The Beauty of Ethiopian Culture
There are three major types of people that live in Ethiopia. The first groups of people are the Amhara. The Amhara people dominate about one third of the population of Ethiopia culturally and politically. These people live in the central highland plateau of Ethiopia populating the provinces of Begemder and Gojjam and parts of the Shoa and Wallo. Many of the population are native speakers of Amharic, which is the language of the Amhara.
The Galla (Oromo) people are the second group of people that I would like to talk about. They dictate most of the population in Ethiopia taking up nearly 40 percent all together. These people are pastoral and agricultural, living mainly in central and southwestern Ethiopia.
The Shankella, people are only a small percent of the countries’ population. They take up a small six percent and live in the western part from the border of Eritrea to Lake Turkana. However, these three groups are not the only people living in this country. The Tigrean, Sidamo, Somali, Afar, and Gurage also take up portions of the population.
The Ethiopian culture holds many dialects including Amharic, Tigrinya, Orominga, Guaraginga, Arabic, Somali, English and other languages. The languages spoken in this country add up to about 80. Many of the languages come from families such as the Semitic, Nilotic, Hamitic, and Omotic. The Amharic and Tigrinya languages use the Ge’ez script that holds 231 letters. Children start to learn English from junior high school up.
The religions that dominate this country include the Islamic, Christian, and Ethiopian Orthodox. Religion is secured and accepted in Ethiopia and is incorporated into everyday life amongst the people. Christianity is the dominant religion in Ethiopia and it became that way in the fourth century. The Orthodox Church connects with ancient Judaism in many ways for instance fasting, food restrictions, slaughtering animals, circumcision, and the layout of churches. Islam is also a very strong religion in parts of Ethiopia. The city of Harar is the fourth holiest Muslim cite in the world.
The Ethiopians love to celebrate by wearing their best clothing, eating food plentifully, and singing and dancing. They celebrate important events in their history, religious holidays, and special family days. Meskal is a festival that is celebrated for two days at the end of September. This festival is the Finding of the True Cross. Singing and dancing take place around bonfires while the priests perform ceremonial regalia.
Timkat is a festival that falls on the 19th of January, however, the celebrations begins the day before and continues until the day after. The festival is celebrated throughout the Ethiopian highlands in Orthodox Christian strongholds; however, the most incredible festivities are located in Lalibela, which is an isolated mountain town in northern Ethiopia. This 3-day colorful festivity celebrates Epiphany and it is marked by the procession of the tabots that are the replicas of the Ark of the Covenant. These tabots are draped in heavy embroidery and are seen throughout many towns. People bathe in the lakes and splash water onto the onlookers. Once the ceremony is complete the tabots are then taken back to the churches in procession. During this time singing, drumming, blowing of trumpets, and the ringing of bells take place. Another religious ceremony takes place the next day in which the Archangel Mikael is dedicated. Other religious festivals celebrated throughout Ethiopia include Fasika (Easter), Intestates (New Year in mid-September), and Genna (Christmas). Islamic holidays are also celebrated according to the specific dates of the lunar cycle.
Popular dishes of food are concocted throughout this culture. Food featuring meats, vegetables, stews, spices, chilies and teff a grain that is grown in Ethiopia, are enjoyed throughout the country. Ethiopians finish their meal with kitfo that is freshly grounded raw beef. Other entrÃ?©es eaten by this culture include Doro Alicha, a mild Ethiopian chicken dish, Doro Wat, a spicy chicken dish, Tibs Wet a very spicy and fatty meat dish, Injera spongy pancake bread eating with Ethiopian food, Yekik Alich’a a split pea dish with mild sauce, Spiced Butter an herbed butter, Berbere a red-pepper based spice mixture used in Ethiopian dishes and Ethiopian lentils.
Instruments and music play a huge entertaining role in Ethiopian culture. Minstrels who sing about the life around them play single-stringed masenko. This instrument is played calypso-like with verses that are on the spot. The krar is a lyre-like instrument with five or six strings and the begenna is a portable harp. The boys looking after cattle and sheep on the hills play a reed flute called a washint often. Folk songs delight the Ethiopian people as they sing in high-pitched shrills.
The native style of Ethiopian painting can be found in every church located in the country. This unique style has remained unchanged for many centuries. The figures are drawn in two-dimension and are simplistically portrayed with strong colors and clear lines. The almond-shaped eyes are a characteristic of the figures. Religious stories are told through the church paintings. These paintings are used to inform people who are uneducated on the Ethiopian traditions and heritage.
This cultural experience was wonderful. There are many things about the Ethiopian culture that I was unaware of, for instance, the eating of the raw beef for the last meal. I have actually had an opportunity to eat a local Ethiopian restaurant Axum on Colfax Ave. and it was quite an experience. The injera bread was a taste that is beyond description. I can’t say that I liked it all that I can say is that for some strange reason I kept eating it. I found it fascinating and warming how everyone’s entrÃ?©e was eaten off of the same plate. We did not use any forks or knives but just our bear hands. The artwork on the wall was painted in the Ethiopian traditional style very colorful and simplistic. The people were very nice and respectable to us that which made the visit very comforting considering I had never eaten in a place like this before. I enjoyed this experience, I hope to one day visit Ethiopia and experience the culture first hand.
