Editing Calligraphy (section)

===Ethiopia===
[[File:Ethiopian Scroll comprising prayers against various ailments Wellcome L0031387.jpg|thumb|upright|A painting of [[Susenyos I]] (r. 1607–1632) on a [[Ge'ez]] prayer scroll meant to dispel evil spirits, [[Wellcome Collection]], London]]

[[Ethiopian]] (Abyssinian) calligraphy began with the [[Ge'ez script]], which replaced [[Epigraphic South Arabian]] in the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], which was developed specifically for [[Ethiopian Semitic languages]]. In those languages that use it, such as [[Amharic]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]], the script is called {{transliteration|sem|Fidäl}}, which means 'script' or 'alphabet'. The Epigraphic South Arabian letters were used for a few inscriptions into the 8th century, though not in any South Arabian language since [[Dʿmt]].

Early inscriptions in Ge'ez and Ge'ez script are dated to as early as the 5th century BCE, with a sort of proto-Ge'ez written in ESA since the 9th century BCE. Ge'ez literature begins with the Christianization of Ethiopia (and the civilization of Axum) in the 4th century, during the reign of [[Ezana of Axum]].

The Ge'ez script is read from left to right and has been adapted to write other languages, usually ones that are also Semitic. The most widespread use is for [[Amharic language|Amharic]] in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]] in [[Eritrea]] and Ethiopia.{{citation needed|date=August 2022}}