Ethiopian historic town listed as world heritage site

 The Ethiopian historic town, Harar Jugol, has been listed as a world heritage site, the United Nations said on Thursday.

According to a statement from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Harar Jugol and other four African sites have been included in the latest world heritage list. The five African sites are among eight new heritage sites declared by UNESCO around the world.

Harar Jugol, seen as the fourth holiest city of Islam, includes 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines.

The city walls were built between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Ethiopia, one of the oldest nations in the world, is blessed with natural and cultural heritage sites, including the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, the Simien national park, the fortress-city of Fasil Ghebbi, the ancient town of Axum, the lower valley of Awash, the lower valley of Omo, stelae of Tiya.

Source: Xinhua

UNESCO on Harar Jugol

Harar Jugol (Ethiopia). The fortified historic town of Harar is located in the eastern part of the country on a plateau with deep gorges surrounded by deserts and savannah. The walls surrounding this sacred Muslim city were built between the 13th and 16th centuries. Harar Jugol, said to be the fourth holiest city of Islam, numbers 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines. The most common houses in Harar Jugol are traditional townhouses consisting of three rooms on the ground floor and service areas in the courtyard. Another type of house, called the Indian House, built by Indian merchants who came to Harar after 1887, is a simple rectangular two-storied building with a veranda overlooking either street or courtyard. A third type of building was born of the combination of elements from the other two.

The Harari people are known for the quality of their handicrafts, including weaving, basket making and book-binding, but the houses with their exceptional interior design constitute the most spectacular part of Harar’s cultural heritage This architectural form is typical, specific and original, different from the domestic layout usually known in Muslim countries. It is also unique in Ethiopia. Harar was established in its present urban form in the 16th century as an Islamic town characterized by a maze of narrow alleyways and forbidding facades. From 1520 to 1568 it was the capital of the Harari Kingdom. From the late 16th century to the 19th century, Harar was noted as a centre of trade and Islamic learning. In the 17th century it became an independent emirate. It was then occupied by Egypt for ten years and became part of Ethiopia in 1887. The impact of African and Islamic traditions on the development of the town’s specific building types and urban layout make for the particular character and even uniqueness of Harar. Source: UNESCO

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BBC NEWS

Africa has gained five new World Heritage sites in the latest list published by the United Nations cultural organisation, Unesco.

The new African sites include rock art areas in Malawi and Tanzania, and Stone Circles in Senegal and Gambia.

The historic town of Harar Jugol in Ethiopia is also on the list, as is Aapravasi Ghat in Mauritius.

The five African sites are among eight new heritage sites declared by Unesco around the world.

Unesco describes the stone circles of Senegal and Gambia as "an extraordinary concentration of over 1,000 monuments in a band 100 km wide along some 350 km of the River Gambia".

The four groups, Sine Ngayene, Wanar, Wassu and Kerbatch, include 93 stone circles and numerous burial mounds, apparently dating to between the 3rd century BC and 16th century AD.

Rock art

Malawi's Chongoni rock art area features "the richest concentration of rock art in Central Africa," according to Unesco, while the Kondoa Rock Art Sites overlooking the Great Rift Valley in Tanzania include images of "high artistic value" dating back 2,000 years.

Harar Jugol, seen as the fourth holiest city of Islam, includes 82 mosques, three of which date from the 10th century, and 102 shrines.

The city walls were built between the 13th and 16th centuries.

Algeria's Tipasa archaeological site has been taken off a list of endangered sites thanks to conservation efforts.

Outside of Africa, new World Heritage Sites are the Sichuan giant panda sanctuaries in China, Columbia's Malpelo fauna and flora sanctuary, and Mexico's Tequila region, famous for the alcoholic brew of the same name.

source internet

A morning at the Lion Park in Addis Ababa.

A long time ago, when I was but a little child, my parents took me to the Lion Park to see the lions. I’ve never gone back since then. Not that I haven’t wanted to, I just never got around to doing it.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I had to go sooner or later. When my wife told me that she remembered being able to hear the lions roar on a quiet day, I decided I really needed to go. After all, I’d never heard a lion roar. If they could be heard in Piassa, imagine how nice it would be to hear one roar up close and personal.

So when Saturday came around last week, I headed to the Lion Park with my old friend (and Best Man) Danny and my new friend Matthew.

What is the Lion Park?

Click on the map to go to Google Maps and get your bearings

The Lion Park is actually called the Lion Zoo. I only noticed this yesterday on my way to work. It’s a small zoo at Sidist Kilo in Addis Ababa that’s home to 19 adult lions and 4 young ones – two males and two females. There are nine other animals at the zoo including Gelada baboons, Lesser Kudu, turtles and Egyptian Geese. The lions are the main attraction.

The zoo is a small oasis of green in a city that’s increasingly becoming less green. Apparently it used to be the place for couples to hang out once upon a time.

The zoo was founded in 1940, Ethiopian Calendar (that’s 1947 for the rest of the world), and started off with a couple of lion cubs – Molla and Lulu – that were donated by the Emperor Haile Selassie.

Here’s some of the information from a sign inside the zoo:

Lion Zoo built in 1940 EC by Emperor Haile Selassie.
Lions collected from Western and Southern Ethiopia (Wollega, Elubabur and Sidamo)

What we found at the zoo

We got to the zoo at around 10 in the morning. Entry was 1 Birr per person. Matthew had to pay 10 Birr because he forgot to bring his resident ID card and his Australian accent gave him away as a foreigner. I paid the 20 Birr for my camera only to find out that I had 4 shots left. Someday I must get myself a digital SLR.

Danny and I had to pay 1 Birr again to get closer to the lions. Matthew’s 10 Birr covers everything (except coffee at the café). We then proceeded to walk around and admire the lions. There are 10 enclosures, each with a pair of lions – male and a female – except for one lone female whose mate recently died. I must say that they are beautiful creatures. These lions are Panthera Leo Barbari – called black lions because the males have black manes. It is thought that this sub-species is endemic to Ethiopia. The manager informed us that a study by Max Planck University has almost confirmed this theory. There are only an estimated 500-1000 of these beautiful creatures left in the wild.

The lions all have names. Wubnesh Chala and her mate were my favourite. They seemed closer to each other than the other pairs and would come near the bars and pose for us humans. There was another lion with dreadlocks that grabbed our attention and there was even a geeky one with his mane parted down the middle.

We stuck around for the feeding of the lions. I highly recommend visiting at around 11:30 so you can catch the action. Sleepy lions get up and pace their cells. One lioness rapidly paced her enclosure and every time she got to one end would stand on her hind legs. Photographers repeatedly used the opportunity to get nice pictures of the backs of children’s heads as they turned to look at the lioness behind them.

The two young males, Kenenisa and Haile, love posing too. I repeatedly kicked myself (in my head) for running out of film before feeding time. It’s the lions’ excitement before they get their food that’s interesting to see. A lion eating meat is pretty boring to watch. I even overheard an old man complaining that these lions had no teeth before he turned around and left.

Source internet

Ethiopia is a diverse land filled with wonders -- from its spectacular landscapes of unsurpassed beauty, to its prolific array of wildlife, to its unique mosaic of peoples and their cultures.

Claiming a history that stretches more than 4,000 years as the ancient land of Abyssinia, Ethiopia boasts a proud heritage of being the only African country never colonized (though briefly occupied by the Italians), and as one of the world’s earliest Christian countries. However, Christianity in Ethiopia has peacefully coexisted with Islam, Judaism, and other traditional faiths, for centuries.

It is, in fact, the amalgam of religious beliefs and practices that has nurtured numerous legends: that Ethiopia was the home of the Queen of Sheba; that it was the site of King Solomon’s gold mines, which provided the precious metal for his temple in Jerusalem; that Ethiopia’s emperors were the descendants of a liaison between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon; that even today, Ethiopia is the home of the Ark of the Covenant, containing the original tablets on which Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

For some, the legends of Ethiopia are history; for others, a matter of religious faith; for still others, romantic myths. For all, though, the legends are part of the mystery of Ethiopia.

Visitors interested in human origins will revel in Ethiopia’s offerings. Hadar, in the Afar Region of northeastern Ethiopia, is where “Lucy”, the 3.2 million year-old hominid was found. (Her skeleton is secured at the National Museum in Addis Ababa, where a replica is on exhibit for viewing.) Tiya is a site of 36 mysterious stone monuments, 31 of which have inscriptions that have been standing since time immemorial and numerous archaeological discoveries have been made at the Lower Omo anthropological site, in the Omo Valley. These sites, namely Hadar, Tiya and Lower Omo Anthropological sites are parts of Ethiopia’s World Heritage sites.

While Ethiopia has been home to three of the world’s great religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism), it is the Ethiopian Orthodox (Christian) Church that offers dramatic attractions with its exquisite churches and cathedrals, monasteries, convents, holy sites, and ceremonies and rituals celebrating the world of the Old Testament.

SOURCE iNTERNET

About Ethiopia

Abba Jifar II was king of the Gibe Kingdom of Jimma (reigned 1878 - 1932).   Today his castle (see picture) is being rehabilitated and is well worth a visit. You find Jimma 335 km southwest from Addis Ababa in a beautiful, fertile area at the end of a very good road (read more)

King Abba Jifar had several wives: Queen Limmiti, who was the daughter of the King of Limmu-Ennarea; Queen Minjo, the daughter of the King of Kaffa; and Queen Sapertiti, also from Limmu-Ennarea.

In the 1880s, Kin Abba Jifar, said to be 204 centimeter high, conquered a portion of the Kingdom of Janjero which lay east of Jimma, along the Omo River, and incorporated it into his kingdom.

Due to the advice of his mother Queen Gumiti, he agreed to submit to Menelik II, negus of Shewa in 1884. In 1886, he paid tribute consisting of slaves, ivory, bamboo, jars of honey, localy made cloth, spears, shields ornamented with silver plates, and objects of wood (including stools). Because of these "shrewd politics" (Herbert S. Lewis' words), which included providing military assistance to Menelik in conquering the neighboring kingdoms of Kullo(1889), Walamo (1894), and Kaffa (1897), he was able to preserve the autonomy of Jimma until his death. On the other hand, when Jimma was annexed to Ethiopia, Emperor Menelik imprisoned Abba Jifar "for inspiring excessive enthusiasm in his own standing army and trying to entice Abyssinian soldiers to his own service" in Ankober for a year. When he was freed, Abba Jifar again received the throne of Jimma from Menelik, and after that lesson became one of the most obedient of vassals and one of the most regular in paying tribute to the Emperor.

Queen Gumiti also advised him to expand the cultivation of coffeein his kingdom, which provided increased revenue for him and his subjects. Today you find a monument of "the birth place of coffee not far from Jimma. Jimma is the place where the effects of coffee was first detected, and coffee comes from Kaffa (Kaffa province).

Towards his later years, he became senile and his grandson Abba Jofir attempted to take control and re-assert Jimma independence. However, Emperor Haile Selassie responded quickly and sent military forces against Abba Jofir, and brought Abba Jofir back to Addis Ababa, where he was imprisoned.

In 1930, Haile Selassie removed a feeble Abba Jifar II from power and replaced him with his son-in-law, Ras Desta Damtew. Desta Damtew ruled as Governor of Jimma while Abba Jifar II was allowed to remain as King (Negus) in a powerless position as titular head. When Abba Jifar II died in 1932, the Kingdom of Jimma was officially absorbed by the Ethiopian Empire.

 source internet

Cristmas Traditions in Ethiopia

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in Africa. It still follows the ancient Julian calendar, so Ethiopians celebrate Christmas on January 7. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church's celebration of Christ's birth is called Ganna. It is a day when families attend church.

The day before Ganna, people fast all day. The next morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white. Most Ethiopians don a traditional shamma, a thin, white cotton wrap with brightly colored stripes across the ends. The shamma is worn somewhat like a toga. Urban Ethiopians might put on white Western garb. Then everyone goes to the early mass at four o'clock in the morning. In a celebration that takes place several days later, the priests will dress in turbans and red and white robes as they carry beautifully embroidered fringed umbrellas.

Most Ethiopians who live outside the modern capital city, Addis Ababa, live in round mud-plastered houses with cone-shaped roofs of thatched straw. In areas where stone is plentiful, the houses may be rectangular stone houses. The churches in Ethiopia echo the shape of the houses. In many parts of the country there are ancient churches carved out of solid volcanic rock. Modern churches are built in three concentric circles.

In a modern church, the choir assembles in the outer circle. Each person entering the church is given a candle. The congregation walks around the church three times in a solemn procession, holding the flickering candles. Then they gather in the second circle to stand throughout the long mass, with the men and boys separated from the women and girls. The center circle is the holiest space in the church, where the priest serves Holy Communion.

Around the time of Ganna, the men and boys play a game that is also called ganna. It is somewhat like hockey, played with a curved stick and a round wooden ball.

The foods enjoyed during the Christmas season include wat, a thick, spicy stew of meat, vegetables, and sometimes eggs as well. The wat is served from a beautifully decorated watertight basket onto a "plate" of injera, which is flat sourdough bread. Pieces of injera are used as an edible spoon to scoop up the wa

 Twelve days after Ganna, on January 19, Ethiopians begin the three-day celebration called Timkat, which commemorates the baptism of Christ. The children walk to church services in a procession. They wear the crowns and robes of the church youth groups they belong to. The grown-ups wear the shamma. The priests will now wear their red and white robes and carry embroidered fringed umbrellas.

The music of Ethiopian instruments makes the Timkat procession a very festive event. The sistrum is a percussion instrument with tinkling metal disks. A long, T-shaped prayer stick called a makamiya taps out the walking beat and also serves as a support for the priest during the long church service that follows. Church officials called dabtaras study hard to learn the musical chants, melekets, for the ceremony.

Ethiopian men play another sport called yeferas guks. They ride on horseback and throw ceremonial lances at each other.

The Ethiopian calendar (Amharic: የኢትዮጵያ ዘመን አቆጣጠር yä'Ityoṗṗya zämän aḳoṭaṭär), also called the Ethiopian Ge'ez calendar, is the principal calendar used in Ethiopia and also serves as the liturgical calendar for Christians in Eritrea belonging to the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church, Eastern Catholic Church and Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea. It is based on the older Alexandrian or Coptic calendar, which in turn derives from the Egyptian calendar, but like the Julian calendar, it adds a leap day every four years without exception, and begins the year on August 29 or August 30 in the Julian calendar. A seven- to eight-year gap between the Ethiopian and Gregorian calendars results from alternate calculations in determining the date of the Annunciation of Jesus.

Like the Coptic calendar, the Ethiopian calendar has twelve months of 30 days each plus five or six epagomenal days, which comprise a thirteenth month. The Ethiopian months begin on the same days as those of the Coptic calendar, but their names are in Ge'ez. The sixth epagomenal day is added every four years without exception on August 29 of the Julian calendar, six months before the Julian leap day. Thus the first day of the Ethiopian year, 1 Mäskäräm, for years between 1901 and 2099 (inclusive), is usually September 11 (Gregorian), but falls on September 12 in years before the Gregorian leap year.

The current year according to the Ethiopian calendar is 2003, which began on September 11, 2010 AD of the Gregorian calendar. It has six epagonemal days and so the following year (2004) will begin on September 12, 2011.

New Year's Day

Enkutatash is the word for the Ethiopian new year in Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, while it is called Ri'se Awde Amet (Head Anniversary) in Ge'ez, the term preferred by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. It occurs on September 11 in the Gregorian calendar, except for leap years, when it occurs on September 12. The Ethiopian calendar year 1998 'Amätä Məhrät ("Year of Mercy") began on September 11, 2005. However, the Ethiopian years 1996 and 1992 AM began on September 12, 2003 and 1999, respectively.

This date correspondence applies from the Gregorian years 1900 to 2099. Generally, because every fourth Ethiopian year is a leap year without exception, while Gregorian years divisible by 100 are not leap years, a set of corresponding dates will thus apply only for one century. However, because the Gregorian year 2000 is a leap year, then in this case the correspondences continue for two centuries.

Eras

To indicate the year, Ethiopians and followers of the Eritrean churches today use the Incarnation Era, which dates from the Annunciation or Incarnation of Jesus on March 25 of 9 AD (Julian), as calculated by Annianus of Alexandria c. 400; thus its first civil year began seven months earlier on August 29, 8 AD. Meanwhile, Europeans eventually adopted the calculations made by Dionysius Exiguus in 525 AD instead, which placed the Annunciation exactly eight years earlier than had Annianus. This causes the Ethiopian year number to be eight years less than the Gregorian year number from January 1 until September 10 or 11, then seven years less for the remainder of the Gregorian year.

In the past, a number of other eras for numbering years were also widely used in Ethiopia and the Axumite Kingdom:

Era of Martyrs

The most important era – once widely used by the Eastern Churches, and still used by the Coptic Church - was the Era of Martyrs, also known as the Diocletian Era, whose first year began on August 29, 284.

Respectively to the Gregorian and Julian New Year's Days about three months later, the difference between the Era of Martyrs and the Anni Domini is 285 (= 15x19) years. This is because in AD 525, Dionysius Exiguus decided to add 15 Metonic cycles to the existing 13 Metonic cycles of the Diocletian Era (15x19 + 13x19 = 532) to obtain an entire 532-year medieval Easter cycle, whose first cycle ended with the year Era of Martyrs 247 (= 13x19) equal to year DXXXI. It is also because 532 is the product of the Metonic cycle of 19 years and the Solar cycle of 28 years.

Anno Mundi according to Panodoros

Around AD 400, an Alexandrine monk called Panodoros fixed the Alexandrian Era (Anno Mundi = in the year of the world), the date of creation, on 29 August 5493 BC. After the 6th century AD, the era was used by Egyptian and Ethiopian chronologists. The twelfth 532-year-cycle of this era began on 29 August 360 AD, and so 4x19 years after the Era of Martyrs.

 Anno Mundi according to Anianos

Bishop Anianos preferred the Annunciation style as New Year's Day, the 25 March (see above). Thus he shifted the Panodoros era by about six months, to begin on 25 March 5492 BC.

Leap year cycle

The four year leap-year cycle is associated with the four Evangelists: the first year after an Ethiopian leap year is named in honour of John, followed by the Matthew-year and then the Mark-year. The year with the sixth epagomenal day is traditionally designated as the Luke-year.

There are no exceptions to the four year leap-year cycle, unlike the Gregorian calendar.

Months

Note that these dates are valid only from March 1900 to February 2100

Sources (Internet)

Timkat (Amharic "baptism") (also spelled Timket, or Timqat) is the Ethiopian Orthodox celebration of Epiphany. It is celebrated on January 19 (or 20 on Leap Year), corresponding to the 10th day of Terr following the Ethiopian calendar. Timket celebrates the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River. This festival is best known for its ritual reenactment of baptism (similar to such reenactments performed by numerous Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land when they visit the Jordan); early European visitors confused the activities with the actual sacrament of baptism, and erroneously used this as one example of alleged religious error, since traditional Christians believe in "one baptism for the remission of sins" (Nicene Creed).

Crowds gather at the Fasilides' Bath in Gondar, Ethiopia, to celebrate Timkat - the Epiphany for the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.

A priest carrying a Tabot in a Timkat ceremony at Gondar, at which water will be blessed. He is assisted by a deacon holding a liturgical parasol.

During the ceremonies of Timkat, the Tabot, a model of the Ark of the Covenant, which is present on every Ethiopian altar (somewhat like the Western altar stone), is reverently wrapped in rich cloth and born in procession on the head of the priest.^[1] The Tabot, which is otherwise rarely seen by the laity, represents the manifestation of Jesus as the Messiah when he came to the Jordan for baptism. The Divine Liturgy is celebrated near a stream or pool early in the morning (around 2 a.m.). Then the nearby body of water is blessed towards dawn and sprinkled on the participants, some of whom enter the water and immerse themselves, symbolically renewing their baptismal vows. But the festival does not end there; Donald Levine describes a typical celebration of the early 1960s:

By noon on Timqat Day a large crowd has assembled at the ritual site, those who went home for a little sleep having returned, and the holy ark is escorted back to its church in colorful procession. The clergy, bearing robes and umbrellas of many hues, perform rollicking dances and songs; the elders march solemnly with their weapons, attended by middle-ages men singing a long-drawn, low-pitched haaa hooo; and the children run about with sticks and games. Dressed up in their finest, the women chatter excitedly on their one real day of freedom in the year. The young braves leap up and down in spirited dances, tirelessly repeating rhythmic songs. When the holy ark has been safely restored to its dwelling-place, everyone goes home for festing.

Source (Internet)