A few rock art attesting to earliest camel depictions in what is now known as the Somali region/ Harar era.
The medieval Islamic site of Derbi Belanbel is also home to ancient steels.
Ancient Rock art in Eastern Ethiopia
- Thread starter Riftvalley
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A few rock art attesting to earliest camel depictions in what is now known as the Somali region/ Harar era.
The medieval Islamic site of Derbi Belanbel is also home to ancient steels.
Idilinaa
VIP
Hamitic hypothesis mentioned here, years after it being tossed away lool.
This was back in the early 1900s when they were saying East Africans like Somalis , Ethiopia, and Eritreans are mixed semetic invaders from the middleast that overran agricultural africans. The picture is much more complicated than that and the similarities in rock art shows the region was connected with the Arabian peninsula
It is connected to the rock art in Northern Somalia which is also described the same way https://www.somalispot.com/threads/...n-100km-from-laascaanood.129429/#post-3241964
It's recent Oromo locals who attribute whatever they find to Harla which has no basis, when these sites go back to 5000 years ago before any identifiable modern cultural identity.
These rock arts are important because they not only record early human habitation but also their adoption of animals and their mode of production.
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Yes, you are correct in so far as these are ancient depictions which can't really be attributed to moden groups. It is interesting some of the depictions show the stages at which camel rock art starts to be apparent.
That said, I was trying to link this to the broader discussions taking place on this board. The semitic Harla hypothesis holds that some large group of this kind settled across northern Somalia and into the Western regions, then to only have been displaced or absorbed by Somalis/Oromos in the recent times. The Depiction of camel art near the areas attributed to Harlas would indicate an ancient settlements of some kind of east cushitic-proto Somalis and later Somali camel herders in that region. This is not a ground breaking revelation, but it is another dent in the semitic hypothesis, as they would have explain how the contributions of (Somalis) with a known settlement in the Eastern Ethiopia and Northern Somalia from antiquity-middle ages, can be so easily dismissed in favour of the semitic hypothesis.
Another interesting aspect of this is how rock art and stelae found in sites like Derbe Belanbel (SOmali name) and the Barkhadle site in SL, are also the same sites where the medieval Islamic sites develop. the The Somali informants in this other study told the researcher Derbe Belanbel medieval was built by Harlas who they saw a Somali tribe:
"The book that most speaks about Islamic principalities and peoples in southeastern Ethiopia is Ulrich Braukamper’s Islamic History and Culture in Southern Ethiopia: Collected Essays [1]. In a chapter fully dedicated for Islamic principalities in southeast Ethiopia from the 13th to the 16th centuries, he gives interesting account on the Harla people. For example, he talks about a Mosque probably built by the Harla people located in Jigjiga Zone at a place called Fafun. The name of the Mosque is very interesting because it is called Derbé, a name that we found in the historical site we have taken up. The lexical affinity between the names of the Mosque and the name of the historical site together with the Mosque it hosts may not be accidental. Oral information gives us a measure of proof on the similarity between these places because it associates with a Harla culture. Besides, information on materials that speak about the Harla people of the 12th to the 16th century is interesting. One invaluable account in this book is the part that speaks about the reason for the destruction of the Harla culture, an account that our informants told us in an exactly similar way. Rather the Harla, as a wealthy and mighty people and frequently even imagined as giants, were wiped out by natural catastrophes and hunger sent by God as punishment for their inordinate pride. However, the account that maintains the Harla as non-Somali origin who in the 16th century were assimilated by the expanding Oromo and Somali peoples contradicts the most widely held tradition of the present Somali people because it associates the Harla with the Darod clan. Again, he concludes that all Somalis and by extension the Harla economically as nomadic people, which our informants have refuted by claiming that, the Harla led a rich sedentary life who had practiced mixed farming. The many ruined stone built houses at Derbé Belanbel strengthen this latter account. Moreover, as Braukamper aptly states, the present Somali inhabitants attribute all ruins of stone-built structures located between the ancient port of Zeila and the historic city of Harar to the Harla. Azais, Chambard, and Huntingford, cited in Braukamper, also suggest that the builders of these structures were a kind of “protoSomali”, perhaps the Harla. However, Braukamper downplays the achievements of the Somalis when he says; But it is somewhat doubtful that a predominantly nomadic population without a distinct tradition of stone architecture- as far as the Ethiopian Somali are concerned-would have been able to accomplish such work [1]. To substantiate his argument, Braukamper blames Arab Faqih, author of the Conquest of Abyssinia, who ascribes a non-Somali ethnic origin to the Harla, a position that modern traditions of the Somali people totally rejected. Overall, Braukamper gives us a very interesting account on the abode the Harla as well as their cultural achievement and final destruction the following way; As far as it can hitherto be stated, the Harla were the oldest identifiable population in the Harar plateau. Between the 14th and 16th centuries, they held a highly developed peasant civilization with urban centers and stone architecture. Most probably, the present Harari are the last representatives of the ancient Harla whose majority was either wiped out by war and famine in the 16th century or subsequently assimilated by the invading Oromo in the west and by the Somali in the east [1]. Apart from the above account, Braukamper does not have an idea of a center of culture and civilization of the one in Derbé Belanbel, which according to Somali traditions is attributed to the Harla people that had flourished some 500 kilometers southeast of the walled town of Harar".
Idilinaa
VIP
A number of corrections to that wall of text you pasted.
Zero proof Harla was non-Somali or Semtic, linguistically their survivingg group speaks a Somali dialect :
And there is no documented evidence of Somalis expanding anywhere : Link: A summary of historical sources that show Somali population stability and continuity
Futuh makes lifestyle/occupational distinctions but otherwise mentions them alongside other Somali clans: Link: Explaining the distinction
I also don't think they are responsible for building the towns and ruined stone settlements. The act of building of towns and mosques etc is described in Futuh and a diverse group of state actors are tasked with the job with no mention given to Harla:
Which isn't all that surprising you need capital investments , wealth and resources to build stone structures. So it's either wealthy individuals/merchants or the state who assemble money through taxation/commercial activity and who can acquire resources/man power to commission the building projects.
These stones structures and settlements continue spread out into Northern Somalia and those ones are not attributed to Harla and there is no local traditions mentioning them in the area.
Harla in historical sources are described as a sedentary agro-pastoral darood group living between the fertile upper shabelle river and awash plains
Around the same place futuh places them:
The attribution of those sites and others to them solely lie in mostly Oromos who expanded into the fertile plains where Harla was the dominant group among many other clans(who are also mentioned in Futuh) and assimilated them.
It would be equivalent to Oromos penetrating into the fertile rivers between Shabelle and Juba and assimilating the different raxanweyn & hawiye clans where the sedentary Geledi clan was dominant in the area in the 1800s and start attributing all the stuff in the area to Geledi. You get me?
They can't tell you anything when all they can tell you is who they remember was there before them last,
That's why it's more important to rely on historical documents than solely oral stories and oral stories tend to also be borrowed into neighboring groups as well, this is how the Taallo Tiriyaad (Monuments of Tirii) tradition has morphed into it
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@Idilinaa
You’re correcting an author who agrees with your argument? Did you read the whole text or click on the study? The “wall of text” I “pasted” was of him detailing what the non-Somali hypothesis is and even within that he wrote:
“However, the account that maintains the Harla as non-Somali origin who in the 16th century were assimilated by the expanding Oromo and Somali peoples contradicts the most widely held tradition of the present Somali people because it associates the Harla with the Darod clan. Again, he concludes that all Somalis and by extension the Harla economically as nomadic people, which our informants have refuted by claiming that, the Harla led a rich sedentary life who had practiced mixed farming.”
One of the actual objectives of his study was to “examine the contribution of Harla Somalis in the medieval history of Somalia”.
He then brings other evidences like the linguistics of Derbi Belanbel.
The part you chose to refute was of him merely stating what early western authors wrote about the Harla being non-Somali.
I agree with the rest of what you wrote. Oral history can be important connector of history if it agrees with linguistics, archeology, etc,…….This author is saying that the Somali oral stories he collected agree with historical data of this area and not the non-Somali hypothesis. And the guy is not Somali himself.
You’re correcting an author who agrees with your argument? Did you read the whole text or click on the study? The “wall of text” I “pasted” was of him detailing what the non-Somali hypothesis is and even within that he wrote:
“However, the account that maintains the Harla as non-Somali origin who in the 16th century were assimilated by the expanding Oromo and Somali peoples contradicts the most widely held tradition of the present Somali people because it associates the Harla with the Darod clan. Again, he concludes that all Somalis and by extension the Harla economically as nomadic people, which our informants have refuted by claiming that, the Harla led a rich sedentary life who had practiced mixed farming.”
One of the actual objectives of his study was to “examine the contribution of Harla Somalis in the medieval history of Somalia”.
He then brings other evidences like the linguistics of Derbi Belanbel.
The part you chose to refute was of him merely stating what early western authors wrote about the Harla being non-Somali.
I agree with the rest of what you wrote. Oral history can be important connector of history if it agrees with linguistics, archeology, etc,…….This author is saying that the Somali oral stories he collected agree with historical data of this area and not the non-Somali hypothesis. And the guy is not Somali himself.
Idilinaa
VIP
The author is wrong as well because he is trying locate the ruins inside oral stories by late comers (Oromo's) , which is then borrowed back into it's neighbors(Somali). When he needs to contextualize and prioritize written documented history to explain them and oral history can be used to compliment our understandings.
For example one of the ruins they named Ganda Harla was actually called Hoobad we know this from written texts that mention this walled city and it's named after a slope where it sits. It was a large cosmopolitan city and it was tied to the Awfat/Awdal or Walashma/Sa'ad Din polities. But if you asked the Oromos they can't tell you this, they just call random stuff harla. A piece of random rock laying there is Harla to them.
They are not tied to 1 specific lineage grouping like Harla. The harla nonsense is mythology, there is no harla kingdom or civilization.
It's also important to explain what goes into building of stones structures: It requires considerable amount of wealth, direction , control of resources, transportation, time investment, a large labor pool of workers, expertise, maintenance and it's projects undertaken by wealthy individuals or ruling elites who act's as patrons. It's not something one clan can be responsible for or peasant farmers.
The fact that villages/hamlets had houses made out of stones and not just cities and small towns should tell you how wealthy they got in that period and how expertise/resources was invested into a wider country side and not just concentrated in town centers.
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I'm of the opinion that camels were most likely domesticated in somalia. Since I think that it's with the domestication of camels that we can talk about a distinctive of somali identity. And if they were domesticated in somalia it must have happned sometimes before 1000 b.c since that when domesticated camels appear in the Levant.
The oral stories are from Somali elders, not Oromos
The Somali oral historians even linked the early Harla sites to large numbers of scholars entering the area to propagate Islam. According to recent studies, the area showed some of the earliest mosques in Eastern Ethiopia and showed signs of being an early point of Islamic diffusion, which agrees with the Somali oral history. You are being dismissive towards Somali oral history when you claim they were simply regurgitating information from Oromos. Consider that Harrla within afar, who have been absent from the area for several hundreds years, literally produced manuscripts claiming a Darood lineage through Kablalax. Their oral history also claims the history of islamisation in the area was linked to large numbers of sheikhs travelling to the area. Then, you consider how these lineages match up to lineages of the wider Darood clan, one would assume there is some kind of link with Harrla and Daroods. Did the Oromo teach all these people to have similar over lapping claims?does that mean there was an entire kingdom belonging to Harla stretching from Somaliland-Harar? No and I never claimed that. It doesn’t also mean the area of the early harla sultanate or chiefdom was not later incorporated into the Dawlat Sacad Diin at later point nor does it deny the dawlats might have been responsible for a lot of these buildings.
What I would not rule out is early Harla sultanate being a small Muslim chiefdom with links to the early medieval Darood clan around the area. It probably also comprised of other Somalis, non Muslims and Semitic Ethiopian Muslims. Remember Harla was mentioned as sending a chief and a large number of soldiers to fight Amda Seydon along with other Muslim groups. It could have been similar to the Bali sultanate and others. By the time of the Futuh these guys appear as a having their own war leadership, so I think there was an element of ethnicity/tribal identification with this group or their name was used describe people from a certain region.
Idilinaa
VIP
The elders don't live past 100 years, so what they say is less reliable when it comes to events dealing with 500 years or so unless its backed by historical texts, because what's been passed by the word of mouth can be a subject to change and adoption . Especially when a new group moves or some disturbance happens.The oral stories are from Somali elders, not Oromos
does that mean there was an entire kingdom belonging to Harla stretching from Somaliland-Harar? No and I never claimed that. It doesn’t also mean the area of the early harla sultanate or chiefdom was not later incorporated into the Dawlat Sacad Diin at later point nor does it deny the dawlats might have been responsible for a lot of these buildings.
What I would not rule out is early Harla sultanate being a small Muslim chiefdom with links to the early medieval Darood clan around the area. It probably also comprised of other Somalis, non Muslims and Semitic Ethiopian Muslims. Remember Harla was mentioned as sending a chief and a large number of soldiers to fight Amda Seydon along with other Muslim groups. It could have been similar to the Bali sultanate and others. By the time of the Futuh these guys appear as a having their own war leadership, so I think there was an element of ethnicity/tribal identification with this group or their name was used describe people from a certain region.
The Harla attribution has been borrowed back into Somali from Oromos who came into the area and it blended in with Taallo Tiriyaad '' Monuments of Tirii '' Stories.
If you aren't familiar with the Monuments of Tiiri tradition this article is an introduction. https://www-bbc-com.translate.goog/...6kpo?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US
It features the same trope that they were mysterious giants who were cursed and built stone monuments:
And when they excavated those sites in Somaliland they just found recent Somali remains in them : and cautioned others not to lightly accept traditions which purport to deal with events of 500 or more years ago.
And even in NFD and Southern Somalia they tell the same story about a giants race of people being builders of stone works , monuments and wells but calls them Madanle: instead of Tiiri
This is the oral story they tell about Harla:
How can we tell it's been borrowed? Because the ''Taalo Tiiriyaad'' story is mentioned in all of Northern Somalia, and Madanle in the south and in those parts no mentions are given to Harla. They don't even connect them to it, but it features the same trope about giants being credited to build stuff etc.
It's specific to the Harar uplands where Oromo's expanded into . It has nothing to do with Harla sultanate , scholars bringing Islam or even Harla people, it just mythology and legends about pagan tribes being cursed and are giants before the founding of the Muslim tribes.
In the historical documents that relate to Harla, no mentions are given to a Harla sultanate , their regions are mentioned to be on the upper edge of the Harar highlands and Awash valley.
And Hobaad in Futuh which is called Ganda Harla by Oromos , is not mentioned to be even ruled by them or them living there. And also Amda Sayeon chronicles mentioned a number of different clan identities such Warjax , Gabal pastoralists cheiftans ec alongside the occupational terms like Temur & Semur not just Harla. Which shows you there is no real specific prominence given to them over other tribes, they are just one among many.
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