For the past half-century, Ethiopia’s history, culture, and language have stood at the center of
national political discourse—especially in debates over identity and communication. Today, these
issues have moved far beyond living room conversations and are increasingly disrupting the daily
lives of ordinary citizens. Even in literature, it has become common to encounter works driven more
by emotion and mythology than by professional rigor. This rise in biased writing stems not only
from a shortage of comprehensive historical research but also from a growing tendency to interpret
every subject through partisan lenses, relevant or not.

Escaping this crisis of misinformation requires more than isolated individual efforts. It demands a
sustained institutional framework where diverse experts can collaborate, refine, and expand our
collective knowledge. This book was created with that mission in mind. Including the introduction,
it contains seventeen chapters: ten research articles, one introductory chapter, and six chapters
featuring sixteen interviews conducted by highly respected scholars on SBS Amharic radio. As part
of a broader, longterm initiative, this volume aims to serve as a foundational reference on Ethiopian
history, culture, and language, with plans for regular updates—ideally every two years—to capture an
everexpanding view of our heritage.

ኢትዮጵያ ከፑንት እስከ 21ኛው ክፍለዘመን መጀመሪያ

ግርማ አውግቸው ደመቀ፣ አርታዒ

በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ፣ ባህል፣ እና ቋንቋ—በተለይ ከመግባቢያነት እና ከታሪክ አንፃር—የፖለቲካው ቁልፍ ማጠንጠኛ ከሆኑ
ግማሽ ክፍለዘመን አስቆጠሩ። ዛሬ እነዚህ ጉዳዮች የየቤቱ መወያያ ከመሆን አልፈው የተራው ህብረተሰብን ህይወት
ሲያመሰቃቅሉ ይስተዋላል። በመጽሐፍ ደረጃ ሳይቀር የሚወጡ ከሙያዊ ብስለት ይልቅ ስሜት እና ተረት የበዛባቸው
በርካታ ስራዎችን ማየት የተለመደ ነው። ለእነዚህ ጽሑፎች መፍላት ከዚህ በፊት የተሰሩት በቂ ካለመሆናቸው በተጨማሪ
አግባብነት ባለው እና አብዛኛውን ግዜ በሌለው ሁኔታ በወገንተኝነት በመፈረጃቸውም ጭምር ነው። አሁን ካለንበት
የእውቀት ማነስ ቀውስ ለመውጣት በአንድ ሰው ላይ ከተመሰረተ ስራ ባሻገር የተለያዩ ባለሙያዎች በየግዜው እየተሳተፉ
የሚያሻሽሉት፣ የሚያክሉበት፣ እና የሚለውጡት ቀጣይነት ያለው ተቋማዊ ስራ ማዘጋጀት ተገቢ ሆኖ ስላገኘንው ይህ
መጽሐፍ ተዘጋጅቷል። መጽሐፉ ከመግቢያው ጋር አስራ ሰባት ምዕራፎችን ይዟል። ከእነዚህ ውስጥ አስሩ የምርምር
መጣጥፎች ሲሆኑ፣ አንዱ መግቢያ፣ እና የተቀሩት ስድስቱ በሙያቸው እጅግ የተከበሩ ምሁራን ያደረጓቸውን 16
ቃለመጠይቆችን የያዙ ናቸው። ይህ መጽሐፍ የአንድ ትልቅ ቀጣይነት ያለው ፕሮጀክት አካል ሲሆን፣ የፕሮጀክቱ እቅድ
በየግዜው (ቢቻል በየሁለት ዓመቱ) የሚታደስ በኢትዮጵያ ታሪክ፣ ባህል፣ እና ቋንቋ ላይ ሰፊ ዘመንን ያካተተ መሰረታዊ
የመረጃ ምንጭ እንዲሰጥ የታለመ ነው።

Girma A. Demeke, ed., is a distinguished research professor specializing in the history and syntax of Afroasiatic languages. His extensive academic background includes a PhD in General Linguistics and an M.Sc. in Information Technology with a specialization on Information Security. Professor Demeke is a prolific author, known for works such as The Origin of Amharic  (2nd Edition, 2013), Grammatical Changes in Semitic: A Diachronic Grammar of Amharic (2014), Argobba Speech Varieties (2015), The Ethiopian Calendar (2016), the two-volume work on language and identity in Ethiopia (2018), The Syntax of Nominal Clauses: Amharic Infinitives (2023), Kush/Cush and Cushitic: Language, History, Race, and Religion (2024), and many other influential books and articles.