Archaeology and World Politics

The German Aksum-Expedition (1905/06) in Ethiopia

Abstract

The article reads the German expedition to Aksum of 1905/06 as a case study of archaeology and power politics. It shows how Wilhelm II used the mission to enhance the empire’s international stature and gain prestige through research in the contested Horn of Africa. Menelik II, who had secured Ethiopian sovereignty and consolidated a diverse state, engaged with Berlin to counter European influence and to strengthen his own rule. Archaeological documentation of stelae, inscriptions, ancient structures and church contexts offered historical and religious arguments that supported this new political order and were mobilised in domestic and diplomatic arenas. The study traces scientific routines in fieldwork and legal arrangements that distinguished it from other colonial projects, highlighting Ethiopian participation in decisions over access and labour and in debates about the destination of objects and archives, and pointing to standards unusual in contemporary imperial research.