Aethiopia (Greek Αἰθιοπία) first appears as a geographical term in classical sources, in reference to the Upper Nile region, as well as all the regions south of the Sahara desert. Its earliest mention is in the works of Homer: twice in the Iliad,[1] and three times in the Odyssey.[2] The Greek historian Herodotus specifically uses it to describe Sub-Saharan Africa[3]. As stated by Lobban, "Greeks referred to Nubia as "Ethiopia," including sometimes parts of "Libya Interior." "[4] The name also features in Greek mythology, where it is sometimes associated with a kingdom said to be seated at Joppa, or elsewhere in Asia.
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Homer (c. 800 BC) is the first to mention "Aethiopians" (Αἰθίοπας); he mentions that they are to be found at the southern extremities of the world, divided by the sea into "eastern" (at the sunrise) and "western" (at the sunset). The Greek mythologists Hesiod (c. 700 BC) and Pindar (c. 450 BC) speak of Memnon as the "king of Aethiopia", and further state that he founded the city of Susa (in Elam).
In 515 BC, Scylax of Caryanda, on orders from Darius the Great of Persia, sailed along the Indus River, Indian Ocean and Red Sea, circumnavigating the Arabian peninsula. He mentioned Aethiopians, but his writings on them have not survived. Hecataeus of Miletus (ca. 500 BC) is also said to have written a book about Aethiopia, but his writing is now known only through quotations from later authors. He stated that Aethiopia was located to the east of the Nile, as far as the Red Sea and Indian Ocean; he is also quoted as relating a myth that the Skiapods ("Shade feet") lived there, whose feet were supposedly large enough to serve as shade. The philosopher Xenophanes, who lived around the same time, noted that "The Thracians make their gods like them, with blue eyes and fair (or red) hair, while Aethiopians make their gods like them, black".
In his Historiae (ca. 440 BC) Herodotus presents some of the most ancient and detailed information about "Aethiopia". He relates that he personally traveled up the Nile to the border of Egypt as far as Elephantine Island (modern Aswan); in his view, "Aethiopia" is all of the inhabited land found to the south of Egypt, beginning at Elephantine. He describes a capital at Meroe, adding that the only deities worshipped there were Zeus and Dionysius. He relates that in the reign of Pharaoh Psamtik I (c. 650 BC), many Egyptian soldiers deserted their country and settled amidst the Aethiopians. He further wrote that of Egypt's 330 Pharaohs, 18 were "Aethiopian" (i.e. the "Kushite dynasty"). He asserts that Aethiopia was one of the countries that practiced circumcision.
Herodotus tells us that king Cambyses of Persia (ca. 570 BC) sent spies to the Aethiopians "who dwelt in that part of Libya (Africa) which borders upon the southern sea." They found a strong and healthy people. Although Cambyses then campaigned toward their country, by not preparing enough provisions for the long march, his army completely failed and returned quickly.
In Book 3, Herodotus defines "Aethiopia" as the farthest region of "Libya" (i.e. Africa): "Where the south declines towards the setting sun lies the country called Aethiopia, the last inhabited land in that direction. There gold is obtained in great plenty, huge elephants abound, with wild trees of all sorts, and ebony; and the men are taller, handsomer, and longer lived than anywhere else.
The Egyptian priest Manetho (c. 300 BC) listed Egypt's Kushite (25th) dynasty, calling it the "Aethiopian dynasty". Moreover, when the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek (c. 200 BC), the Hebrew appellation "Kush, Kushite" became in Greek "Aethiopia, Aethiopians", appearing as "Ethiopia, Ethiopians" in the English King James Version.
Greek and Roman historians of a later era, such as Diodorus Siculus and Strabo, confirmed much of Herodotus' account of several distinct nations within the vast region of "Ethiopia" south of the Sahara desert, such as the Troglodytae and Ichthyophagi, described as living all along the African Red Sea coast (in modern Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and Somaliland), as well as several other peoples farther west. These authors also described second-hand stories of the mountainous part of Ethiopia where the Nile was said to rise. Strabo also stated that some previous authors had considered Aethiopia's northern border to begin at Mount Amanus, thus including all of Syria, Israel and Arabia.
Pliny the Elder described Adulis, which port he said was the Ethiopians' principal trading town. He also stated that the term "Ethiopia" was derived from an individual named Aethiops, said to be the son of Hephaestus (aka Vulcan).[5] This etymology was followed by all authorities, until around 1600, when Jacob Salianus in Tome I of his Annales first proposed an alternate hypothesis deriving it from the Greek words aitho "I burn" and ops "face". This is according to a Spanish priest by the name of Francisco Colin (1592–1660), in his book "Sacra India" which includes a lengthy chapter on Ethiopia. Colin mentioned Salianus' opinion as one tentative new hypothesis for the source of the name.[6] The 'burnt face' derivation next appeared in works by German authors Christopher von Waldenfels (1677) and Johannes Minellius (1683), and was soon adopted as standard by most European scholars.
Various Greek myths make reference to the kingdom of "Aethiopia" said to be somewhere in Asia. This kingdom in the myth of Andromeda was placed at Joppa in Phoenicia. Stephanus of Byzantium (c. AD 500) asserted that the name of Joppa (Yoppa) itself was a contraction of "Aethiopia", and that in antiquity its rule had extended eastward as far as Babylonia.
Cepheus and Cassiopeia, the parents of Andromeda, are presented as the king and queen of Joppa. Pliny the Elder observed a tradition that associated a rock off the coast of Joppa with the mythical rock where Andromeda had been chained.[7] However, the Argonautica says Perseus' "return flight" took him "above the sands of Libya [Africa]".
Several notable personalities in Greek and medieval literature were identified as Aethiopian, including several rulers, male and female: Memnon and his brother Emathion, King of Arabia. Homer in his description of the Trojan War mentions several other Aethiopians, including Epaphus and Phineus. Ptolemy the geographer and other ancient Greek commentators believed that the "Aethiopian Olympus" was where the gods lived when they were not in Greece.
The name Aethiopia was also occasionally connected with other locations in Asia, such as Lydia or elsewhere in Asia Minor, the Zagros Mountains, or India. After about AD 400, there was particularly a great deal of confusion among Mediaeval European geographers as to whether Aethiopia was located in remotest Africa or Asia.