>>1485718>Precolonial EthiopiaAllow me to interject for a moment: what you refer to Precolonial Ethiopia was, in fact, an absolute shithole.
I have read multiple journals of both colonists and soldiers alike, and all agreed to one thing: Ethiopia had one asphalt road, it was today's main avenue, which passes by the former Imperial villa. The Negus himself, a man said to have "two metres long legs" (it means someone that walks around fast, and for a long time) moved around the city by foot: during the muddy season there was no other way to move.
Also, beside the palace there were no real concrete structures: it was Tucul (the indigenous home, made of wood and cloth) all over the place.
Addis Abeba did not have any sewage system either, tho it had a nice railway, courtesy of the french that built it all the way from Djibouti: tho it wasn't free, they received the rights to excavate Dancalia, a phosporous-rich region.
Also, slavery. In the 30s.
Yeah not exactly a nice place to be.
