Ethiopian historiography

Ethiopian historiography.
Ethiopian historiography embodies the ancient, medieval, early modern and modern disciplines of recording the history of Ethiopia. Ethiopian historical writing can be traced back to the Kingdom of Aksum (c. AD 100 – c. 940). The writing of history became an established genre in Ethiopian literature during the early Solomonic dynasty (1270–1974), when written histories were usually in the form of royal biographies, dynastic chronicles, hagiographic literature and universal histories in the form of annals. These reinforced the genealogical traditions of Ethiopia's rulers, who claimed descent from Solomon. Modern Ethiopian historiography was developed by native Ethiopians and by Hiob Ludolf (1624–1704), the German orientalist. The traditionalist Heruy Wolde Selassie (1878–1938) employed Western historiographic methods. Historiography of the 20th century focused largely on the Abyssinian Crisis of 1935 and the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.