Cartographic Sources and Territorial Transformations in the Horn of Africa since the Late 18th Century (ETHIOMAP)

The research project comprises two partner projects being carried out simultaneously in France (funded by French National Research Agency) and Germany (funded by German Research Foundation). The objective of the research project is to systematically document, classify, and analyse historical maps related to Ethiopia, many of which are largely unknown in Ethiopian research. This will not only fill a gap in global cartographic history, but also make a significant contribution to preserving indigenous territorial knowledge. This flowed into the creation of the maps through local collaboration, which happened primarily in the phase before colonialization and thus represents original African cultural heritage. As a result of this it is also a contribution to "nation-building" in Ethiopia, as reliable material on socio-political territorial history hardly exists there. The project combines digital methods with historically developed research on northeast Africa and Ethiopia, and a collection of historical maps and archives that have largely not been processed yet. Under the responsibility of the French partners, in collaboration with the German partners, a digital database was created in which important map material was documented and indexed. The project funding ended in 2019, but the research group is still working on this project, currently in cooperation with the research group of the KarAfAs project.

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