Due to it’s proximity, northern Africa has had a more direct relationship with Europe than has other African countries. Ethiopia and Egypt on the other hand have had an even more direct tie with both European countries as well as Middle Eastern and Asian. 

     It is not clear when Ethiopia first had contact with the far eastern Asian countries. However, it appears to be true that the first century a.d. kingdom of Aksum had made contact with Emperor Ping through the Indian Ocean Trade route. The records state that the Chinese leader had received a rhinoceros.
     It is equally difficult to pinpoint when Ethiopia’s first contact with Europe was since it’s visits by Europeans predate Ethiopian record keeping. During the days of the Roman Republic, tribal groups that later made up the nation of Ethiopia were recognized by Roman officials.
     The Ethiopian nation which has always been made up of countless numbers of different tribes - each having a different ethnicity, have formed many different styles of government. One of the most famous that began around the second century a.d. was the Aksum kingdom made up of an Amhara ruling class that had developed their denominated form of Christianity from their contact with the nation of Tyre. 

      In the early 1500’s Ethiopian emperor Levna Dengel appealed to Portugal for help against the neighboring Somalis. “A Portuguese embassy had reached the Ethiopian court in 1520.” While the Portuguese embassy was already in Ethiopia by that time, it was utilized through a war conflict with Somalia. 

In 1889, “Emperor Menelik II signed a treaty of friendship and cooperation with Italy.” However, in 1896 a dispute came about over the meaning of the treaty and Italy claimed it had been given the right to control Ethiopia while protecting her. This caused a revolt in Ethiopia and the country made history for being the first African country to successfully push a European nation back against colonialist advances. However, sadly in the 20th century, Italy briefly established communist rule over Ethiopia during World War II. It was the European nations of England and France, along with the United States that stepped in and liberated the Ethiopians. 

    While Ethiopia had contact with China at least as early as two thousand years ago due to the Indian Ocean trade, it was a thousand years before that when contact was made with Israel through a possible territory expansion attempt.  It seems that both major European contacts with Ethiopia were through war. With Portugal, it was through the Portuguese assisting Ethiopia while with Italy, it was through direct opposition.

Pankurst, Richard. An Introduction to the Economic History of Ethiopia (London: Lalibela
     House, 1961).
Sampson, Jerry. Ethiopia: History and Culture. (New York, NY: Sonit Academy Group, 2012)
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