Negash

Negash is a village in the Tigray Region (or kilil) of Ethiopia, which straddles the Adigrat-Mekele road 10 kilometers north of Wukro. Located in Wukro woreda, this settlement has a longitude and latitude of 13°53′N 39°36′E / 13.883°N 39.6°E / 13.883; 39.6.

Negash is known as the earliest Muslim settlement in Africa; a seventh century cemetery has been excavated inside the village boundaries.^[1] The Futuh al-Habasha records Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi visited the tomb of Ashama ibn Abjar in Negash during his invasion of the province of Tigray (around 1537).^[2] Negash is also known for the Negash Amedin Mesgid mosque.

In the statistical tables of the 2007 census published by the Central Statistical Agency, the kebele Negash is located in is reported to have a total population of 7,753 of whom 3,607 are men and 4,146 women; they are distributed amongst 1,689 households in 1,626 housing units.^[3]

See also

• Islam in Ethiopia

Notes

1. ^ Paul B. Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia (New York: Palgrave, 2000), p. 43.
2. ^ Sihab ad-Din Ahmad bin 'Abd al-Qader, Futuh al-Habasa: The conquest of Ethiopia, translated by Paul Lester Stenhouse with annotations by Richard Pankhurst (Hollywood: Tsehai, 2003), pp. 350f
3. ^ "Tigray Statistical Table", Annex Table 1B CSA website (accessed 27 August 2010)