Tigray Province
Tigray (, ) is a historical region and province of Ethiopia. It encompasses most of the territories of Tigrinya-speakers (and a few minority groups closely linked with them) in Ethiopia; Tigray is separated from the northern Tigrinya territories by the River Mereb, now serving as the state border to Eritrea.
Tigrinya language
The earliest written example of Tigrinya is a text of local laws found in the district of Logosarda, Debub Region (southern Eritrea) and Northern Ethiopia, which dates from the 13th century, during the time BahreNeGash (Eritrea's former known name) and Aksum were the same peoples' and inhabitants of the Tigray ethnic group of Abyssinia during the reign of the Zagwe Dynasty c. 900 A.D. - 13th century, before the official annexation between the Tigray and Tigrinya over 20 years ago.