Ethiopic is a groundbreaking book about the history and principles of Ethiopic (Ge'ez), an African Writing System holistically designed as a meaningful and graphic representation of a wide array of knowledge, including, languages. It is a knowledge system which is brilliantly organized to represent philosophical features such as ideography, numerology, syllography, astronomy, and grammatology. Furthermore, Ethiopic is not only a cultural agency, but a foundation to a great literary tradition in Ethiopia.
A Format of the Chapters of the Study
Introduction: The role of writing in the generation and utilization of knowledge has been overlooked by most scholars of languages. It is no more acceptable to look at writing as a mere surrogate of language.
Chapter 1. The Arabian Peninsula in Ethiopian Historiography: This chapter addresses the question of the origin of Ethiopian history and culture. It will be argued that South Arabia was invented by the hegemonic Eurocentric scholarship of the 19th century. Evidence suggests that the Ethiopic writing system had its origin in Ethiopia and not in South Arabia.
Chapter 2. The History and Principles of the Ethiopic Writing System: A plausible argument can be made establishing the Ethiopic writing system as philosophy in the strictest sense of the word. In fact, it is philosophy par excellence, because it is systematic, rational, logical and critical. In addition, it is holistic. It is also one of the few writing systems with ditinctive major properties like pictography, ideography, syllabry, astrography, numerology and, perhaps even, grammar.
Chapter 3. The Book of Henok and African Historiography: This chapter will discuss the historical relevance of these classical works, particularly in relation to the Ethiopic writing system. The complete version of the Book of Enoch, for instance, is only found in the Ethiopic language. While the Ethiopic Book of Henok may be significant in establishing the historical dates of the writing system, Kibrä Nä gäst (The Glory of Kings ) should be regarded as an example of the remarkable development and dynamism of the writing system.
Chapter 4. Se'en: Aesthetic and Literary Traditions of Ethiopia: Se'en is a conceptual term, perhaps best described by Zera Yaqob's the goodness of the created being. It is an organic synthesis of beauty and goodness. The Ethiopic writing system may be looked at as an example of Se'en. The system facilitates the creation of orders of beauty, so to speak. 20 categories of se'en are identified, described and discussed here. Categorical examination of se'en has also led us to suggest a concept called epicology.
Ethiopic , with its 28 mostly original tables and figures, is a product of almost a decade of research and study. It is also a celebration of Africa's great intellectual and cultural heritage.
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