Analysis: Description of the Ethiopians

Date: c. 430 BCE

Geographic Region: Ethiopia (present-day North Africa)

Author: Herodotus

Summary Overview

Greek historian Herodotus wrote primarily about the causes of the Greco-Persian Wars (492–449 BCE), and he was interested in those cultures that had some contact with the Persians. He traveled widely throughout his life, and there is evidence that he visited Babylon, North Africa (including Egypt), Thrace, the Greek mainland and Aegean islands, and Italy. He recorded a wealth of cultural and geographic information about the places he visited, and he also reported information told to him by others. The information Herodotus provided about Africa was gathered from other sources, and it is the best early ethnographic record of the people living south of Egypt. Herodotus's description of the Ethiopians also records the relationship between the Persians, Greeks, and Egyptians and their African neighbors. He described a culture rich in natural resources, with tribes whose members worshipped Greek gods and chose leaders based on physical characteristics.

Defining Moment

Herodotus's life and work were defined by the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BCE. He was born in the midst of this conflict, and his life's work, Historiai Herodotou (c. 424 BCE; The History, 1709) was dedicated to recording the events of the conflict and describing the reasons for it. The History also documented observations from his travels, as well as stories, legends, and traditions—some factual, some fanciful. The work differed from his predecessors' in its attempt to provide an analysis of the causes of the Persian Wars and to simultaneously present a narrative of the world he knew.

The Persian Wars were fought between the Greek city-states and Persia for almost fifty years—corresponding closely with Herodotus's life. Around 500 BCE, Greek city-states in Anatolia (part of present-day Turkey) rebelled against Persian rule. Mainland Greece had sent support to the rebellion, which was crushed, and Persian king Darius launched an invasion of Greece. Darius abandoned the attack when much of his fleet was destroyed in a storm, but in 490 BCE, he landed twenty-five thousand men on the Marathon plain. The Athenians defeated the Persians' far superior numbers, and they returned home again. Ten years later, in 481 BCE, Athens and Sparta united with other cities in a Greek league to repel another attack from Persia. The Persian army burned Athens and fighting continued for a year before the Persian army was finally defeated. The Greeks and Persians continued to fight for the next three decades before reaching a peaceful conclusion in 449 BCE.

As Herodotus is believed to have died around 424 BCE, he experienced the impact of the major battles of the Persian Wars, and he spent several years in reflection on their cause and effect. Though the primary purpose of The History was analysis of these events, Herodotus also recorded the world that he encountered during his life. Though he did travel extensively, he often relied on other travelers or foreigners for information about other cultures. He recorded cultural, political, and ethnographic information alongside fanciful tales and myths, creating a rich account of the beliefs of his contemporaries about one another.

The term Ethiopian was used loosely by Herodotus and identified inhabited lands south of Egypt. At the time, it was believed that the inhabitable world ended at the Horn of Africa, below present-day Ethiopia. Herodotus traveled as far as the island of Elephantine (in modern Aswan) in southern Egypt and, from there, relied on others to provide information about their neighbors to the south. His record of the Ethiopians provided the first ethnographic information about non-Egyptian Africans in the ancient world.

Author Biography and Document Information

Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus, a Greek city on the southwest coast of Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), ca. 484 BCE. At the time of Herodotus's birth, Halicarnassus was a province of the Persian Empire, ruled by the dictator Lygdamis. Herodotus's family was part of the opposition to Lygdamis and was likely exiled for some time to the island of Samos. Herodotus returned to Halicarnassus for a short time during a revolt against Persian rule, but he spent the remainder of his life in Athens. He was celebrated as a great intellect, traveling and gathering information about the people who made up the known inhabited world of his time. His life's work was a long account of the Greek and Persian Wars called The History, which incorporated detailed information about the people, land, and customs of places known to the Persians. Herodotus is often considered the father of history, since The History was the first work to attempt a systematic analysis of historical material.

Document Analysis

Herodotus's account of the Ethiopians was gathered from outside sources, as he did not travel farther than the island of Elephantine, relying instead, as he describes it, on “what I was told in answer to my questions.” His account is a collection of stories and observations by others that touches on many aspects of the cultural lives of his subjects. Though his account seems to weave together fable and fact, his unifying element is the linking of his subject to the Persians. He uses a planned invasion of Ethiopia by the sixth-century BCE Persian king Cambyses as another example of how greed and ambition cost the Persians their empire. Elsewhere in The History, Herodotus tells of how Cambyses pursued the invasion of Ethiopia, despite warnings, and the offensive fell apart as supply lines were stretched too thin and the armies starved. Through this connection, Herodotus brings the Ethiopians into his analysis of the Persian Wars, while offering significant additional information about their culture.

This account of the Ethiopians begins with geographic information. Herodotus traveled south along the Nile, and he directs his readers to their capital city. The nomadic Ethiopian tribes occupy the lands south of Elephantine. They do have a capital, however, as Herodotus writes, “After forty days' journey on land along the river, one takes another boat and in twelve days reaches a big city named Meroë, said to be the capital city of the Ethiopians.” Its inhabitants worship a select pair of Greek gods, Zeus and Dionysus. Herodotus relates that King Cambyses sent spies to Meroë in advance of his invasion, to report on conditions there. The spies, Herodotus recounts, described the legendary “table of the Sun,” where government officials put out meat for their subjects, who believed that it came from the earth. Herodotus also details a burial custom that followed an Egyptian dehydration process, but then involved encasing the body in a crystal pillar.

The physical attributes of the Ethiopians are described in almost fantastical detail as they are based solely upon others' accounts. Herodotus describes them as “the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world,” explaining that they choose their leaders based on height and strength. They are extremely long-lived and eat only boiled meat and milk, he continues. They go into battle painted red and white; wear lion and leopard skins; and carry long bows, spears, and clubs. The seemingly legendary rich natural resources of the Ethiopians are described as well—gold, timber, and ebony, as well as huge elephants, antelope, and the big cats whose skins they wear into battle. Though Herodotus's account certainly includes some fanciful tales, he also provides valuable information about both how the Persians and Egyptians perceived their neighbors to the south and what they knew about them.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

Dewald, Carolyn & John Marincola, eds. The Cambridge Companion to Herodotus. New York: Cambridge UP, 2006. Print.

Lateiner, Donald. The Historical Method of Herodotus. Toronto: U of Toronto P, 1989. Print.

Mikalson, Jon D. Herodotus and Religion in the Persian Wars. Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina P, 2003. Print.

Strassler, Robert B., ed. The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories. Trans. Andrea L. Purvis. New York: Pantheon, 2007. Print.