A construction site in Addis 

Following the example of the neighbouring page, you will find here randomly gathered Ethiopian topics that have impressed me in one way or another. Actually, the whole country, its peoples and cultures have marked me profoundly. But for now I will leave out such precious things as the tasty Yirgacheffe and the coffee ceremony, Lalibela, my nightmarish food poisonings in Arba Minch, hot saunas with the Oromos, Bahir Dar cow hide markets…and come back to each topic with a little less hurried approach.

 

Script   

     

The Ethiopian languages of the Semitic family are derived from Ge’ez, the language of the ancient Axumite Kingdom. I just love this script - I’ve had to create strange visual rules in my head to memorize certain letters in the learning process! 

Icons

 

The Ethiopian hand-made and hand-carved wooden icons are simply adorable. The icon art in Ethiopia is full of rich illustrations of scenes from the Old Testament and I like especially those pocket-size icons in the form of diptyques or triptyques. And you can easily take one with you wherever you go!

I heard about Eyeluta & Kirkos first time in Axum, where I saw these personages depicted in a pocket-size icon. I was told that they belong to the famous gallery of historical characters often present in Ethiopian orthodox iconography, because according to their story they were once saved from furnace by the archangel Gabriel. Their story rings a familiar bell from the Old Testament, in which the King Nebuchadnezzar throws Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego into a burning furnace because they refuse to worship a golden statue made by the king. They too are miraculously saved from the fire by an angel. These convergences are simply fascinating! I am only wondering whether the Ethiopian version of Eyeluta & Kirkos can actually be found in Kebra Nagast, The Book of the Glory of Kings, which tells the history of the Solomonic dynasties. For a long time this book has been on my reading list… In Kebra Nagast you can update your knowledge on the famous encounter between the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, which eventually leads to their son Menyelek’s smuggling the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. It appears that Solomon was quite a charmer:

 

“And she marvelled in her heart, and was utterly astonished in her mind, and she recognized in her understanding, and perceived very clearly with her eyes how admirable he was; and she wondered exceedingly because of what she saw and heard with him—how perfect he was in composure, and wise in understanding, and pleasant in graciousness, and commanding in stature. And she observed the subtlety of his voice, and the discreet utterances of his lips, and that he gave his commands with dignity, and that his replies were made quietly and with the fear of God. All these things she saw, and she was astonished at the abundance of his wisdom, and there was nothing whatsoever wanting in his word and speech, but everything that he spoke was perfect.”

 

Chapter 25: How the Queen came to Solomon the King. The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek (I) or, The KEBRA NAGAST (translated by E. A. Wallis Budge), London, 1932.

 

A couple of samples from my Ethiopian music library:   

   Aster Aweke: ‘Kabu’ from the album Kabu 

  Mahmoud Ahmed: ‘Titesh’ from the album Soul of Addis 

  Minyeshu: ‘Arhibu’ from the album Meba  

These three artists are always included in my playlist and one of my favourite pass times is to sit in a tram or train and listen to them and let the world go by… their powerful voices give me the impression that everything that I see through the window on my journey is in its right place. Call it good energy! Aweke’s and Ahmed’s and Minyeshu’s songs - just like most of the Ethiopian pop music - always make me want to create short films or video clips with streams of images that would somehow try to capture the ordinary of our lives. These songs have that strange earthly sound that I simply cannot resist.

If you like these three samples you will probably enjoy also the following artists: Netsanet Mellesse, Teddy Afro, Kuku Sebsebe, Ahmed Teshome Sofiya, Hamelmal Abate, Gigi Shibabaw