harer, one of the uniquely preserved historical cities of the world. this presentation gives a bit of an insight on this historical background of the fortified city in the east of Ethiopia.

1. HARER [THE FORTIFIED CITY]
Arch 3281
By TOFFIK A.
December 2017
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2. HARAR
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ASSMEDINBERI

3. ASSMADIN BARI/SHOA GATE/BABU-NASR
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4. HARER GATE
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5.  Harar (or Hārer, Harer), commonly known as Gey and
titled "the city of saints" ("madinat al-awilya"), is an
eastern city of Ethiopia, formerly the capital of Harergey
and now the capital of the modern Harari ethno-
political division (or kilil) of Ethiopia.
 The city is located on a hilltop in the eastern extension
of the Ethiopian highlands about five hundred
kilometers from Addis Ababa at an elevation of 1,885
meters.
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6.  For centuries, Harar has been a major commercial
centre, linked by the trade routes with the rest of
Ethiopia, the entire Horn of Africa, the Arabian
Peninsula, and, through its ports, the outside world.
 Harar Jugol, the old walled city, was registered in the
World Heritage List in 2006 by UNESCO in recognition of
its cultural heritage.
 According to UNESCO, it is "considered 'the fourth holy
city' of Islam" with 82 mosques, three of which date
from the 10th century, and 102 shrines.
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7.  Founded in the 7th century by Arab immigrants from
Yemen, it was chosen as the capital of the Adal
Sultanate from 1554 to 1557.
 Harar saw a political decline during the Sultanate of
Harar, only regaining some significance in the Khedivate
of Egypt period.
 During Abyssinian rule, the city decayed while
maintaining a certain cultural prestige.
 Today, it is the seat of the Harari ethno-political division.
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8.  Harar was founded between the 7th and the 11th
century (according to different sources) and emerged as
the center of Islamic culture and religion in the Horn of
Africa.
 According to the Fath Madinat Harar, an unpublished
history of the city in the 13th century, the cleric Abadir
Umar Ar-Rida, along with several other religious
leaders, came from the Arabian Peninsula to settle in
Harar 612H (1216 AD).
 Sheikh Abadir Umar Ar-Rida is regarded as the saint of
Harar, as well as the common ancestor of the Somali
Sheekhaal clan and the affiliated Harari people.
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9.  During the Middle Ages, Harar was part of the Adal
Sultanate, becoming its capital in 1520 under Sultan Abu
Bakr ibn Muhammad.
 The sixteenth century was the city's Golden Age. The local
culture flourished, and many poets lived and wrote there. It
also became known for coffee, weaving, basketry and
bookbinding.
 From Harar, Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, also known
as "Gurey" and "Gragn" (both meaning "the Left-handed"),
launched a war of conquest in the sixteenth century that
extended the polity's territory and threatened the existence
of the neighboring Christian Ethiopian Empire.
 His successor, Emir Nur ibn Mujahid, built a protective wall
around the city. Four meters in height high with five gates,
this structure, called Jugol, is still intact and is a symbol of the
town to the inhabitants.
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11.  The rulers of Harar also struck its own currency, the earliest
possible issues bearing a date that may be read as AH 615 (= AD
1218/19); but definitely by AD 1789 the first coins were issued, and
more were issued into the nineteenth century.
 Following the death of Emir Nur, Harar began a steady decline in
wealth and power. A later ruler, Imam Muhammed Jasa, a kinsman
of Ahmad Gragn, yielded to the pressures of increasing Oromo
raids and in 1577 abandoned the city, relocating to Aussa and
making his brother ruler of Harar.
 The new base not only failed to provide more security from the
Oromo people, it attracted the hostile attention of the neighboring
Afars who raided caravans travelling between Harar and the coast.
 The Imams of Aussa declined over the next century while Harar
regained its independence under `Ali ibn Da`ud, the founder of a
dynasty that ruled the city from 1647 until 1875, when it was
conquered by Egypt.
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12.  The rich city-state soon attracted expansionist ambition.
 One of the first to envisage its annexation was Warner
Muzinger, a Swiss in Egyptian service, (1874) urging
Khedive to seize Harar.
 Further, explained to the Egyptian rule the economic
and strategic advantages, which would be sufficient for
the up keep of an entire Egyptian regiment finally this
was happen in1875.
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13.  In 1885, Harar regained its independence, but this
lasted only two years until 6 January 1887 when the
Battle of Chelenqo led to Harar's incorporation into the
Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia's growing Empire based
in Shewa.
 Harar lost some of its commercial importance with the
creation of the Addis Ababa - Djibouti Railway, initially
intended to run via the city but diverted north of the
mountains between Harar and the Awash River to save
money. As a result of this, Dire Dawa was founded in
1902 as New Harar.
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14.  Harar is a cultural isolate, a one-city culture. This fact of
existence is reflected in Harari terms of self-reference.
 They refer to Harar as ge/gey "the city"; to themselves
as gey usu', "people of the city"; to their culture as gey
'ada, "customs of the city"; and to their distinct
Ethiopian Semitic language as gey sinan, "the language
of the city."
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16.  Harar is conceptually subdivided into five quarters or
beri (sing. "gate"): Asumberi, Argoberi, Suqutatberi,
Bedroberi, and Assmedimberi.
 No physical markets or boundaries exist, although, most
Harari know the exact points of demarcation between
quarters.
 As the Harari term for quarter indicates, these are
named after, and associated with, each of the old gates
through the city wall.
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17. ASSMADINBARI
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ASSMEDINBERI

18. ASUMBARI
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19. SUQUTATBERI
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20. BEDROBERI
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21. ARGOBERI/ERER GATE
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Erer gate is also
commonly
reffered to as
the richard
burton gate in
harar. In 1854,
the british
explorer ,
dsguised as an
arab merchant,
became the first
non muslim to
enter the city
through this
gate.

22.  As is characteristically the case in Muslim cities (Lapidus,
1970:197), the quarters of Harar traditionally served as
administrative units, of primary importance to the municipal
government as units of tax collection.
 Under the emirate, each quarter was under the charge of an
official called the garad.
 Although little is known of the archaeological background of
Harar or of the abandoned sites of other walled cities which
stretch from the Somali Republic to the Ethiopian Highlands
(Azais and Chambard, 1931; Curle, 1937:317) it is apparent
that Harar is the last remnant of an earlier widespread
Muslim culture with urban centers.
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23.  According to the oral tradition of the city, which is in
essential agreement with historical reports, Harar has been
the sole representative of its way of life since the reign of
Emir Nur (1552-66) (Paulitschke, 1888:224).
 For at least four hundred years, the city functioned as an
important regional center of Islam and a vital market area.
 Both influences served to connect Harar with internal
Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa, and, indirectly, to the outside
world.
 Although the city follows the general pattern of the Muslim
city, its social institutions, conditioned by local ecological
and economic influences, have developed along their own
path.
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24.  The inhabitants of Harar represent several different
Afro-Asiatic speaking ethnic groups, both Muslim and
Christian, including the Oromo, Somali, Amhara, Gurage
and Tigray.
 The Harari, who refer to themselves as Gey 'Usu
("People of the City") are a Semitic speaking people
once thought to be descended from an Aksumite
military outpost.
 Their language, Harari, constitutes a Semitic pocket in a
predominantly Cushitic-speaking region. Originally
written in the Arabic script, the Harari language has
recently converted to the Ge'ez alphabet.
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