ETHIOPIA

or ETHIOPIA (HebCush), in ancient geography, the country lying to the south of Egypt, and comprehending the modern Nubia, Kordofan, Aby in i a, and other adjacent districts; but its limits were not cleariy defined. It was vaguely spoken of in Greek and Roman accounts as the land of the Ichthyophagi or fish-eaters, the Macro bit or lJong-livers, the T'roglodytes or dwellers in caves, and of the Pygmies or dwarf races. In ancient times its history was closely connected with that of Egypt, and about the eighth century B.c. it imposed a dynasty on Lower Egypt, and acquired a predominant influence in the valley of the Nile. In sacred history Ethiopia is repeatedly mentioned as a powerful military kingdom (see particularly Is. xx, 5). In the sixth century B.C. the Persian Cambyses invaded Ethiopia: but the country maintained its independence till it beeame tributary to the Romans in the reign of August us. Subsequently Ethiopia came to be the designation of the country now known as Aby in i a (q.v.), and the Aby in i an monarchs still call themselves rulers of Ethiopia.