Aliyu Amba
| Aliyu Amba | |
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 Aliyu Amba
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| Coordinates: 09°32′N 39°48′E / 9.533°N 39.800°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Amhara Region |
| Zone | Semien Shewa Zone |
| Elevation | 1,805 m (5,922 ft) |
| Population (2005 est.) | |
| • Total | 2,873 |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Aliyu Amba is a town in central Ethiopia. Located in the Semien Shewa Zone of the Amhara Region, this town has a latitude and longitude of 09°32′N 39°48′E / 9.533°N 39.800°ECoordinates: 09°32′N 39°48′E / 9.533°N 39.800°E with an elevation of 1805 meters above sea level.
Charles Johnston, who passed through this settlement 31 May 1841, described it as "perched upon a flat-topped isolated rock that, nearly at right angles with the road, juts across the upper end of a pretty little valley".
There is a weekly market in Aliyu Amba, which is held on Sunday. Educational facilities in the early 1990s included one primary and one junior secondary school.
Aliyu Amba owed its importance to its location on the caravan route that stretched west from Saqqa in the Gibe region to Harar in the east and Tadjoura on the Red Sea. It was the most important market of central Ethiopia in the early and middle 19th century, and its merchants were almost entirely Muslim. The rulers of Shewa and of Harar co-operated in keeping this west-east route open. As a result the two potentates were in regular contact, and the head of the Harari community in Aliyu Amba was appointed by the Emir of Harar. This town was also an important center of the amoleh trade in the 1830s, and Mordechai Abir notes that a 10 per cent duty on all sales rendered to the Shewan government 3,000 Maria Theresa Thalers in cash and the equivalent of 2,000 in kind.
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