata. According to the Donald Levine, these consisted of high-ranking clans, low-ranking clans, caste groups (artisans), and slaves.{{cite book|first=Allan|last=Hoben|editor= Arthur Tuden and Leonard Plotnicov|title =Social stratification in Africa|url =https://books.google.com/books?id=KtwDAQAAIAAJ| year=1970| publisher=New York: The Free Press| isbn=978-0-02-932780-7| pages=210–211, 187–221|chapter=Social Stratification in Traditional Amhara Society}} Slaves or rather servants were at the bottom of the hierarchy, and were primarily drawn from the pagan Nilotic Shanqella and Oromo peoples.{{cite book |last=Keller |first=Edmond J |date=1991 |title=Revolutionary Ethiopia: from empire to people's republic |location=Bloomington |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=160 |isbn=|oclc=1036800537 }}

Also known as the barya (meaning "slave" in Amharic), they were captured during slave raids in Ethiopia's southern hinterland. War captives were another source of slaves, but the perception, treatment and duties of these prisoners was markedly different.{{cite book|last=Abir|first=Mordechai|title=Ethiopia: the era of the princes: the challenge of Islam and re-unification of the Christian Empire, 1769–1855|year=1968|publisher=Praeger|pages=57–60|isbn=978-0-582-64517-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qo1yAAAAMAAJ|quote=There was a clear distinction between 'red' and 'black' slaves, Hamitic and negroid respectively; the Shanqalla (negroids) were far cheaper as they were destined mostly for hard work around the house and in the field... While in the houses of the brokers, the [red] slaves were on the whole well treated.}} According to Levine, the widespread slavery in Greater Ethiopia formally ended in the 1930s, but former slaves, their offspring, and de facto slaves continued to hold similar positions in the social hierarchy.{{cite book|first=Donald N.|last=Levine|title=Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56|year=2014|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-22967-6|pages=56, 175|quote=}}

The separate Amhara caste system of people ranked higher than slaves was based on the following concepts: (1) endogamy, (2) hierarchical status, (3) restraints on commensality, (4) pollution concepts, (5) traditional occupation, and (6) inherited caste membership.{{cite book|first=Donald N.|last=Levine|title=Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |year=2014| publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-22967-6|pages=56–57}}Eike Haberland (1979), "Special Castes in Ethiopia", in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Editor: Robert Hess, University of Illinois Press, {{oclc| 7277897}}, pp. 129–132 (also see pp. 134–135, 145–147);
Amnon Orent (1979), "From the Hoe to the Plow", in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Ethiopian Studies, Editor: Robert Hess, University of Illinois Press, {{oclc| 7277897}}, p. 188, Quote: "the Mano, who are potters and leather craftsmen and considered 'unclean' in the usual northern or Amhara understanding of caste distinction; and the Manjo, the traditional hunters and eaters of 'unclean' foods – hippopotamus, monkey and crocodile." Scholars accept that there has been a rigid, endogamous and occupationally closed social stratification among the Amharas and other Afro-Asiatic-speaking Ethiopian ethnic groups. Some label it as an economically closed, endogamous class system with occupational minorities,{{cite book|first=Teshale|last=Tibebu|title=The Making of Modern Ethiopia: 1896–1974|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DeD4gruvuNEC&pg=PA67|year=1995|publisher=The Red Sea Press|isbn=978-1-56902-001-2|pages=67–70}}, Quote: "Interestingly enough, while slaves and ex-slaves could 'integrate' into the larger society with relative ease, this was virtually impossible for the occupational minorities ('castes') up until very recently, in a good many cases to this day."Christopher R. Hallpike (2012, Original: 1968), "The status of craftsmen among the Konso of south-west Ethiopia", Africa, Volume 38, Number 3, Cambridge University Press, pp. 258, 259–267, Quote: "Weavers tend to be the least and tanners the most frequently despised. In many cases such groups are said to have a different, more negroid appearance than their superiors. There are some instances where these groups have a religious basis, as with the Moslems and Falashas in Amhara areas. We frequently find that the despised classes are forbidden to own land, or have anything to do with agricultural activities, or with cattle. Commensality and marriage with their superiors seem also to be generally forbidden them." whereas others such as David Todd assert that this system can be unequivocally labelled as caste-based.{{cite journal | last=Todd | first=David M. | title=Caste in Africa? | journal=Africa | publisher=Cambridge University Press | volume=47 | issue=4 | year=1977 | pages=398–412 | doi=10.2307/1158345 | jstor=1158345 | s2cid=144428371 }}
Dave Todd (1978), "The origins of outcastes in Ethiopia: reflections on an evolutionary theory", Abbay, Volume 9, pp. 145–158{{cite book|first=Donald N.|last=Levine|title=Greater Ethiopia: The Evolution of a Multiethnic Society| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NZHeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA56 |year=2014| publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-22967-6|page=56}}, Quote: "As Herbert Lewis has observed, if the term caste can be used for any social formation outside of the Indian context, it can be applied as appropriately to those Ethiopian groups otherwise known as 'submerged classes', 'pariah groups' and 'outcastes' as to any Indian case.";
{{cite journal | last=Lewis | first=Herbert S. | title=Historical problems in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa | journal=Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | volume=96 | issue=2 | year=2006 | pages=504–511 | doi=10.1111/j.1749-6632.1962.tb50145.x | s2cid=83677517 }}, Quote (p. 509): "In virtually every Cushitic group there are endogamous castes based on occupational specialization (such caste groups are also found, to some extent, among the Ethiopian Semites).".{{cite book| last1=Finneran | first1=Niall |title=The Archaeology of Ethiopia| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MNGIzz1VJH0C&pg=PA14 |year=2007|location=London| publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-136-75552-1| pages=14–15}}, Quote: "Ethiopia has, until fairly recently, been a rigid feudal society with finely grained perceptions of class and caste".

{{main|Amharic}}

The Amhara speak "Amharic" ("Amarigna", "Amarinya") as their mother tongue. Its native speakers account for 29.3% of the Ethiopian population.Central Statistical Agency. 2010. Population and Housing Census 2007 Report, National. [ONLINE] Available at: http://catalog.ihsn.org/index.php/catalog/3583/download/50086. [Accessed 13 December 2016]. It belongs to the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and is the largest member of the Ethiopian Semitic group.{{cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=amh |title=Amharic language |publisher=Ethnologue |date=19 February 1999}} As of 2018 it had more than 57 million speakers worldwide (32,345,260 native speakers plus 25,100,000 second language speakers), making it the most commonly-spoken language in Ethiopia in terms of first- and second-language speakers, and the second most spoken Semitic language after Arabic.

Most of the Ethiopian Jewish communities in Ethiopia and Israel speak Amharic.{{cite book|first=Anbessa|last=Teferra|chapter=Hebraized Amharic in Israel|editor1-first=Benjamin|editor1-last=Hary|editor2-first=Sarah|editor2-last=Bunin Benor|title=Languages in Jewish Communities, Past and Present|location=Berlin|publisher=Walter De Gruyter|isbn=978-1-5015-1298-8|year=2018|pages=489–519}} Many followers of the Rastafari movement learn Amharic as a second language, as they consider it to be a sacred language.[http://www.reggae.be/en/magazine/interviews/The_Abyssinians_Bernard_Collins_Abyssinians_music_is_creeping_music_and_we_were_a_creeping_band_ Bernard Collins (The Abyssinians) Interview] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201121031/http://www.reggae.be/en/magazine/interviews/The_Abyssinians_Bernard_Collins_Abyssinians_music_is_creeping_music_and_we_were_a_creeping_band_ |date=1 February 2014 }}. Published 4 November 2011 by Jah Rebel. Retrieved 4 May 2013.

Amharic is the working language of the federal authorities of the Ethiopian government, and one of the five official languages of Ethiopia. It was for some time also the sole language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromo and Tigrinya. Nevertheless, Amharic is still widely used as the working language of Amhara Region, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Gambela Region and Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region.Danver, Steven Laurence. Native Peoples of the World. 1st ed. Armonk, NY: Sharpe Reference, an imprint of M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 2013. Print. The Amharic language is transcribed using a script (Fidal) which is slightly modified from the Ethiopic or Ge'ez script, an abugida.

File:Gondar Fasiladas Bath Timket.jpg – the Epiphany for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.]]

For centuries, the predominant religion of the Amhara has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country. According to the 2007 census, 82.5% of the population of the Amhara Region was Ethiopian Orthodox; 17.2% of it was Muslim, 0.2% of it was Protestant (see P'ent'ay) and 0.5% of it was Jewish (see Beta Israel).{{Cite web | url=http://www.ethiopar.net/type/English/basinfo/infoamra.htm | title=FDRE States: Basic Information – Amhara | at= Population | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110524213939/http://www.ethiopar.net/type/English/basinfo/infoamra.htm | archive-date=24 May 2011 | access-date=26 March 2006 }}

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many feast days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may be eaten.

Marriages are often arranged, with men marrying in their late teens or early twenties.{{cite web | url=http://www.africanmarriage.info/ | title=African Marriage ritual | access-date=9 February 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170507210952/http://www.africanmarriage.info/ | archive-date=7 May 2017 }} Traditionally, girls were married as young as 14, but in the 20th century, the minimum age was raised to 18, and this was enforced by the Imperial government. After a church wedding, divorce is frowned upon. Each family hosts a separate wedding feast after the wedding.

Upon childbirth, a priest will visit the family to bless the infant. The mother and child remain in the house for 40 days after birth for physical and emotional strength. The infant will be taken to the church for baptism at 40 days (for boys) or 80 days (for girls).{{cite book|title=The World and Its Peoples: Africa, North and East, Part 2, Volume 23|date=1967|publisher=Greystone Press|page=300|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lb5BAAAAIAAJ|access-date=17 February 2017}}

File:Sample of Ge'ez writing.jpg taken from a 15th-century Ethiopian Coptic prayer book]]

{{Main|List of Amharic writers}}

Surviving Amharic literary works dates back to the 14th century, when songs and poems were composed.{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amharic-language|title = Amharic language| date=7 March 2024 }} In the 17th century Amharic became the first African language to be translated into LatinLudolf, Hiob. 1682. A New History of Ethiopia. Being a Full and Accurate Description of the Kingdom of Abyssinia, Vulgarly, Though Erroneously Called the Empire of Prester John. Translated by J. P. Gent. London: Samuel Smith Booksellers. when Ethiopian priest and lexicographer Abba Gorgoryos (1595–1658) in 1652 AD made a European voyage to Thuringia in Germany. Gorgoryos along with his colleague and friend Hiob Ludolf co-authored the earliest grammar book of the Amharic language, an Amharic-Latin dictionary, as well as contributing to Ludolf's book "A History of Ethiopia".Uhlig, Siegbert. 2005. "Gorgoryos." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: D-Ha: Vol. 2, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 855–856. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RwHtFaHBbtoC&q=abba+gregory%27s+thuringia&pg=PA934|title = Lexicon Grammaticorum: A bio-bibliographical companion to the history of linguistics|isbn = 978-3-484-97112-7|last1 = Stammerjohann|first1 = Harro|date = 2 June 2009| publisher=Walter de Gruyter }}

Modern literature in Amharic however, started two centuries later than in Europe, with the Amharic fiction novel Ləbb Wälläd Tarik, published in Rome in 1908, widely considered the first novel in Amharic, by Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus.Admassu, Yonas. 2003. "Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus." In Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C: Vol. 1, edited by Siegbert Uhlig, 122–124. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag. Amhara intellectual Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam pioneered African and Ethiopian theatre when he authored Fabula: Yawreoch Commedia, Africa's first scripted play.{{cite book |last=Plastow |first=Jane |date=2010 |title=African Theatre Histories 1850-1950 |chapter=The First African Play: Fabula Yawreoch Commedia & its influence on the development of Ethiopian Theatre |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |location= |pages=138–150 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/histories-18501950/first-african-play-fabula-yawreoch-commedia-its-influence-on-the-development-of-ethiopian-theatre/77ED57CEA4F813DC83893496DAB7B5B9 |access-date= |isbn=9781846159176 |issn= |oclc= }} Since then countless literature in Amharic has been published and many modern-day writers in Amharic translate their work into English for commercial reasons.{{Cite thesis|url=http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/1286|title = The Origin and Development Amharic Literatuhe|date = May 1981|publisher = Addis Ababa University|type = Thesis|last1 = Aregahegne|first1 = Assefa}}

{{clear}}

File:Aba Gorgorios, 1681.jpg|Abba Gorgoryos (1595-1658)

File:Afevork Ghevre Jesus.jpeg|Afäwarq Gäbrä Iyäsus (1868-1947)

File:Heruy-Wolde-Selassie-1459998290.jpg|Heruy Wolde Selassie (1878-1938)

File:Tekle Hawariat as a young adult.jpg|Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam (1884-1977)

File:Dr Kebede Mikael.jpg|Kebede Michael (1916-1998)

File:Getatchew Haile.JPG|Getatchew Haile (1931-2021)

File:Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin 2.jpg|Tsegaye Gabre-Medhin (1936-2006)

File:Asfa-Wossen Asserate - 4718.jpg|Asfa-Wossen Asserate (1948–present)

{{Main|List of musicians using Amharic vocals|Music of Ethiopia}}

Up until the mid 20th century, Amharic music consisted mainly of religious and secular folk songs and dances.Shelemay, pp. 355–356

Qañat Amhara secular folk music developed in the countryside{{Cite journal|url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/ethio_0066-2127_2013_num_28_1_1539|title=Investigating qәñәt in Amhara secular music: An acoustic and historical study|journal=Annales d'Éthiopie|year=2013|volume=28|issue=1|pages=299–322|last1=Weisser|first1=Stéphanie|last2=Falceto|first2=Francis|doi=10.3406/ethio.2013.1539}} through the use of traditionel instruments such as the :masenqo, a one-string bowed :lute; the :krar, a six-string :lyre; and the washint flute played by the local village musicians called the Azmaris,{{Cite journal |last=Kebede |first=Ashenafi |author-link=Ashenafi Kebede |title = The "Azmari", Poet-Musician of Ethiopia |journal = The Musical Quarterly |volume = 61 |number = 1 |date = January 1975 |doi = 10.1093/mq/lxi.1.47 |pages = 47–57 }} and the peasantry dancing the Eskista; the most well known Amharan folk dance.{{cite book |last1=Uhlig |first1=Siegbert |date=2017 |title=Ethiopia: history, culture and challenges |location=Munster, East Lansing |publisher=Michigan State University Press |page=207 |isbn=|oclc=978295392 }}

The :begena, a large ten-string lyre; is an important instrument solely devoted to the spiritual part of Amhara music.{{Cite CiteSeerX|citeseerx=10.1.1.569.2160|title=FNRS-Université Libre de Bruxelles}} Other instruments includes the Meleket wind instrument, and the Kebero and Negarit drums.

From the 1950s onward foreign influence i.e. foreign educated Ethiopians and the availability of larger quantities of new instruments led to new genre's of Amharic music and ushered in the 1960s and 1970s Golden Age of Ethiopian music.{{cite web |url=http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/107/Kay%2BKaufman%2BShelemay-Ethiopia%3A%2BEmpire%2Band%2BRevolution |title=Kay Kaufman Shelemay-Ethiopia: Empire and Revolution |website=www.afropop.org |access-date=11 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214114013/http://www.afropop.org/multi/interview/ID/107/Kay%2BKaufman%2BShelemay-Ethiopia%3A%2BEmpire%2Band%2BRevolution |archive-date=14 February 2007 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2012/11/08/164682116/samuel-yirga-ushers-in-a-golden-age-of-ethiopian-music|title = Samuel Yirga Ushers in a Golden Age of Ethiopian Music|newspaper = NPR.org}} The popular Ethio-Jazz genre pioneered by Mulatu Astatke was created from the Tizita qañat of the Amhara combined with the use of Western instruments.{{Cite web|url=https://explorepartsunknown.com/ethiopia/how-ethiopian-jazz-got-its-unique-sound/|title=How Ethiopian jazz got its unique sound|date=18 July 2018}} Saxophone legend Getatchew Mekurya instrumentalized the Amhara war cry Shellela into an genre in the 1950s before joining the Ethio-Jazz scene later in his career.{{cite book |last=Uhlig |first=Siegbert |date=2006 |title=Proceedings of the XVth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Hamburg, July 20-25, 2003|location=Wiesbaden |publisher=Harrassowitz |page=185 |isbn=|oclc=71298502 }}{{Cite web|url=https://writteninmusic.com/artikel/getatchew-mekuria-leeuw-der-leeuwen/|title = Getatchew Mekuria, leeuw der leeuwen}} Other Amharic artists from the Golden age such as Asnaketch Worku, Bahru Kegne, Kassa Tessema and Mary Armede were renowned for their mastery of traditionel instruments.

The political turmoil during the Derg regime (1974-1991) led to censorship of music; night life came to a standstill through government imposed curfews and the curbing of musical performances. Notable Ethiopian musicians were jailed including those of Amhara descent such as Ayalew Mesfin and Telela Kebede.Shelemay, 2022, Sing and Sing On: Sentinel Musicians and the Making of the Ethiopian American Diaspora{{Cite web|url=https://www.leguesswho.nl/lineup/ayalew-mesfin-debo-band|title = Line-up}} A revival of Qene; Amharic poetic songs which uses double entendre known as sam-enna warq (wax and gold) was used for subversive dialogue and resistance to state censorship. Thousands of Ethiopians including musicians migrated during this period to form communities in different countries.{{cite web | url=https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/handle/11343/37173 | title=Continuity and change: Some aspects of Ethiopian music in Australia | year=2011 | last1=Jong | first1=De | last2=Elizabeth | first2=Holly }}{{Cite web|url=https://www.brilliant-ethiopia.com/ethiopian-music|title = Ethiopian Music | Brilliant Ethiopia}}

Amharic songs of resistance against the autocratic EPRDF regime led by the TPLF (1991-2018) continued; with prevailing themes being rampant corruption, economic favoritism, excessive emphasis on ethnic identity and its ability to undermine national unity. Amharic musicians; such as Getish Mamo, Nhatty Man, Teddy Afro and others turned to the old tradition of sam-enna warq and used layered expression to evade skirt stringent censorship and oppressive laws (such as the anti-terror law) while reminding the people of their similarities and the importance of maintaining solidarity.{{cite book |last=Onyebadi |first=Uche |date=2019 |title=Music and messaging in the African political arena |location=Hershey, PA |publisher=IGI Global |pages= 12–17|isbn=|oclc=1080436962 }}

In June 2022 Teddy Afro bashed Abiy Ahmed and his regime in a critical new song (Na'et), following the Gimbi massacre. In his song he tries to vent the suppressed public anger and indignation, the swelling public resentment to the chaos in the country.{{cite web | url=https://addiszeybe.com/teddy-afro-bashes-government-with-a-critical-new-single | title=Teddy Afro bashes government with a critical new single | date=23 June 2022 }}

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File:Getatchew Mekuria (cropped).jpg|Getatchew Mekurya(1935-2016)

File:Tilahun.jpg|Tilahun Gessesse(1940-2009)

File:Eurock2010-34 (cropped).jpg|Alemayehu Eshete(1941–2021)

File:Mulatu Astatke & The Heliocentrics, Barbican.jpg|Mulatu Astatke
(1943–present)

File:Alemu Aga playing Begenna.jpg|Alemu Aga
(1950–present)

File:Aster Aweke.jpeg|Aster Aweke
(1959–present)

File:Teddy Afro.jpg|Teddy Afro
(1976–present)

File:Zeritu at the Gumma awards, February 23rd 2015.jpg|Zeritu Kebede
(1984–present)

File:Flickr - don macauley - St. George.jpg in the church of Debre Berhan Selassie in Gondar.]]

Amhara art is typified by religious paintings. One of the notable features of these is the large eyes of the subjects, who are usually biblical figures. It is usually oil on canvas or hide, some surviving from the Middle Ages. The Amhara art includes weaved products embellished with embroidery. Works in gold and silver exist in the form of filigree jewelry and religious emblems.{{citation needed|date=November 2021}}

The Amhara culture recognizes kinship, but unlike other ethnic groups in the Horn of Africa region, it has a lesser role. Household relationships are primary, and the major economic, political and cultural functions are not based on kin relationships among the Amharas. Rather abilities of the individual matter. For example, states Donald Levine, the influence of clergy among the Amhara has been based on "ritual purity, doctrinal knowledge, ability to perform miracles and capacity to provide moral guidance".{{rp|120}} The social relationships in the Amhara culture are predominantly based on hierarchical patterns and individualistic associations.{{rp|123}}

Family and kin relatives are often involved in arranging semanya (eighty bond marriage, also called kal kidan), which has been most common and allows divorce.{{cite book|author=W. A. Shack|title=Ethnographic Survey of Africa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IDSBAAAAMAAJ|year=1974 |publisher=International African Institute |isbn=978-0-85302-040-0| pages=33–35}} Other forms of marriage include qurban, which is solemnized in church, where divorce is forbidden, and usually observed among the orthodox priests.[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amhara Amhara people] Encyclopædia Britannica (2015){{cite book|first=David|last=Levinson|title=Encyclopedia of World Cultures: Africa and the Middle East|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d88ZAQAAIAAJ|year=1995|publisher=G.K. Hall|isbn=978-0-8161-1815-1|page=19}}, Quote: "Temporary marriage (damoz) obliges the husband to pay housekeeper's wages for a period stated in advance. (...) The contract, although oral, was before witnesses and was therefore enforceable by court order. The wife had no right of inheritance, but if children were conceived during the contract period, they could make a claim for part of the father's property, should he die." Patrilineal descent is the norm. While the wife had no inheritance rights, in case a child was conceived during the temporary damoz marriage, the child could make a claim a part of the father's property.{{cite journal | last=Weissleder | first=W. | title=Amhara Marriage: The Stability of Divorce | journal=Canadian Review of Sociology | publisher=Wiley-Blackwell | volume=11 | issue=1 | year=2008 | pages=67–85 | doi=10.1111/j.1755-618x.1974.tb00004.x }}

{{Main|Ethiopian cuisine|Wat (food)}}

Amhara cuisine consists of various vegetable or spicy meat side dishes and entrées, usually a wat, or thick stew, served atop injera, a large sourdough flatbread made of teff flour in the shape of pancakes usually of about 30 to 45 cm in diameter. When eating traditional injera dishes in groups, it's normally it eaten from a mesob (shared food basket), with each person breaking off pieces of injera flatbread using only the right hand, from the side nearest them and dipping it into stew in the center of the basket. There is also a great variety of vegetarian stews such as lentils, ground split peas, grains, accompanied by injera and/or bread.

Amharas adhering to any of the Abrahmic religions do not eat pork or shellfish of any kind for religious reasons. Amhara Orthodox Christians do not consume meat and dairy products (i.e. egg, butter, milk, and cheese) during specific fasting periods, and on every Wednesdays and Fridays except the 50 days between Easter and Pentecost. On all other days meat and dairy products are allowed. A variety of vegan dishes are consumed during fasting periods.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/culture.htm|title=Ethiopian Treasures- Culture|website=Ethiopian Treasures}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NTo6c_PJWRgC&q=amharic+cuisine&pg=PA62|title = Food Cultures of the World Encyclopedia|isbn = 978-0-313-37626-9|last1 = Albala|first1 = Ken|year = 2011| publisher=Bloomsbury Academic }}

Ethiopia is a Buna (coffee) exporter, but also has a very large domestic consumer base. During social gatherings Amharas drink Buna in a unique and traditional way known as a coffee ceremony. First the coffee is roasted, then ground and placed in a Jebena (coffee pot) with boiling water. When ready it is then served to people in little cups, up to three times per ceremony.

The ceremony is typically performed by the woman of the household, or the female host and is considered an honor. Amhara women dress up for the occasion in a kemis, a traditional dress. Other locally produced beverages are tella (beer) and tej (honey wine), which are served and drunk on major religious festivals, Saints Days and weddings.

File:ET Amhara asv2018-02 img077 Lake Tana at Bahir Dar.jpg | Tej
A honey wine, fermented with gesho leaves and twigs, often enjoyed during celebrations.

{{Update|section|reason=the rise of Amhara ethnic nationalism and the resultant growth of ethnic identification. See Talk:Amhara people for discussion on this topic|date=November 2020}}

{{Further|Amhara nationalism|Amhara nationalism#Comparison with Ethiopian nationalism}}

Mackonen Michael (2008){{cite journal|title=Who is Amhara?|first=Mackonen|last=Michael|year=2008|journal=African Identities|volume=6|issue=4|pages=393–404|doi=10.1080/14725840802417943|s2cid=144828563}} noted that the Amhara identity is claimed to be composed of multiple ethnicities by some, whereas others "reject this concept and argue that Amhara exists as a distinctive ethnic group with a specific located boundary". He further noted that "although people from the Ethiopian highland areas think of themselves as Amharas, the Northern Shoans specifically call themselves Amhara. That is why the Oromo and Tigrian discourse associate the Northern Shoans as oppressive-Amharas."{{cite journal |last1=Michael |first1=Mackonen |title=Who is Amhara? |journal=African Identities |date=2008-11-01 |volume=6 |issue=4 |pages=393–404 |doi=10.1080/14725840802417943 |s2cid=144828563 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14725840802417943 |access-date=28 June 2021 |issn=1472-5843}}

According to Gideon P. E. Cohen, writing in 2000, there is some debate about "whether the Amhara can legitimately be regarded as an ethnic group, [...] given their distribution throughout Ethiopia, and the incorporative capacity of the group that has led to the inclusion of individuals from a wide range of ethnic or linguistic backgrounds".{{cite journal|first=Gideon P. E.|last=Cohen|year=2000|title=Language and Ethnic Boundaries: Perceptions of Identity Expressed through Attitudes towards the Use of Language Education in Southern Ethiopia|journal=Northeast African Studies|volume=7|issue=3|pages=189–206|doi=10.1353/nas.2005.0004|jstor=41931261|s2cid=144103747}} Similarly, Tezera Tazebew notes that "the early 1990s was marked by debates, both popular and scholarly, on the (non-)existence of Amhara as a distinct ethnic group", giving the debate between the academic Mesfin Woldemariam and president of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia Meles Zenawi in July 1991 as an example.{{cite journal|title=Amhara nationalism: The empire strikes back|first=Tezera|last=Tazebew|journal=African Affairs|year=2021|volume=120|issue=479|pages=297–313|doi=10.1093/afraf/adaa029}}

Due to large amounts of assimilation into the northern Amhara culture after Ethiopian imperial expansion, Siegfried Pausewang concluded in 2005 that "the term Amhara relates in contemporary Ethiopia to two different and distinct social groups. The ethnic group of the Amhara, mostly a peasant population, is different from a mixed group of urban people coming from different ethnic background, who have adopted Amharic as a common language and identify themselves as Ethiopians".{{cite journal|title=The two-faced Amhara identity|first=Siegfried |last=Pausewang|year=2005|journal=Scrinium|volume=1|issue=1|pages=273–286|doi=10.1163/18177565-90000138|doi-access=free}}

In a 2017 article, historian Brian J. Yates notes that some "scholars and politicians have attempted to sketch out what an Amhara is, but there are considerable divergences on the nature of this identity. Some argue that it is a cultural identity; however, much of the scholarship indicates that it is solely a class-based identity, devoid of ethnicity".{{cite journal|title=Ethnicity as a Hindrance for Understanding Ethiopian History: An Argument Against an Ethnic Late Nineteenth Century|first=Brian J.|last=Yates|journal=History in Africa|year=2017|volume=44|pages=101–131|doi=10.1017/hia.2016.13|s2cid=164336903}}

Solomon Gashaw asserts that "there is no intra-Amhara ethnic consciousness, except among northern settlers in southern Ethiopia". He notes that most Amharic-speaking people identify by their place of birth. He asks, "what is Amhara domination?", answering: "It is a linguistic and cultural domination by a multi-ethnic group who speak Amharic".{{cite book|first=Solomon|last=Gashaw|year=1993|chapter=Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict in Ethiopia|editor-first=Crawford|editor-last=Young|title=The Rising Tide of Cultural Pluralism: The Nation-State at Bay?|location=Madison, WI|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|pages=138–157|isbn=978-0-299-13884-4}}

Writing in 1998, Tegegne Teka wrote that "the Amhara do not possess what people usually refer to as objective ethnic markers: common ancestry, territory, religion and shared experience except the language. The Amhara have no claims to a common ancestry. They do not share the same sentiments and they have no mutual interests based on shared understandings. It is, therefore, difficult to conclude that the Amhara belong to an ethnic group. But this does not mean that there is no Amhara identity".{{cite book|first=Tegegne|last=Teka|chapter=Amhara ethnicity in the making|pages=116–126|title=Ethnicity and the State in Eastern Africa|editor1-first=M.A. Mohamed|editor1-last=Salih|editor2-first=John|editor2-last=Markakis|year=1998|location=Uppsala|publisher=Nordiska Afrikaininstutet|isbn=978-91-7106-418-9}}

According to ethnographer Donald Levine, writing in 2003 and citing Christopher Clapham, "Only in the last quarter of the 20th cent. has the term [Amhara] come to be a common ethnic appellation, comparable to the way in which Oromo has become generalized

to cover peoples who long knew themselves primarily as Boorana (Boräna), Guğği, Mäč̣č̣a and the like. Even so, Amharic-speaking Šäwans still feel themselves closer to non-Amharic-speaking Šäwans than to Amharic-speakers from distant regions like Gondär and there are few members of the Šäwan nobility who do not have Oromo genealogical links".{{cite book|first=Donald N.|last=Levine|chapter=Amhara|editor-last=von Uhlig|editor-first=Siegbert|title=Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C|year=2003|pages=230–232}} According to Takkele Taddese, Amharic-speakers tend to be a "supra-ethnic group" composed of "fused stock".{{cite book|first=Takkele|last=Taddese|chapter=Do the Amhara Exist as a Distinct Ethnic Group?|editor-last=Marcus|editor-first=Harold G.|title=New Trends in Ethiopian Studies: Papers of the 12th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies|year=1994|volume=II|pages=168–186|location=Lawrenceville, NJ|publisher=Red Sea Press|isbn=978-1-56902-015-9}} Taddese describes the Amhara as follows:

The Amhara can thus be said to exist in the sense of being a fused stock, a supra-ethnically conscious ethnic Ethiopian serving as the pot in which all the other ethnic groups are supposed to melt. The language, Amharic, serves as the center of this melting process although it is difficult to conceive of a language without the existence of a corresponding distinct ethnic group speaking it as a mother tongue. The Amhara does not exist, however, in the sense of being a distinct ethnic group promoting its own interests and advancing the Herrenvolk philosophy and ideology as has been presented by the elite politicians. The basic principle of those who affirm the existence of the Amhara as a distinct ethnic group, therefore, is that the Amhara should be dislodged from the position of supremacy and each ethnic group should be freed from Amhara domination to have equal status with everybody else. This sense of Amhara existence can be viewed as a myth.

In the 17th century, Abyssinian traveler Abba Gorgoryos states the following in a letter to his German friend Hiob Ludolf:

As to my origins, do not imagine, my friend, that they are humble, for I am of the House of Amhara which is a respected tribe; from it come the heads of the Ethiopian people, the governors, the military commanders, the judges and the advisers of the King of Ethiopia who appoint and dismiss, command and rule in the name of the King, his governors, and grandees. "Richard Pankhurst, Travelers in Ethiopia, p.59

On March 28, 1898, near Lake Rudolf, a first-hand account of Russian officer, Alexander Bulatovich, detailing hostile exchange of words between the Turkana people and Welde Giyorgis Aboye's forces, where Bulatovich was attached to as an advisor to the Ras.

*{{dialogue

|Alexander Bulatovich=Maasai interpreter

|Amhara forces|We are from the sovereign of the Amhara Menelik.|Turkana tribe|We do not know Amhara-Menelik. Go away! Go away!}}

• {{dialogue

|Alexander Bulatovich=Maasai interpreter

|Turkana tribe|Who is this Amhara-Menelik to whom we are supposed to submit?|Amhara forces|We are Amhara, and Menelik is our great king.}}{{cite book |last=Bulatovich |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Bulatovich |translator-last=Seltzer |translator-first=Richard |date=2000 |title=Ethiopia Through Russian Eyes Country in Transition, 1896-1898 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W3hyAAAAMAAJ |location=Lawrenceville, NJ |publisher=Red Sea Press |pages=345–346 |isbn=978-1-56902-116-3}}

Zola Moges notes the emergence of Amhara nationalism and ethnic consciousness with origins in the early 1990s but taking clearer shape with the establishment of the National Movement of Amhara in 2018 along with the rise of Fano ethnic militias in the 2010s. Moges writes that a "younger generation has adopted its 'Amharaness'; but most ordinary people are yet to fully embrace it, not least because of the lack of any effectively articulated ideological foundation or priorities and the absence of any 'tailor-made' solutions to the challenges facing them".{{cite news|url=https://www.ethiopia-insight.com/2020/09/01/shaping-amhara-nationalism-for-a-better-ethiopia/|title=Shaping Amhara nationalism for a better Ethiopia|first=Zola|last=Moges|publisher=Ethiopia Insight|date=1 September 2020|access-date=28 November 2020}}

Amanuel Tesfaye writes that: "While the older Amhara population still detest ethnic identification and ethnic forms of political organization, preferring pan-Ethiopian nationalism, the young have no problem pronouncing their Amhara identity, advocating for the protection and advancement of the rights and interests of their ethnic kin within the framework of the multi-nation state, and organizing politically along that particular ethnic identity".{{cite news|url=https://addisstandard.com/commentarythe-birth-of-amhara-nationalism-causes-aspirations-and-potential-impacts/|first=Amanuel|last=Tesfaye|title=Commentary: The Birth of Amhara Nationalism: Causes, Aspirations, and Potential Impacts|work=Addis Standard|date=4 May 2018|access-date=25 June 2021}}

Research shows that Amharas have a mixture of a type of native African ancestry unique and autochthonous to the Horn of Africa,{{cite journal|author1=Jason A. Hodgson|author2=Connie J. Mulligan|author3=Ali Al-Meeri|author4=Ryan L. Raaum|date=12 June 2014|title=Early Back-to-Africa Migration into the Horn of Africa|journal=PLOS Genetics|volume=10|issue=6|pages=e1004393|doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004393|pmc=4055572|pmid=24921250 |doi-access=free }}; Supplementary Text S1: Affinities of the Ethio-Somali ancestry component {{doi|10.1371/journal.pgen.1004393.s017}}{{free access}} as well as ancestry originating from a non-African back-migration.{{Cite journal|last1=Pickrell|first1=Joseph K.|last2=Patterson|first2=Nick|last3=Loh|first3=Po-Ru|last4=Lipson|first4=Mark|last5=Berger|first5=Bonnie|last6=Stoneking|first6=Mark|last7=Pakendorf|first7=Brigitte|last8=Reich|first8=David|date=2014-02-18|title=Ancient west Eurasian ancestry in southern and eastern Africa|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|language=en|volume=111|issue=7|pages=2632–2637|doi=10.1073/pnas.1313787111|issn=0027-8424|pmid=24550290|pmc=3932865|arxiv=1307.8014|bibcode=2014PNAS..111.2632P|doi-access=free}}

Studies comparing blood oxygenation in Amharas to nearby lowlands populations, and to the Andeans and Tibetans showed unique adaptations to living in a high altitude environment.{{cite web |last1=Coates |first1=Karen |title=The Heights We Go To |url=https://www.archaeology.org/issues/268-1709/features/5816-tibet-high-altitude-adaptation |website=Archaeology |issue=September 2017 |access-date=28 October 2023}}{{cite web |last1=Khan |first1=Razib |title=How the Amhara Breathe Differently Razib Khan |url=https://www.discovermagazine.com/health/how-the-amhara-breathe-differently |website=Discover Magazine |issue= January 22, 2012 |access-date=28 October 2023}}

Haplogroup E1b1b was found at 35.4% among the 48 sampled Amhara in a study.{{cite journal |vauthors=Semino O, Santachiara-Benerecetti AS, Falaschi F, Cavalli-Sforza LL, Underhill PA |title=Ethiopians and Khoisan Share the Deepest Clades of the Human Y-Chromosome Phylogeny |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=70 |issue=1 |pages=265–8 |date=January 2002 |pmid=11719903 |pmc=384897 |doi=10.1086/338306}} However, other studies have found an almost equal representation of E1b1b at approximately 57% in both the 25 Oromo and the 34 Amhara individuals.Cruciani et al. (2004)[http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/hape3b.pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522200621/http://www.familytreedna.com/pdf/hape3b.pdf|date=2006-05-22}} Phylogeographic Analysis of Haplogroup E3b (E-M215) Y Chromosomes Reveals Multiple Migratory Events Within and Out Of Africa The second most prevalent lineage Haplogroup J, has been found to exist at levels as high as 35.4% in the Amhara, of which 33.3% is of the type J1, while 2.1% is of J2 type.{{cite journal |author=Semino O |title=Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area |journal=American Journal of Human Genetics |volume=74 |issue=5 |pages=1023–34 |date=May 2004 |pmid=15069642 |pmc=1181965 |doi=10.1086/386295|author2= Magri C |author3= Benuzzi G |display-authors=etal }}

{{Div col|small=yes}}

{{Compact TOC|num=no|side=yes|center=yes|seealso=no|nobreak=yes}}

• Aba Gorgorios,{{cite book |last1=Belcher |first1=Laura |author-link1=Laura Belcher |date=2012 |title=Abyssinia's Samuel Johnson: Ethiopian Thought in the Making of an English Author |page= 114 }} Catholic priest
• Abebe Aregai, Prime Minister
• Abebe Aleme Bikila, Olympic athlete, gold medalist{{Cite book|last=Rambali|first=Paul|title=Barefoot Runner: The Life of Marathon Champion Abebe Bikila|publisher=Serpent's Tail|year=2007}}
• Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd), Grammy-winning artist, singer, and global pop star
• Abuna Basilios, First Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church
• Abune Merkorios
• Abune Petros, patriot
• Abuna Takla Haymanot
• Abuna Theophilos, Second Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church
• Afevork Ghevre Jesus,{{cite book |last1=Abbay |first1=Alemseged |author-link1=Alemseged Abbay |date=1998 |title=Identity Jilted, Or, Re-imagining Identity?: The Divergent Paths of the Eritrean and Tigrayan Nationalist Struggles |page= 46 }} Ethiopian writer
• Afewerk Tekle, Honorable Laureate Maitre Artiste
• Aklilu Habte-Wold, Former foreign minister and Prime Minister
• Ale Felege Selam, painter
• Alemayehu Eshete, Ethiopian singer
• Alemu Aga, musician, singer, and master of the Begena
• Amanuel Gebremichael
• Amda Seyon I,{{cite web |last1=Tolossa |first1=Fikre |title=Amhara Contributions to Ethiopian Civilization |url=http://www.ethiopianreview.com/index/382 |website=Ethiopian Review |access-date=13 December 2020 |date=April 1993}} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Amha Iyasus, ruler of Shewa
• Andualem Aragie, Vice President and Press Secretary for the Ethiopian-based Unity for Democracy and Justice
• Anestasyos, ruler of Bete Amhara, Damot & Shewa
• Asfaw Wossen, ruler of Shewa
• Ashenafi Kebede
• Asnaketch Worku, Ethiopia's first professional theatre actress and legendary musician, known as the "Queen of Kirar"
• Asrat Woldeyes,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/may/25/guardianobituaries.ethiopia|title=Asrat Woldeyes|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=9 February 2015|date=25 May 1999|last1=Barder|first1=Brian}} Ethiopia's first Western-trained surgeon and the leading pioneer of Amhara Nationalism
• Aster Aweke, Ethiopian singer

• Baeda Maryam I, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Bafena
• Bakaffa, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Bashah Aboye, military commander
• Belay Zeleke,{{cite web|url=http://www.ethiopianstories.com/famous-stories/137-belay-zeleke|title=Belay Zeleke|author=Administrator|access-date=9 February 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113174042/http://www.ethiopianstories.com/famous-stories/137-belay-zeleke|archive-date=13 January 2015}} patriot
• Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, Ethiopian Catholic cardinal, Head of the Ethiopian Catholic Church.

• Dawit I, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Dawit II,{{cite web|url=http://epicworldhistory.blogspot.nl/2012/06/lebna-dengel-ethiopian-ruler.html|title=Lebna Dengel – Ethiopian Ruler|website=epicworldhistory.blogspot.nl}} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Dawit III,{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzOxCwAAQBAJ&q=iyasu+ii+brother+dawit+iii&pg=PA67|title=Heads of State and Government|first=John V. Da|last=Graca|date=18 June 1985|publisher=Springer|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-349-07999-5}} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Demetros of Amhara, ruler of Shewa

• Eden Alene, Ethiopian-Israeli singer, competed at the Eurovision Song Contest
• Ejigayehu Shibabaw, better known as Gigi, Ethiopian singer
• Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, Ethiopian nun known for her piano playing and compositions
• Eskender,Hubert Jules Deschamps, (sous la direction). Histoire générale de l'Afrique noire de Madagascar et de ses archipels Tome I : Des origines à 1800. p. 406 P.U.F Paris (1970) Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire

• Fasilides, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire

• Gebre Hanna, dabtara renowned in Amharic oral tradition
• Gebre Tasfa, 18th-19th century lord of Semien
• Gedion Zelalem
• Gelawdewos, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Gelila Bekele,{{cite web|url=http://www.amharictube.com/watch.php?vid=07f7c88f2|title=Gelila Bekele – Ethiopia – Interview with Model Gelila Bekele|website=www.amharictube.com|access-date=6 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170107005655/http://www.amharictube.com/watch.php?vid=07f7c88f2|archive-date=7 January 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://ethiopiaforums.com/model-gelila-kebede-interview-video-in-amharic/?ref=nf|title=Model Gelila Bekele Interview ( VIDEO) in Amharic - Ethiopiaforums.com|date=11 November 2010}} International model
• Getatchew Haile,{{cite web|url=http://www.senamirmir.org/theme/5-2001/gh/cup.html|title=Senamirmir Projects: Interview with Dr. Getatchew Haile|access-date=9 February 2015}} philologist
• Getatchew Mekurya, Legendary Ethiopian Jazz Saxophonist

• Haddis Alemayehu, Foreign Minister and Novelist
• Haile Gebrselassie, renowned world Athlete
• Haile Gerima, Award-winning writer, producer & director.
• Haile Maryam Gebre, lord of Semien and Welkait
• Haile Selassie, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Heruy Wolde Selassie, Foreign Minister

• Iyasu I, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Iyasu II, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire

• Kaid Abu Muhammad Amhara Surur al-Fatiki, Ruler of Najahid Dynasty
• Kebede Michael,{{cite book |last1=Fantahun |first1=Arefayné |author-link1=Arefayné Fantahun |date=2015 |title= "Intellectual Outlook of Kebede Michael" }} Ethiopian writer
• Kidane Kale, Meridazmach of Shewa

• Leul Sagad, military commander & noblemen
• Liya Kebede, International supermodel

• Makonnen Wolde Mikael, Military officer, diplomat, court official
• Marcus Samuelsson, acclaimed chef and restaurateur
• Makonnen Endelkachew, Prime Minister
• Melaku Worede, agronomist and geneticist, Right Livelihood Award-winning scientist
• Menas of Ethiopia, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Menelik II,{{cite book |last1=Foster |first1=Mary |author-link1=Mary LeCron Foster |last2=Rubinstein |first2=Robert |author-link2=Robert A. Rubinstein |date=1986 |title=Peace and War: Cross-Cultural Perspectives |url=https://archive.org/details/peacewarcrosscul00fost |url-access=registration |page= [https://archive.org/details/peacewarcrosscul00fost/page/137 137] }} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Mesfin Woldemariam, author, Sakharov prize winning human rights activist and politician.
• Menen Asfaw, Empress of Ethiopia, reign between 2 November 1930 – 15 February 1962
• Mulatu Astatke,{{cite book |last1=Kubik |first1=Gerhard |author-link1=Gerhard Kubik |date=2017 |title=Jazz Transatlantic |page= 64 }} Musician and Father of Ethio-Jazz
• Muluken Melesse, Music Artist
• Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi- Entrepreneur

• Na'od, Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Nagasi Krestos, ruler of Shewa
• Newaya Krestos,James Bruce, Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile (1805 edition), vol. 3 pp. 93f Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Newaya Maryam,J. Spencer Trimingham, Islam in Ethiopia (Oxford: Geoffrey Cumberlege for the University Press, 1952), p. 74. Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire

• Pnina Tamano-Shata, First Israeli Government Minister of Amahara descent

• Sahle Selassie, Negus of Shewa
• Sara Nuru, fashion model & entrepreneur
• Sarsa Dengel,{{cite book |last1=Gordon |first1=Howard |author-link1=Howard Gordon |date=2011 |title=Be Not Thy Father's Son |page= 128 }} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Sebestyanos, Meridazmach of Shewa
• Seifu Makonnen two-time olympic bokser
• Seifu Mikael, diplomat, governor
• Seleshi Bekele
• Simegnew Bekele, Chief Project Manager of the GERD
• Susenyos I, Emperor of the Ethiopian EmpireVitae Sanctorum Indigenarum: I Acta S. Walatta Petros, Ii Miracula S. Zara-Baruk, edited by Carlo Conti Rossini and C. Jaeger Louvain: L. Durbecq, 1954, pg. 62.

• Taytu Betul, Empress of Ethiopia from 1889 to 1913
• Teddy Afro, Ethiopian singer-songwriter
• Tekle Hawariat Tekle Mariyam, pioneer of Ethiopian and African theater, also military commander and politician.
• Tekle Haymanot
• Temesgen Tiruneh Director general of National Intelligence and Security Service
• Tessema Nadew, regent of Ethiopia
• Tewodros II,{{cite book |last1=Young |first1=John |author-link1=John Young (historian) |date=1997 |title=Peasant Revolution in Ethiopia: The Tigray People's Liberation Front, 1975–1991 |page= 44 }} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• The Weeknd, Ethiopian-Canadian R&B artist

• Welde Giyorgis Aboye, Ethiopian general and noble
• Wolde Giorgis Wolde Yohannes, Minister of the pen
• Hakim Workneh Eshete, first Western-education doctor and diplomat
• Wossen Seged, ruler of Shewa
• Wube Haile Maryam, ruler of Semien & Tigray

• Yaqob,{{cite book |last1=Stewart |first1=John |date=2006 |title=African States and Rulers |edition=3rd |location=Jefferson, NC, USA |publisher= McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-2562-4 |page= 93 }} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Yekuno Amlak,{{cite book |last1=Shinn |first1=David H |author-link1=David H. Shinn |last2=Ofcansky |first2=Thomas P. |date=2013 |title=Historical Dictionary of Ethiopia |edition=2nd |location=Plymouth, UK |publisher= Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7194-6}}{{rp|5}} founder of the Solomonic Dynasty
• Yeshaq I,{{cite book|last1=Kessler|first1=David F.|author-link1=David F. Kessler |title=The Falashas: A Short History of the Ethiopian Jews |date=1996 |publisher=Frank Cass |location=London |isbn=978-0-7146-4646-6 |oclc=33078505 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/falashas00davi |page= 94 }} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire
• Yetnebersh Nigussie, renowned lawyer and disability rights activist
• Yidnekatchew Tessema, 4th President of Confederation of African Football (CAF)

• Zara Yaqob,{{rp|6}} Emperor of the Ethiopian Empire between 1434 - 1468
• Zewditu, Empress of Ethiopia between 1916 - 1930

{{Div col end}}

• Amhara Region coup d'état attempt
• Ethiopians
• Habesha people
• History of Ethiopia

{{Reflist}}

• Wolf Leslau and Thomas L. Kane (collected and edited), Amharic Cultural Reader. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2001. {{ISBN|3-447-04496-9}}.
• Donald N. Levine, Wax & Gold: Tradition and Innovation in Ethiopian Culture (Chicago: University Press, 1972) {{ISBN|0-226-45763-X}}

{{commons category|Amhara people}}

• Lemma, Marcos (MD, PhD). {{cite web | title=Who ruled Ethiopia? The myth of 'Amara domination' | work=Ethiomedia.com | url=http://www.ethiomedia.com/newpress/the_amara_myth.html | access-date=28 February 2005 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050328231114/http://www.ethiomedia.com/newpress/the_amara_myth.html | archive-date=28 March 2005 | df=dmy-all }}
• [http://www.africanholocaust.net/peopleofafrica.htm#a People of Africa, Amhara Culture and History]

{{Ethnic groups in Ethiopia}}

{{Habesha peoples}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Habesha peoples

Category:Ethnic groups in Ethiopia