[1] The classical concept of Ethiopian and Eritrean studies, developed by European scholars, is based on disciplines like philology and linguistics, history and ethnography.
The classical core of Ethiopian and Eritrean studies is the philology of the written sources of Christian Ethiopia and Eritrea and Ethio-semitic linguistics.
While this approach is still alive and has its role, Ethiopian and Eritrean studies has opened to a wider concept that tries to avoid a bias in favour of the Christian Abyssinian culture (Amhara, Tigrinya; cf.
As a result, many Ethiopian manuscript collections and other materials from Ethiopia are found in European museums and libraries.
[4] The heart of the IES is the library, containing a wide variety of published and unpublished materials on all types of matters related to Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa.