Erlich Haggai, Dept. of Middle Eastern and African History



Short Curriculum Vitae (highlights):


Born 29.3.1942, in Israel.
Higher education:
1. BA in General History and History of the Middle East and Africa, Tel Aviv University, 1967
2. MA in History of Islamic Peoples, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 1969.
3. Ph.D. in History of Ethiopia, SOAS, London University, 1973.
Married + 4
1997 Tennis champion of Israel’s academic staff (over 50s).
Current Position and Rank:
Full Professor of Middle Eastern and African History, TAU
Department of Middle Eastern and African History -- Head of Graduate Studies Section.

Major publications (books and major articles):


books only

Haggai Erlich, Ethiopia and Eritrea, Ras Alula, 1875 - 1897, Michigan State University Press, 1982. (Reprint, new preface, Red Sea Press, New Jersey 1997).
A biography of Ethiopia’s national hero, the general and statesman who played a central role in Ethiopia’s struggle for survival in facing late 19th century imperialism. In this context the book analyses Ethiopia’s relations with Egypt, the Mahdist Sudan, the Italians, and the British during the Scramble for Africa, and attempts at explaining Ethiopia’s victories. In the same context it analyses Ethiopia’s home affairs of the time, mainly Tigrean - Shoan relations, the establishment of Asmara and late 19 th century Eritrean history.

Haggai Erlich, The Struggle Over Eritrea, 1962 - 1978, Hoover Institution, Stanford, 1983.
Analysis of the birth of the Eritrean nationalist movement and fight for independence. It focuses mainly on the internal struggles of the Eritreans as they were interwoven with two simultaneous development: a. the internal affairs of Ethiopia during the time of Haile Sellassie and the beginning of Mangistu’s period, b. relevant developments in the Arab world and the Arab - Israeli conflict of the time.

Haggai Erlich, Ethiopia and The Challenge of Independence, Lynne Rienner Press, Boulder 1986.
A collection of twelve articles which had been published in various journal, all revolving around the Ethiopian modern experience, and in sequence constitute an attempt at understanding the country’s unique success at maintaining independence.

Haggai Erlich, Students and University in Twentieth Century Egyptian Politics, Frank Cass Publishers, London 1989.
The book follows two dimensions in the history of Egypt’s modernization. One is the development and the evolution of the University as both a national concept and an educational institution. It reconstructs the role of politicians in shaping higher educat ion from the 1908 establishment of the Egyptian University to Sadat’s revolutionary expansion of the education system. The other dimension is the role of students in politics. The book analyses the influence of the higher education system on the creat ion of the students as an active sociopolitical class, it surveys the students’ role in major historic junctures, and describes the pivotal role of the educated youth in the making of he country’s modern politics.

Haggai Erlich, Introduction to Modern History of the Middle East , The Open University Press, Tel Aviv, 1987 - 1991.
Five volumes Hebrew language history of the Middle East from 18th century developments in the Ottoman Empire to WW I, and the establishment of the modern states of the Middle East. The narrative follows stages of modernization culminating with the emergen ce of modern nationalists ideas and movements, and is accompanied by hundreds of encyclopedistic items and authentic illustrations.

Haggai Erlich, Ethiopia and the Middle East, Lynne Rienner Press, Boulder, 1994.
The book discusses the relations between Ethiopia and the Oriental Middle East from medieval times to the present. It follows two interwoven aspects. One is the reconstruction of major junctures of political connections and strategic collisions. The secon d is the analysis and evolution of the basic mutual concepts and images which were shaped in earlier formative stages and have been reshaped in later confrontations to be transmitted to the conceptual reservoir of today’s Ethiopian, Egyptian and Arab nati onalisms.

Haggai Erlich, The Middle East Between the World Wars, The Open University Press, Tel Aviv, 1992 - 7.
Four volumes, Hebrew language discussion of the Middle East from its modern reformation in the aftermath of WW I to the break of WW II. The series analyses the "Parliamentarian" 1920s and "The Crisis of the 1930s" focusing mainly on the dynamism of inte r- generational tensions as a key to sociopolitical and ideological changes. In so doing the series surveys developments in each of the major countries, but also attempts at narrating the history of the region as the home of a common Islamic-Arab civiliz ation.

Areas of current research interest:



Modern history of the Middle East and the greater Nile Valley.
Key words:
Ethiopia, Egypt, Nile, Eritrea, Red Sea, Christianity, Islam, Sudan, Somalia, Copts.

Brief description of current research :
The Nile - Civilizations, History and Myths
The idea is to investigate the history of an issue which is nearly inevitably to become a matter of acute importance in the foreseeable future. Some 80% of the waters of the Nile River stem from the Blue Nile in Ethiopia. Egypt’s very survival, no less, depends on these waters. Ethiopia, a poverty and drought stricken country in a dire need for her first agricultural revolution, needs the same waters for her own welfare. The potential conflict is most dangerous and the parties concerned fail to develo p a constructive dialogue. Outsiders may help in various ways, and scholars have their role. The issue in hand is quite an old one. The idea that Ethiopia might block the Nile have marred Ethio-Egyptian relations from medieval times. It gave room to the spread of various myths and the creation of both diplomatic dialogues as well as hostile conflicts. The mutual suspicion, and the legacies of mutual enmity were always mixed with more positive concepts of neighborly interdependence and cultural affinity . These dual concepts were engraved in the traditional values of Egypt’s Islam and of Ethiopian Christianity, and were transmitted in modern times to the basic ideas of Egyptian and Ethiopian nationalisms. This blend of concepts and myths has blurred eye-contact between the two civilizations. The current Ethiopian - Egyptian dialogue can benefit greatly from a constructive, objective research, aimed at demystifying the past. A study of medieval and modern history of these multifaceted relations is a fascinating subject in terms of human history and pure scholarship.

Additional points of contact (office/home telephone,fax,etc.):


Tel Aviv University
Faculty of Humanities
Department of Middle Eastern and African History
Tel/fax 972-6435078

You Can mail Erlich Haggai by pressing here