Ethiopian traditional clothes

 

Ethiopian Womens traditional dress.

 Traditional Scarves

 Ethiopian Traditional Children Clothes

Ethiopian  Traditional hand  Bag .Also uses special Holiday.

 Traditional men shirt.

 Traditional Ethiopian Buna Dress  

Women's Traditional Clothes

Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

Ethiopia's coffee ceremony is an integral part of the people's social and cultural life. An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. The ceremony is very colorful and has a series of steps:  

Fig. Getting prepared for the coffee ceremony

  

Fig. An Ethiopian woman roasting coffee

Fig Roasted coffee prepared for grounding

Fig. Making the coffee using a special clay-made material called "Jebena"

Fig The traditional coffee brewing tool called "Gebena". It is made of clay 

                                        

Fig. The coffee is served with a special cup called  "Sini"

 

Fig Coffee Roasting tool

Fig. The Traditional stove for roasting and brewing the coffee. It is filled usually with wood charcoal as a source of energy

Ethiopia Traditional Musical Instrument

This section of the blog presents a brief  information about the Ethiopian traditional musical instruments including "Kirar", "Begena", "Masinko", "Washint" and "Kebero"

1. Kirar is a five -or-six-stringed bowl-shaped lyre. It is is one of the most popular traditional instruments in Ethipoia.

                                          

                                                Fig. 1. A person playing Kirar

2.  Begena is a large ten-string lyre. It is commonly used in Ethiopian Orthodox church

while  singing a s spiritual song  specially in a fasting season.

                                                    Fig. 2. An old man singing with Begena

3.  Masinko is a a one-string bowed lute. This is commonlyed played in traditional bars and restaurants. The person playing Masinko is usually called Azmari

                                Fig 3. Azmari entertaining people in a traditional bar ("Tej Bet") 

4.  Washint is a bamboo flute that is common in the highlands. In rural areas, it is commont to see a person playing with Washint while taking care of cattles on a field.

                                                     Fig 4. A person playing with Washint

  5. Kebero:  is a double-headed, conical hand drum. A piece of animal hide is stretched over each end, thus forming a membranophone. Almost always a spiritual song in Ethiopoian orthodox church is acompanied by a  liturgical drum. Kebero is alo used in secular celebrations

Fig. People signing with Liturgical drum inside a church (Kebero)

Fig. A woman playing with Kebero

Ethiopian traditional dance

The various ethnic groups of Ethiopia have different traditional dancing. The following pictures show some of them

Fig. Traditional dancing from the "Amhara" ethnic group

Fig. Traditional dancing from the "welayta" ethnic group

                                  Fig. Traditional dancing from the "Oromo" ethnic group

Fig. Traditional dancing from the "Gurage" ethnic group

Ethiopian historical Places

Axum

In its day,  was a great commercial centre, issuing its own currency and trading with Egypt, Arabia, Persia, India and even Ceylon. The settlement was also the site of  Ethiopia's oldest church, which dated back to the coming of Christianity as the  state religion, early in the 4th Century. The original building has long since disappeared but a structure erected on its site by Emperor Fasiladas in the early 17th Century is still there. A nearby outhouse is the reputed repository  of the biblical Ark of the Covenant. This historic relic cannot be seen but visitors there can see and photograph a number of the remarkable crowns that  belonged to several notable Ethiopian monarchs of the past.

Lalibela

 A  medieval settlement in the Lasta area of Wallo, lies at the centre of an extensive complex of rock churches. Some can be reached by one or two hours'  drive, others are a full day's journey. Lalibela has 11 remarkable rock-hewn  monolithic churches, believed to have been built by King Lalibela in the late 12th or early 13th Century. These notable structures are carved, inside and out,  into the solid rock, and are considered to be among the wonders of the world.  Each building is architecturally unique but each reflects beautifully executed  craftsmanship, and several are decorated with fascinating paintings. These  astonishing edifices remain places of living worship to this day.

 

Gonder

Gonder was the 17th Century capital of Ethiopia, and is notable for its medieval Castles and churches. The City's unique imperial compound contains a number of Castles built between 1632 and 1855 by the various Emperors who reigned during this period. These dramatic castles, unlike any other African, display a richness in architecture that reveals the Axumite traditions as well as the influence of Arabia.

Other treasure of Gonder include the 18th Century palace of Ras Beit, the bath of Fasilades, the ruined palace of Kusquam, and the church of Debre Berhane Selassie with its unique murals.

 

Harer

The city of Harer is an ancient (1520) and holy city. Always an important trading centre, the city is famous for its ancient buildings, its great city walls and as a centre of learning muslim scholarship ( the town has 99 mosques). The city is well known for its superb handicrafts that include woven textiles, basketware, silverware and handsomely bound books, Harar has been a place of pilgrimage from all over the world for many years.

Wedding in Ethiopia

Weddings are one of the biggest celebrations that go on for Ethiopians. In Ethiopian culture there is something called tilosh where the man buys some staffs such as clothes and somethings that will be helpful for his newly wed, and the day before the wedding he sends it by his men chosen by him to be in his wedding. The family has to accept those things for the newly wed since the man and the women are not supposed to be there. The things are approved by the family of the lady. On the wedding day the man goes to the woman's house to get her while everyone in her house is dancing and celebrating. When he gets there he goes to his wife gives her the flower he brought for her and before leaving to the next destination with his wife he and his newly wed has to kiss each others' families' knees to show respect. A wedding lasts almost all day through mid night! There would be one point when the newly weds take pictures and that is the time where everyone else could take a break. At dinner time though everyone gets to eat and laugh and enjoy. People dance with the newlyweds, take pictures and they also sign the picture of the newly weds.
After the wedding day there is usually something called melse which is when everyone wears the traditional clothing and have dinner, it is usually for the two families to get to know each other more and dance together. It sums up the wedding of the couple.

                          Fig. The groom meets the bride at her home in the wedding day

               Fig. The bride departing from her families in the wedding day

Fig. The groom and the bride having picture with the selected men and women

                                  Fig. a wedding accompanied by religeous ceremony

Wedding in Ethiopia is different in different regions.In many rural parts of Ethiopia marriages are arranged by the parents of the groom  and the bride with negotiation. Traditionally the groom's parents search for a bride for their son. Before they make any contact with the bride's parents they investigate to make sure that the famalies are not related by blood.

Ethiopian Cultural Houses

These are cone like houses built with stone and mud. Such types of houses are very common in the rural areas of Ethiopia.

These are hat like houses made of wood, grass and mud. These houses are very much common in most parts of Ethiopia (More common than the hat like houses).

Gurage cultural restaurant in the cities

Meskel - Finding of the true cross

Meskel - The Finding of the True Cross - Sept 28th

Meskel (the finding of the true cross) falls on 28th September each year and has been celebrated in Ethiopia for over 1,600 years. The word Meskel means “Cross” and the feast commemorates the discovery of the cross (upon which Jesus was crucified).

Meskel

         In my country, Ethiopia, there is a big holiday celebrated every year which is called Meskel. Meskel is celebrated very much by the Gurage people (a tribe in Ethiopia). Gurage people are very hard working people who are involved in trading and low income self employment jobs. Meskel is a good holiday in that everybody in the family has to get together and celebrate for three to five days every year. The bad side of this holiday is that people spend a lot of money buying cattle, clothes and drinks. Every family member come to their parents’ houses and prepare different types of traditional food such as Kitfo, Kocho, Gomen kitfo and raw meat. Everybody enjoys eating the cultural foods. Kitfo is minced beef mixed with a lot of melted and salted butter and ground red pepper. Kitfo is one of the most traditional Ethiopian cuisines. Kocho is bread made of false banana. Gomen kitfo is minced cabbage with butter and ground red pepper. For this holiday every family member comes to their parent’s home five to three days earlier.

Geography of Ethiopia

Ethiopia is located in Eastern Africa, west of Somalia; The terrain of Ethiopia includes Massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by Great Rift Valley running generally southwest to northeast and surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert; northeastern coastline of about 960 kilometers along the Red Sea. Great terrain diversity determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns.