Category: Ethiopia’s Innovations and Culture
-
Emperor Haile Selassie I at Ethiopian New Year
Ethiopia’s last emperor was Emperor Haile Selassie I (Atse Haile Selassie): negus (king) and Lion of Judah. No kitten on the world stage, he had helped set up the League of Nations. In 1968 when I was 14, he visited my remote city: Perth, Western Australia. Our geography teacher did not show a map of Ethiopia nor mention her culture, but scared me with, ‘Rabies is everywhere in Africa.’ 5 decades later, I began this Ethiopia Blog.
-
UNESCO Listed Lalibela Rock Hewn Working Monasteries
King Lalibela’s original water supply system still works. He built a waterfall into a canal that supplies water to Lalibela village. 800 years later, nobody knows how it operates. One reason is that the plans were in Ge’ez.
-
Ethiopian Woven Wisdom
Can Ethiopia’s cotton cloth be likened to her people? Refined yet tough? In Bahir Dar, on the shores of Lake Tana at the source of the Blue Nile, I witnessed a fusion of dance and spinning. A slender lady did Eskista shoulder dance while walking in a deep squat in a circle, smoothly without bouncing up and down. At the same time, she spun cotton expertly. Incomparable and unique.
-
Ethiopian Pyramids and Water Technology
Egyptians still marvel over the mystery of pyramids. Ethiopians do not need to ask how their Abyssinian ancestors built them. Today in Ethiopia, they continue to maintain their pyramids. Vaska water-reservoir construction and technology was always theirs.
-
Yummy, Easy, Cheap Ethiopian Shiro
Stranded in Addis Ababa, Mesfin cooked 1-pot-wonders on a hotplate on the concrete floor. Our health improved. When we sent photos to Australia, friends asked, ‘What have you been doing? You have lost weight. Your hair is long & shiny.’ Our secret? Ethiopian food and drink and her vegetarian dishes.
-
Marvellous Ethiopian Charities
SLCO and GPO aim to help all Ethiopians that need their services. They promote gender equity. Donations directly benefit the disadvantaged – money is not wasted on administration. Coordinators and operators work voluntarily. They run cost effective projects.
-
Ethiopian Innovations
The golden, domed roof of El Aqs Mosque in Jerusalem dates from before 1,000 BC. Queen Saba built it for King Salamon (Solomon) – El Aqs was originally his. In ancient Abyssinia (Ethiopia), Queen Sheba was Saba, also known as the Engineering Queen. Saba was from Lake Tana, which is the source of Abay or Blue Nile River. She transported a gift of gold from her mines in Ethiopia to Salamon, for the roof of El Aqs. Then she taught the king how to add a gyprock ceiling to conserve the building. 3,000 years on, the dome is intact.
-
Antique Ethiopian Crosses Turn Up Down Under
Held only by virgin deacons, these types of ceremonial crosses have been used since time immemorial in midnight prayer services – strictly inside and around Orit Orthodox monasteries and churches and Christian Orthodox churches in Ethiopia.
You must be logged in to post a comment.