A short translation of Solomon Berhe’s article in Tigrigna in Hadas Eritrea News Paper
At the inauguration of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Abiy Ahmed Ali proudly declared, “we have solved the problem of a thousand years.” Instead of dismissing such a claim as laughable, Ethiopian media amplified it as if it were profound wisdom. For discerning Ethiopians, however, the statement was not inspiring but embarrassing. Were we meant to believe that Ethiopians planned to build a hydroelectric dam a thousand years ago? Or that the Nile has been a political dispute for millennia? Such careless distortions reveal the extent to which a culture of myth and false history still dominates Ethiopian discourse in the 21st century.
Yuval Noah Harari, in Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI, reminds us that humanity has always woven myths, legends, and invented histories to explain power and identity. Yet, he warns, societies that remain imprisoned by myth are incapable of facing reality. Ethiopia’s crisis today is a prime example. Successive generations have been raised not on critical, scientific history but on mythologized tales designed to sanctify rulers and justify power.
From the Solomonic dynasty’s fabricated link to the Tribe of Judah, to Menelik and Haile Selassie’s commissioning of false genealogies that fused kings with angels and biblical relics, Ethiopia’s “official” history has long been a deliberate political construction. Religious leaders like Abba Stefanos in the 14th century openly opposed such fabrications, particularly the claim that the orginal Tablet of Moses resided in Ethiopia, but they were persecuted for daring to confront the myth.
The cost of this false history is profound. Leaders from ‘communist’ Mengistu to the ‘pragmatic’ Meles Zenawi, and now ‘prosperity gospel’ Abiy Ahmed, have all chosen to govern through myth rather than truth. By clinging to distorted narratives, they have kept millions of Ethiopians trapped in an infantile understanding of their past—one that glorifies conquests, denies colonial complicity, and erases uncomfortable truths about neighbors like Eritrea.
Some of the most damaging myths include:
- The claim that Ethiopia’s borders once stretched from Jerusalem to India, or across Arabia and Central Africa.
- The belief that Ethiopia is divinely inscribed in scripture as God’s chosen land.
- The mixing of Aksumite and Adulis civilizations to falsely construct a timeless Ethiopian empire.
- The denial that Eritrea was an independent state federated by UN resolution, illegally annexed by Ethiopia, and liberated only through armed struggle.
Such fictions are not harmless folklore; they have fueled endless wars, undermined regional peace, and blinded Ethiopians to the real sources of their underdevelopment. They sustain a politics of grievance and entitlement, where even today Ethiopia’s leaders speak as though Eritrean sovereignty were negotiable, or as though a “window to the sea” could erase decades of failed governance.
The truth is simpler and far more sobering: Ethiopia, like every African state, is a product of modern history, shaped by colonial-era treaties and borders. Its uniqueness lies not in myth but in the fact that it negotiated its statehood in tandem with European powers. Recognizing this reality does not diminish Ethiopia; it liberates it from a curse of false pride.
Ethiopian intellectuals often resist this correction out of fear—that exposing myth will unravel national unity. In fact, the opposite is true. A nation cannot build peace, prosperity, or legitimacy on foundations of falsehood. Myths may inspire momentary pride, but they cannot deliver stability or modern statehood.
For Ethiopia to escape cycles of conflict and decline, its people must first reconcile with truthful history. Only then can they confront present challenges with clarity, heal from past wounds, and join their neighbors in building a peaceful, modern Horn of Africa.