Ethiopians in the Transatlantic Slave Trade: Limited Direct Evidence

The transatlantic slave trade primarily drew from West and West-Central Africa (Senegal to Angola). Direct evidence of Ethiopians among the 12.5M embarked is scant:

• Geography: Ethiopia (Horn of Africa) was distant from Atlantic slaving ports; trade routes led to Red Sea/Indian Ocean markets (Ottoman, Arab, Indian Ocean).
• Aksumite/Ethiopian involvement: Historical participation in regional slave trades (Nubia, Red Sea), but not transatlantic.
• Possible minor cases: A few individuals may have been transshipped via Swahili coast or captured in conflicts, but no systematic traffic.

Scholars emphasize the trade's West African concentration. Ethiopian suffering under Indian Ocean/Red Sea slave trades is a separate, understudied tragedy.