Negash

Negash – a place where the story of the First Hijra remains a living part of community memory. Few places in the Horn of Africa carry such a concentration of historical, religious and cultural significance. Understanding Negash means engaging with a landscape in which the distant past and the present are inseparably intertwined.

A place where the story of the First Hijra is still alive.
Negash holds a unique place in the early history of Islam. According to both Islamic and Ethiopian tradition, a group of the Prophet Muhammad’s first followers found refuge here after fleeing persecution in Mecca. The king of Aksum – remembered in Arabic sources as al‑Najāshī – welcomed them with a gesture of hospitality that became a lasting symbol of interreligious solidarity.
This episode, known as the First Hijra, is one of the earliest moments in Islamic history when Muslims sought protection beyond the Arabian Peninsula. In local memory, it is not a distant event but a story deeply rooted in the landscape: in the old mosque, in the hilltop settlements to the west, and in the sacred sites associated with al‑Najāshī and the Companions.
The modern sacred complex – including the mosque, the mausoleum of al‑Najāshī and the cemetery with (partly symbolic) graves of the Companions – lies along the main road. It suffered significant damage during the recent civil war and was later restored by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA). The historical settlement, however, was located further west, on the hills overlooking the valley. These two layers – the contemporary sacred centre and the older settlement landscape – together shape how Negash is understood today.
This story is still alive in Negash. It is told in homes, remembered in prayers and reflected in the everyday coexistence of Christians and Muslims. The surrounding sacred landscape forms a setting in which history, memory and community remain closely intertwined.
In May 2026, Negash was added to the UNESCO Tentative List, recognising its outstanding historical, cultural and spiritual significance.
Negash is also the focus of the NeGaSh Project, which brings together archaeological and ethnographic approaches to understand how memory, material traces, religious practices and post‑war recovery shape this landscape.
Understanding Negash means listening to its stories, studying its material traces and recognising the ways in which past and present continue to shape one another.