In late Roman times they were a valuable trading partner to Rome, and a significant presence in the Middle East, particularly in trade, controlling much of the ship traffic around the horn of the Arabian Peninsula. They had a Christian church that predates Rome, and which still exists, resisting the wave of Islam that swept over the rest of northern Africa. They basically went from a small but substantial empire in the 6th to 8th centuries to an isolated mountain kingdom by the end of the mellenium.

Why?

J

its calle dbeing isolated from the rest of the Western world by the gigantic empires of islam, and thus falling behind in the times

But Ethiopia was not completely isolated - it did have alliances with the Byzantines and it even took part in the Crusades. Ethiopia was truly alone though when the last of the Christian kingdoms in Sudan fell (IIRC it was something like Dongola)

Looks to me like Ethiopia was the first country to suffer irreparable soil loss from bad agricultural practices and plain old overfarming. Much of the Mediterranean caught up later.

All I know about Ethiopia is that they lost their access to sea , because of Eriteria(?), and that they were conquered by Mussolini in 1935.
OH they were never colonized.

They were cut off fr the world at large, and/or was just too in a geographically awkward positioning. And they lacked the numbers and size to remain an effective isolationist power, unlike China or Japan.

I think it's safe to say that sheer isolation prevented them from trading, which prevented them from making money, which prevented them from importing, which drove them to the poor-house.

Originally posted by XIII
They were cut off fr the world at large, and/or was just too in a geographically awkward positioning. And they lacked the numbers and size to remain an effective isolationist power, unlike China or Japan.

that and the fact that they were forced into an isolationist policy, and yet werein an almost un-ceasing struggle with the islamic powers just north of them ;)

Islam happened. End of story.

ummm.... no ;)

Ethipoa successfully resisited islamic Invasions, somthign that cant really be said for the rest of the Christian world...

Originally posted by Xen
ummm.... no ;)

Ethipoa successfully resisited islamic Invasions, somthign that cant really be said for the rest of the Christian world... Thought the Franks and the Byzantines also put an end to Islamic encroachments on their lands... at least for the Byzantines temporarily.

The Byzantine rulers were afraid of their won armies, and gradualyl undermined it- in other words they signed their own death warrent :( the Franks kept it up, yes, but I just got a feeling that *IF*there had been a push into france during a weak rulers reign, the islamic armies may have been able to push into France, if they could keep it as a possesion, is ovcourse, another matter entirelly

Originally posted by Sean Lindstrom
Looks to me like Ethiopia was the first country to suffer irreparable soil loss from bad agricultural practices and plain old overfarming. Much of the Mediterranean caught up later.

Yep Yep

yup, no agriculture, no food, no empire

Hate to drag up an old thread, but people are missing a major point -- Islam happened.

No, the Ethiopians were never conquered by the Muslims. However, they were completely isolated from all Christian nations in Europe and Asia Minor and, given the Christian-Muslim tensions, lost a lot of their northern trade and such with the Muslims "in the way" between them and Byzantium.

Of course, there is another reason -- around the time of the fall of Rome or shortly afterward, the entire world warmed up somewhat. This is strictly my own theory, but this warmer climate may have dried out Ethiopian farmland and caused collapse in that manner as well.

the Ethiopians were never conquered by the Muslims. However, they were completely isolated from all Christian nations in Europe and Asia Minor

They held contact with the Portuguese in the 15th Century.

Of course, there is another reason -- around the time of the fall of Rome or shortly afterward, the entire world warmed up somewhat. This is strictly my own theory, but this warmer climate may have dried out Ethiopian farmland and caused collapse in that manner as well.

You mean mankind has survived global warming before? ;)

They held contact with the Portuguese in the 15th Century.
And there was at least one Ethiopian diplomatic visit to the Pope in Avignon in the 14th century. They weren't entirely forgotton, just really, really hard to reach through all those muslim lands. (If you weren't a muslim that is.;))

Well, I'm going there this summer and have read my lonely planet.

You are all talking about the Axum empire. Not Ethiopia. Axum declined after the appearance of Islam.