From: Yohannes Sium (yohannessium@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Apr 09 2009 - 10:47:45 EDT
By Amin Mohammed
For so many reasons related to contemporary society and propaganda, I had
some preconceived notions and impressions about Eritrean history before
walking into this presenation; and now, they have been permanently altered.
Last Sunday, March 29, 2009, over a hundred Eritreans flocked to the ECCC
(Eritrean Community Cultural Center), the primary Eritrean community center
in D.C., for what was to be a concise and riveting presentation of ancient
Eritrean history that included all the elements of a professional and
inclusive presentation.
The keynote speaker, Gidey Siyoum, started by discussing some of the
earliest known signs of human life in Eritrea. For example, human graves
discovered through excavations, and rare tools that were used by people of
ancient and very active civilizations. At the start, Gidey spoke about the
construction of cities, communities, and the origins of the first
inhabitants in Eritrea and the surrounding areas (i.e. Afro-Asiatic – Saho;
Nilo-Saharan – Nara). Furthermore, he referred to some of the notable
ancient explorers writings of Eritrea – who at one time or another stepped
foot in the current day Eritrean borders to exchange goods, services, and
even describe and record the presence of a powerful early Eritrean
civilizations (i.e. Geez inscription on monument at Adulis (Massawa)
translated from Geez to Greek by Ptolemy described number of successful
battles carried out by the civilization).
Midway into the presentation, discussion on the Aksumite kingdom began. This
is the prelude to the entrance of the two Abrahamic faiths (Christianity and
Islam) in relationship to Eritrea. Nonetheless, religions was not separated
out as an exclusive point of discussion, but was rather my primary focus and
interest (for the Aksumite period). Last but not least, Gidey described
invasions that were executed by the prominent and powerful civilizations
(i.e. “Egyptian occupation of western lowlands and attacks against Kunama,
Nara, and Bilen” – which was the “Early Modern Period”).
May I say, the presentation was carried out professionally. The visual aids
projecting during the presentation contained slideshows (containing pictures
of artifacts) and online videos that were displayed (with maps) that really
added to the presentation.
At the conclusion of the presentation, remarkably, the audience wasn’t shy
to ask questions or give responses to others’ questions. Many spectators
asked questions and engaged in a very active discussion on the topics
addressed in the presentation. Even questions that drifted away from the
subject of ancient Eritrean history were addressed succinctly, by Gidey, and
tied back to the primary role ancient Eritrean history plays in current
geopolitical affairs. The point is, these questions were welcome given
attention, rather than the usual redirecting to someone or declining to give
some kind of word.
For now, all I can say is that NUEYS-DC and YPFDJ-II lived up to their
promise of a very informative, inclusive, enlightening, and exciting
presentation on Eritrean history. I’m very grateful. If you don’t believe me
about the details of the event, just wait until you see on video for
yourselves how many people actually came out to watch. In fact, the number
of people in the building for the showing exceeded the expected amount of
people, so some people didn’t even have interest. Gauging the interest of
the audience, most should be back and should bring a friend. I hope everyone
who reads this comes to the next history lesson because you won’t be
disappointed and I was promised everyone will be guaranteed a seat!
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----