A brief introduction to Somali Christian history

Contrary to the frequent misconception that Christianity only arrived in Africa with the arrival of Western missionaries in the nineteenth century, archaeological and anthropological evidence show that Christianity reached Somalia in the centuries after it became established in the ancient Kingdom of Aksum in what is now Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in 356 AD. In fact, “evidence from three directions sheds light on the pre-Islamic Judeao-Christian influence: written records, archaeological data and vestiges of Judeao-Christian symbolism still extant within both traditional Somali culture and closely related ethnic groups—[who are part of both the Lowland and Highland Eastern Cushitic language clusters such as Oromo, Afar, Hadiya, Sidamo, Kambata, Konso and Rendille. Together such data indicates that both Judaism and Christianity preceded Islam to the lowland Horn of Africa.” The historical consciousness that Christianity has been present in Africa from its very beginnings plays a key role in the religious self-understanding of Somalis.]