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In the time of the Crusades, the Ethiopian Highlands overlooking the Horn of Africa were confused in the medieval Western imagination with the mythical kingdom of Prester John. In fact Ethiopia embraces many different lands just as its landscapes are grandiose in their diversity. The people speak Semitic, Cushitic and Omotic languages and practise Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions as well as vernacular ancestor cults.
Because of longstanding ties between the ruling power and the Orthodox Church, Ethiopia is considered to be Christian, despite the extraordinary diversity of its population. Islam, which originated in the neighbouring Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century, was in contact with the powerful Christian kingdom of Aksum from the outset. As time went by, through territorial conflicts, Muslim sultanates along the coast of the Horn of Africa dominated trade in the Red Sea, forcing the isolated Ethiopian kings to tolerate the presence of Muslim merchants on their lands. Harar, a holy city of Islam in Ethiopia, was once a major economic hub and a renowned centre of religious teaching.
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