Arabic musical influence on the traditional music of Ethiopia
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Date
2022-11
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
This thesis focuses on the historical relationship and the music sound that had been created
between Ethiopia and Arab from 7th century starting from northern and central parts of Ethiopia
to trace where Arabs and Ethiopians grow more attachment to their relationship in all aspects,
particularly music, after the Islamic religion began. Using Archaeomusicology and
Ethnography method to get historic, social, and behavioral understanding on the influenced
music, in its relation to socio-cultural context, in addition observing other related cultures,
clothing, language, belonging, and the music style that is used today by the descendants of the
first people who shared the Arabic culture. Data analysis includes literature review, interviews
with historians, university professors, researchers, and religious leaders, and melody analysis of
the folk music and archeological findings that has been inherited by the ancient Ethiopians, its
related history, and the given identity of its social and cultural value in current time. The
principal findings are focused on the musical influences of Arab in Ethiopia and their early
history of cultural entanglement. Unlike other countries in Africa, their relationship does not
start with conquest for Islamic expansion. It happened way before the Islamic religion's
expansion, with the traders on the Red Sea earlier, and continued after the arrival of the Prophet
Mohammed's followers as asylum-seekers in Aksum, Northern Ethiopia, in 615 A.D., when the
Aksumite king welcomed them and allowed the refugees to stay in his kingdom.
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Keywords
Arabic music influence, Archaeomusicology, Cultural Relationships