Agaw people
The Agaw or Agew (Ge'ez: አገው Agäw, modern Agew) are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the northern highlands of Ethiopia and neighboring Eritrea. They speak the Agaw languages, also known as the Central Cushitic languages, which belong to the Cushitic branch of the Afroasiatic language family, and are therefore closely related to peoples speaking other Cushitic languages.
Agaw horsemen from Awi | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Horn of Africa | |
| Ethiopia | 899,416 (2007) |
| Eritrea | 121,000 (2012) |
| Languages | |
| Agaw • Amharic • Tigrinya | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity (Ethiopian Orthodox · Eritrean Orthodox · Catholic), Traditional religions, Judaism, Islam (Sunni) | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| |
The Agaw peoples in general were historically noted by travelers and outside observers to have practiced what some described as a “Hebraic religion”, though some practiced Ethiopian Orthodoxy, and many were Beta Israel Jews. Thousands of Agaw Beta Israel converted to Christianity in the 19th and early 20th century (both voluntarily and forcibly), becoming the Falash Mura.