Ethiopia

History

Ethiopia boasts one of the oldest and most colourful histories of any African kingdom. In Prehistory, it was the home of the earliest hominids on this earth. Its traditional history stretches back to the time of King Solomon.
Few know much of the mighty Axumite Empire that grew up in the north of the country after the birth of Christ and which was a major trading centre for some seven hundred years. Neither have many people heard of the awe-inspiring rock-hewn churches that were constructed during the Middle Ages in Lalibela high on the Ethiopian plateau.

Since that time, the country has had very varied fortunes in all sorts of ways.
With frequent incursions from neighbouring lands and particularly from the influences of Islam, social and political development was somewhat piecemeal for a long time, with notable periods of relative peace and stability such as that provided by the rule of King Fasiledes in the 17th century in Gondar.

It was the Emperor Tewodros who was to make real progress with his vision of a united Ethiopia in the 19th century until his unfortunate demise following the arrival of British troops under Robert Napier in 1868.
Ethiopia’s history in the 20th century is really fascinating, with great leaders such as Emperor Menelik and Emperor Haile Selassie, with dramatic events such as the Italian occupation before the Second World War, and with political turmoil provided by seventeen years of Communist government and the following decade of uneasy movement towards democracy.
Axumite Empire

The north of Ethiopia was to be of world importance as an influential trading centre during the first seven centuries after the birth of Christ.
Centring on the city of Axum, today an important city on the Historic Route, and strategically situated near to the bottom of the Red Sea, it was a vital commercial crossroads between Egypt and the Mediterranean and the eastern countries of India and Ceylon. Exotic trade flourished in this richly fertile and agricultural area.

Exports from Axum included ivory, animal skins, rhino horn and frankincense while imports came from India, Arabia and Egypt and included wine, olive oil, iron and glassware.
During the greatest years of the Axumite Empire, coinage in bronze, silver and gold was produced, immense stone monuments were erected and Christianity was to be introduced to Ethiopia.

Middle Ages

By the early 12th century, the importance of Axum had declined and the capital of Ethiopia had shifted to near present day Lalibela, high up on the central plateau.
Of this period we know comparatively little, and yet it is from this time that dates one of the most extraordinary archaeological sites in the world, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela.
Legend has it that King Lalibela himself travelled to Jerusalem and so wondered at the buildings he saw there that he determined to create an Ethiopian Jerusalem high in the Lasta Mountains.

These amazing churches attest to an epoch in Ethiopian history which must have known immense technical skill and competence and yet of which we have almost no written record. Tradition tells us that the world’s greatest craftsmen toiled during the day to create these monuments while bands of angels took over to continue the work by night!
It was also during the Middle Ages in Europe that the name of Prester John came to be associated with Ethiopia at the royal courts. This legendary priest apparently ruled over a land full of riches and luxury where precious gems and all manner of exotic items were plentiful. It is thought that the first Portuguese expeditions to Ethiopia in the 16th century and the even earlier travels of the Knights Templar might well have been inspired by the idea of discovering Prester John’s kingdom.

 17th Century

The years leading up to the 17th century were to see all manner of religious challenges from outside the country, notably from the Moslems under Mohammed Gragn the Left-Handed in the 1530s and, more peaceably, from the Jesuits in the early 1600s. At the same time, the Oromos from Kenya and the south of the country were making strong incursions into the Ethiopian empire.

Ethiopia was in need of a strong emperor and found one in Emperor Fasiledes who took over from his father Susenyos in 1632 and, in 1636, founded his new capital in Gondar near Lake Tana. The city of Gondar was the first permanent capital and was to flourish until the early 19th century.
Emperor Fasiledes was to bring a period of stability to Ethiopia and Gondar was to become a sophisticated and artistic city with its central Royal Enclosure of magnificent castles started by Fasiledes and continued by ensuing monarchs.

19th Century

In 1855, an unusual character who had once lived as a bandit had himself crowned as Emperor Tewodros and set out to unify his large and disparate country. He showed himself to be a very capable and creative monarch and he chose the mountain of Maqdala as his royal base.
He planned a system of roads across the country, encouraged land reform, established a national army and promoted Amharic as his country’s lingua franca. He was a reforming monarch who took great pride in his country, his people and in himself.

He sought British and other European support for his reforms and, when this was not forthcoming, he imprisoned two British ambassadors who were at his court at that time.
When Queen Victoria learned of this, she sent Sir Robert Napier with an army of soldiers, elephants and camels to achieve a rescue. Tewodros’s reforming zeal had made him unpopular with local chieftains and they supported Napier’s contingent and swelled its numbers.
As Napier and his men approached the summit of Maqdala in 1868, Tewodros, still refusing to submit, shot himself in the mouth. Maqdala was razed to the ground and the British troops returned triumphantly to England taking with them many hundreds of royal artefacts and manuscripts.

 

20th Century

The 20th century was to be a period of great positive development as well as great trauma and anguish for Ethiopia.
In the late 1800s, there were to be threats and incursions from both the Italians (with a great and memorable victory for the Ethiopians over the Italian troops at Adwa in 1896) and the Dervishes from the Sudan (with another Ethiopian victory in 1889).
It was to be Emperor Menelik II who was to take Ethiopia into the modern world of the 20th century. He chose the site for his new capital of Addis Ababa – his ‘New Flower’ – and set to creating a modern country with electricity, telephones, schools, hospitals and a railway.

In world terms, it was to be Emperor Haile Selassie, crowned in 1930, who was to make Ethiopia a known world power. He held his country together as a nation through the Italian occupation from 1936 to 1941, made good relations with European monarchs and statesmen, and spoke up boldly for his people in the League of Nations.
He survived as monarch until 1974 when he was overthrown and murdered by the Derg, the Communist regime under the military colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, and Ethiopia was plunged into a stagnating 17 years of oppressive and repressive dictatorship.

The great famines of 1972-4 and 1984-5 were to bring the country to its knees and to bring it also to the concern of the entire world thanks to resounding media coverage.
In 1991, Mengistu was at last driven out of the country, the Communist regime fell and the long journey towards democracy was started. After a period of transitional government under Meles Zenawi, the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia was proclaimed in 1995 and elections were held with Meles Zenawi being re-elected to leadership. This progress continues strongly today.
The three-year border dispute with Eritrea that erupted in 1998 did little to help the economic stability of either country but, with the help of UN peace-keeping forces, this problem seems to be resolving itself and Ethiopia looks forward to a period of strong economic development and growth.

Ethiopia

Islam came to Ethiopia in very early times. Mohammed himself was said to have sent followers to Ethiopia in 615 AD, and they received a warm welcome. As Axum’s Christian strength waned later in that century, Islam began to have a more meaningful influence across the country.

The 16th century was to see disastrous conflict between Christendom and Islam in Ethiopia. Of particular note was the powerful invasion led by Mohammed Gragn (the Left-Handed) in an attempt to conquer the entire country. This force was to be very successful in many areas of Ethiopia and was only eventually defeated with the help of the Portuguese led by Vasco da Gama’s son Christopher.
These days, the Islamic faith and Christianity seem to co-exist very peacefully in most areas. The high central plateau is predominantly Christian, while the lower surrounding areas to the east and south are more uniformly Muslim.
The holy city of Harar lies near the railway line to Djibouti in the east. It is officially the fourth most holy site in Islam and its architecture gives no doubt to its history and faith. Mosques abound within the city walls – 87 at the last count – and the colourful dresses of the women add to the exotic ambience of a memorable town.

 

source - http://www.linkethiopia.org/guide-to-ethiopia/ethiopia-information/culture-and-religion/islam/

Ethiopia

The land of Ethiopia provides an extraordinary variety of landscapes, with its huge and lofty central plateau area contrasting totally with its hot deserts and tropics. While water is frequently in short supply, vast lakes and major and impressive rivers cut through the Ethiopian countryside, cascading far below ranges of towering mountains with challenging individual peaks such as Ras Dashen in the north. As if to emphasise the diversity, this summit – the fourth highest in Africa – drops down across the fantastic Rift Valley towards the lowest place in Africa and the hottest inhabited place on the planet; the inhospitable desert of the Danakil Depression. Then, as you venture further south the climate feels truly tropical!
Five times the size of Great Britain, Ethiopia is home to nearly a hundred different tribes, each with its own language and its own highly colourful and developed culture. Some of these Ethiopian tribes live as simply and naturally as any known peoples on this earth. Yet our Guide to Ethiopia also tells of modern and developing cities such as Addis Ababa, the capital, and Mekele in the north of the country, as well as myriad of smaller towns and villages spread all over this often inaccessible land.

Here you can also read of Ethiopia’s immediate neighbours in this now land-locked land where local border disputes have rocked the area in recent times. On this continent of tribal and cultural variety, the country borders give frequent rise to strife and violence, where often impoverished areas of land are disputed by people.
Ethiopia is what it is because of its geographical diversity and cultural variety. Use the menu at the top of this page to whet your appetite and learn more!

Ethiopia is a land of contrasts in so many ways and this is particularly noticeable in its cities, towns and villages.

Although up-to-date figures are hard to come by, the country has few large cities by modern standards. Addis Ababa, the capital in the centre of the country, has a population of about a million and a half and boasts one of the finest hotels on the African continent and a thriving modern international airport.
Yet many of its public buildings are looking tired and worn and greatly in need of modernisation. Its wide public avenues and arterial roads contrast greatly with the impoverished housing just behind them where running water and decent waste facilities are still hard to find.
Dire Dawa is the second city in population terms with a million inhabitants. It is situated over to the east of the country, halfway along the only railway line that Emperor Menelik had built at the beginning of the 20th century to link Addis Ababa with the port of Djibouti.

The modern part of the town shows careful geometric planning and has good basic facilities as it was built from scratch by the railroad constructors and for many years remained the terminus from Addis while further funds were sought to continue the line to the sea.
Gondar is the third city of Ethiopia, situated just north of Lake Tana and the capital of the country for about two hundred years from 1636. Today, the glories of ancient Gondar are very hard to find. It was sacked by the Dervishes in the 19th century and its present centre is largely Italian built and is dusty and run-down. In the last few years things have been looking up, with badly needed improvements to water and waste systems and steady upgrading of main central buildings.

Yet it still looks and feels like a country town with a large majority of its people clustered densely around the market area in very simple and basic dwellings. Only its impressive and isolated Royal Enclosure and various other occasional ruined ancient buildings hint at the grandeur that Gondar once boasted.
Other urban areas in Ethiopia with populations in excess of half a million include Bahar Dar, on the southern edge of Lake Tana, the administrative centre of its area and an impressively laid out and attractive town; Mekele in the far north, the well-maintained centre of the Tigray region of the country, with distinct Italian influences in its architecture and design; and Harar, very close to Dire Dawa in the east, the fourth holiest Moslem city in the world, and a colourful ancient centre with romantic 19th century connections with the great adventurer Sir Richard Burton and the poet Rimbaud.


Ethiopia has five immediate neighbours in its situation in the Horn of Africa. These are Somalia to the east, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, and Eritrea and Djibouti to the north.
Ethiopia today finds itself uncomfortably in a land-locked situation.
When Eritrea became independent in 1993, relations with the country were such that no-one hurried to define the border with any exactness and there seemed little doubt that access to the Red Sea ports would continue without hindrance.

But relations with Eritrea became very strained when, in 1997, Eritrea announced its own currency, the nafka, and the implications of this were to lead to a major dispute between the countries in 1998 over delineation of the border. Suffice it to say here that recent agreements, brokered by the UN and many other supporting countries, have led to UN troops’ involvement in a buffer zone between the warring factions and relations are at least steadier between the two countries.
Relations with Djibouti are vital to Ethiopia’s economy at the moment and the use of the Djibouti port, at the terminus of the French-built railway from Addis Ababa, is at present unimpeded.
Lesser tensions also exist with other neighbouring countries, especially Somalia, who became somewhat embroiled in the problems with Eritrea. Localised battles on Ethiopia’s north-east border are frequent at present, although it would appear that tensions are, in general, easing.

The Horn of Africa is bounded by the huge geological faults of the Red Sea in the north and the Gulf of Aden in the east. The third major fault is the Rift Valley that cuts through Ethiopia from south to north. These faults have created some impressive mountain ranges and Ethiopia is considered a mountainous country with over half of the country rising to altitudes of around 2,000m.
The western half of the country is dominated by the great central Ethiopian plateau. It is here that the capital, Addis Ababa, and the historic circuit can be found. The source of the Blue Nile, the vast and beautiful Lake Tana, lying at 1,800m above sea level, is also situated on this enormous and imperious stretch of mountain.

The highest mountain in Ethiopia is called Ras Dashen (4,620m) and is situated in the stunning Simien range, a national park, north of Gondar. It is the fourth highest peak in Africa. The country has about 20 summits exceeding 3,600m.
Mountain life has shaped Ethiopia in many ways and can be tough going; but perhaps not as difficult as in the desert areas, which lie to the east and south of this huge central plateau. Here the land is desolate and barren and life is a struggle to support. The lowest point in Africa and the hottest inhabited place on the earth’s surface is in the Danakil Depression in the north-east of the country, near the Simien Mountains, with much of it lying more than 100m below sea level.

 

In the middle of the great Ethiopian plateau, at 1,800m above sea level and with an area of 3,000 square kilometres lies the substantial inland sea of Lake Tana. Here are born two of Ethiopia’s major rivers, the Tekeze in the north and the Blue Nile in the south.
The Blue Nile River tumbles off the plateau at the Blue Nile Falls, known locally as the smoking river, near Bahir Dar and makes its way to the Sudan where it is joined by the White Nile before continuing its way to the Mediterranean Sea, supplying over 90% of Egypt’s water supply in the process. It was the great explorer James Bruce who, in the late 18th century, found his way to Lake Tana to discover the source of the Blue Nile. The Tekeze River runs north from the lake and encircles the Simien mountain range north of Gondar, providing a centre for white water canoeing for Ethiopia’s growing tourist industry.

Other great rivers that cut their valleys through the Ethiopian countryside include the Wabe Shebelle and the Awash – which run through the otherwise desolate Somali and Afar Regions respectively – the Omo in the south and the Boro River which is sourced in the moist lowlands of Gambella. There are also a great many lakes in the Rift Valley of significance and Afar contains some desert lakes.
Ethiopia is criss-crossed with little streams after the rainy season which dry up for most of the year. Rivers and lakes provide the life blood of Ethiopia during the dry season, especially as irrigation is relatively under-developed. Water channels can be dirty and carry disease, but they are used for washing and drinking by people who have no alternative.
Source -http://www.linkethiopia.org/guide-to-ethiopia/ethiopia-information/geography/

Ethiopia

Religion

Religion is instrumental to everyday life in Ethiopia, as it has been for centuries. Priests and deacons abound in their often colourful robes, carrying their staffs and ornate crosses that people frequently kiss as they pass. Ethiopian languages are full of references to God, and the calendar’s days of interest are determined largely by religion.
On the central plateau, the Ethiopian Orthodox church holds sway, as it has done since the 4th century when Ethiopia became the first state to adopt Christianity. The Orthodox Church has many connections with ancient Judaism. Fasting and detailed food restrictions, the specific ways of slaughtering animals, the layout of the churches and the practice of circumcision all make for a very particular religious culture.

Indeed, Ethiopia had large communities of ‘falashas’, Ethiopian Jews, especially in the Gondar region in the north, who have played an important role in the history of Ethiopia, especially in the earlier years. Most of these however have now departed to live in Israel, having been airlifted out of the country with Operation Solomon and Operation Moses in the latter part of the 20th century.
Islam is the second largest religion in Ethiopia with roughly one third of the population as followers. Although certain regions are predominantly either Islam or Christian, Muslims generally live peaceably alongside Christians throughout the country, though this was not always the case. The south and east are where most Muslims reside – 99% of the people of Somali are Muslim – and the city of Harar, in the east of the country, is officially the fourth most holy Muslim site in the world.
In the lowland areas, animistic and pagan religions are still commonly found among tribal people who live in simple, traditional communities.
Use the menu at the top of this page to experience the real colour of Ethiopia and understand why the Ethiopians value their culture and religions so highly.

Ethiopia - Language, Culture, Customs and Etiquette

Facts and Statistics

Location: Eastern Africa, west of Somalia

Capital: Addis Ababa

Climate: tropical monsoon with wide topographic-induced variation

Population: 82,544,840 (July 2008 est.)

Ethnic Make-up: Oromo 32.1%, Amara 30.1%, Tigraway 6.2%, Somalie 5.9%, Guragie 4.3%, Sidama 3.5%, Welaita 2.4%, other 15.4% (1994 census)

Religions: Christian 60.8% (Orthodox 50.6%, Protestant 10.2%), Muslim 32.8%, traditional 4.6%, other 1.8% (1994 census)

Government: federal republic

Language in Ethiopia

Ethiopia has many indigenous languages (84 according to the Ethnologue, 77 according to the 1994 census), most of them Afro-Asiatic (Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic), plus some that are Nilo-Saharan.
English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools and universities. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by local languages such as Oromifa and Tigrinya.
After the fall of the Derg regime in 1991, the new constitution of the Federal Demeocratic Republic of Ethiopia granted all ethnic groups the right to develop their languages and to establish mother tongue primary education systems. This is a marked change to the language policies of previous governments in Ethiopia.

Society and Culture

The People

Ethiopia is a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country. Religion is a major influence in Ethiopian life. Nearly half the population belongs to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but there is a also large Muslim population. Others adhere to an ancient form of Judaism.
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is proud of its origins. The country embraced Christianity in the 4th century, long before Europe. The feast of the Epiphany ("Timkat") is the largest festival of the year. The Orthodox Church dominates the political, cultural, and social life of the population. It was the official religion of the imperial court and of the establishment until Haile Selassie was deposed in 1974.
Muslims are important in the business community. They tend to live in the eastern, southern, and western lowlands, although there are considerable numbers in Addis Ababa.

The Family
The extended family remains the focus of the social system. It includes relatives on both sides of the family as well as close friends. Quite often the husband’s parents will live with the nuclear family when they get older and can no longer care for themselves. When people marry, they join their families, thus ensuring that there will always be a group to turn to in times of need.
Individuals achieve recognition or social standing through their extended family. A family's honor is influenced by the actions of its members. Family needs are put before all other obligations, including business.

Etiquette and Customs in Ethiopia

Meeting Etiquette

• Ethiopian greetings are courteous and somewhat formal.
• The most common form of greeting is a handshake with direct eye contact.
• The handshake is generally much lighter than in Western cultures.
• After a close personal relationship has been established people of the same sex may kiss three times on the cheeks.
• Across genders, men should wait to see if a woman extends her hand.
• Greetings should never be rushed. Take time to inquire about the person’s family, health, job, etc.
• People are addressed with their honorific title and their first name.
• “Ato", "Woizero", and "Woizrity" are used to address a man, married woman, and unmarried woman respectively.
• Elders should be greeted first.
• It is customary to bow when introduced to someone who is obviously older or has a more senior position. Children will often be seen doing so.

Gift Giving Etiquette

• Gifts may be given to celebrate events of significance or religious occasions.
• Since Ethiopia is an extremely poor country, expensive gifts are not the norm.
• In fact, giving a gift that is too expensive may be viewed negatively. It may be seen as an attempt to garner influence or it may embarrass the recipient as they will not be able to match it in kind.
• If you are invited to an Ethiopian’s home, bring pastries, fruit, or flowers to the host.
• A small gift for the children is always appreciated.
• Do not bring alcohol unless you know that your host drinks. Most Muslims and Amharic people do not.
• Gifts are not opened when received.
• Gifts are given with two hands or the right hand only; never the left hand.

Dining Etiquette

• Ethiopians are hospitable and like to entertain friends in their homes.
• An invitation to a private home should be considered an honour.
• Punctuality is not strictly adhered to although considerable lateness is also unacceptable.
• You may have to remove your shoes at the door.
• Dress well.
• Shake hands with each guest individually.
• A woman should offer to help the hostess with the preparation or clearing up after a meal is served.
• You will always be offered a cup of coffee. It is considered impolite to refuse.
• Ethiopians are relatively formal and believe table manners are a sign of respect.
• Do not presume that because food is eaten with the hands, there is a lack of decorum.
• Expect a small earthenware or metal jug to be brought to the table before the meal is served. Extend your hands over the basin while water is poured over them.
• Only use the right hand for eating.
• Hierarchy dictates that the eldest person is the first to take food from the communal plate.
• Guests are often served tasty morsels by another guest in a process called "gursa". Using his hands, the person places the morsel in the other person’s mouth. Since this is done out of respect, it is a good idea to smile and accept the offering.
• Expect to be urged to take more food. Providing an abundance of food is a sign of hospitality.
• The meal ends with ritual hand-washing and coffee.

Coffee Drinking

• The Kaffa province in Ethiopia is renowned for its coffee.
• Coffee is a national drink and its drinking is a ritualized process that generally takes at least an hour.
• If invited for a formal coffee you may be seated on pillows or grass and flower-strewn floor with frankincense burning in the background.
• A woman or young boy enters the room to wash and roast the beans over charcoal.
• The roasted beans are then hand-ground and added to boiling water.
• Sugar is put into small cups without handles and the water/coffee mixture is added.
• Inhale the aroma of the coffee before sipping.
• The first round (called "awol") is served, starting with the eldest.
• When the first cup is finished, the "jebena" (coffee pot) is refilled with water.
• The second round (called "tona") is then served. It is weaker than the first since the same ground beans are used.
• The third round (called "baraka") is served after boiling water is again added to the jebena.
• Always sip the coffee slowly.

Business Etiquette and Protocol

Meeting Etiquette

• Greetings are formal and courteous.
• Handshakes are somewhat prolonged and not especially firm.
• They are always combined with strong, direct eye contact.
• There is generally no touching between the sexes; however, if a foreign businesswoman extends her hand, a cosmopolitan Ethiopian may accept it to avoid causing her offense.
• Never rush greeting; enquire about people’s families, health and work.
• Government officials may be addressed as "Excellency" without using their name.
• Wait to be invited before moving to a first name basis without the honorific title.
• Business cards are given without formal ritual.
• Present and receive business cards with the right hand only or with both hands.

Communication Style

Ethiopians can be very sensitive when it comes to communication. Since they have only recently begun working with foreigners in business situations they are still getting used to new ways of doing business and communicating.
As a general rule, they are humble and respect that quality in others. They generally speak in soft tones. Loud voices are seen as too aggressive. Ethiopians pride themselves on their eloquent speaking style and expect others to speak clearly and use metaphor, allusion, and witty innuendoes. They often use exaggerated phrases to emphasize a point.
As a rule, Ethiopians tend to be non-confrontational and offer what they believe is the expected response rather than say something that might embarrass another. Honour and dignity are crucial to Ethiopians and they will go out of their way to keep from doing something that could bring shame to another person. Therefore, it is important to treat your Ethiopian business colleagues with utmost professionalism and never do anything that would make them lose dignity and respect.

Business Meetings

Meeting schedules are not very rigid in Ethiopia. There may be an agenda, although it is not part of the local culture. If one is used, it functions as a guideline for the discussion and acts as a springboard to other related business topics.
Since relationships are extremely important, meetings start with extended social pleasantries. You will be offered tea or coffee and will be expected to ask questions about the other person and respond to questions about yourself.
Meetings seldom have a scheduled ending time since it is considered more important to complete the meeting satisfactorily than be slavishly tied to the clock. The meeting will end when everyone has had their say and the most senior Ethiopians decide that there is nothing left to be discussed.
Performing favours indicates friendship. Therefore, Ethiopians feel obliged to do something if asked by a friend. Since they generally only conduct business with people they consider friends, they have difficulty saying "no" to requests from business associates. This does not indicate that they will do what they have agreed to do, however.

Source - http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/global-etiquette/ethiopia.html

Ethopia

Ethiopia, like other African countries, particularly south of the Sahara, is a multi-ethnic state, inhabited by eighty-three ethnic groups, identified in the main by the number of languages (including about 200 dialects). But there are also overlaps of cultural and religious values among different ethnic groups.
The ethnic groups inhabiting Ethiopia (which, in some areas, overflow into the borders of Kenya in the south, the Sudan in the west, Djibouti in the east, Somalia in the east and southeast and, now, Eritrea in the north and northeast) can be classified, following the linguistic pattern, into four main groups: Semitic, Cushitic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan.

Nilo-Saharan    The Nilo-Saharan groups are, to some extent, agriculturalists.    Omotic     The Omotic speakers were traditionally organized into small kingdoms, notably those of Kaffa and Janjero.    Cushitic     Oromo being the most numerous among cushitic groups and in Ethiopia as whole, Somali, Sidama and Afar are other members of the cushtic group. Majority of them practice agriculture, but we have cattle breeders and pastorialists too.    Semitic     Based on our earlier classification, the Semitic family is constituted by the Tigreans and Amharas in the northern and central parts of the country, respectively, and the Gurage and the Harari in the southern and eastern parts of the country, respectively, and practice mainly agriculture.

African People & Culture

AFRICAN WEDDINGS

African weddings are a family affair and involve the combining of two lives, two families, and sometimes even two communities! There are many different wedding traditions in the African continent and no two are exactly alike. However, in all the communities the bride plays a very special role and is treated with respect because she is a link between the unborn and the ancestors. A bride might eventually bear a very powerful child, so she is treated with respect. In some areas of East Africa the grooms family would even move to the brides village and set up a whole new house there.

There are many steps that take place before marriage starting at a very young age where training takes place in how to be a suitable partner. Girls will many times go to circumcision schools where women teach them what is involved in marriage, and in some ethnic groups even learn secret codes and languages so that they can communicate with other married women. In the Wolof tribe there is even a time where the elders of the village gather with the bride and give advice and gifts.

Weddings can be very elaborate, involving feasting and dancing for days within a community, they can be very simple, or they can even be performed in huge marriage ceremonies involving many different couples.

African Wedding Cultural Traditions

Ethiopia

In Ethiopia the Karo people enhance a young brides beauty by tattooing her abdomen with different symbols.

Amhara people: most marriages are negotiated by the two families, with a civil ceremony sealing the contract. A priest may be present. Divorce is allowed and must also be negotiated. There is also a "temporary marriage," by oral contract before witnesses. The woman is paid housekeeper's wages, and is not eligible for inheritance, but children of the marriage are legally recognized and qualify for inheritance. Priests may marry but not eligible for divorce or remarriage.
 

Kenya

The Massai people of Kenya grow up with children of their own age and normally form relationships with these people. However, in marriage women are given to a man they do not know who is much older then themselves. The bride packs all her belongings and is dressed in her finest jewelry. At the marriage ceremony the father of the bride spits on the brides head and breasts as a blessing and then she leaves with her husband walking to her new home she never looks back fearing that she will turn to stone. This can be a very sad experience for the bride, who is 13-16 years old and may walk a long way to get to her new house. In order to ward off bad luck sometimes the women of the grooms family will even insult the bride.

The Swahili of Kenya bathe brides in sandalwood oils and tatoo henna designs on her limbs. A women elder, or somo, gives instructions to the bride on how to please her husband. Sometimes the somo will even hide under the bed in case there are any problems!

In another area of Kenya the main feature of the wedding is the kupamba, which happens the night after the wedding, it is basically a display of the bride. It is very popular because it is a party just for the women, and when they enter the party they are able to take off their large veils and show off elaborate hairstyles and dresses. The party can almost become a competition because it is believed that if a women has a good husband he will get her beautiful jewelry and clothes.

For the Samburu tribe marriage is a unique series of elaborate ritual. Great importance is given to the preparation of gifts by the bridegroom (two goatskins, two copper earrings, a container for milk, a sheep) and of gifts for the ceremony. The marriage is concluded when a bull enters a hut guarded by the bride's mother, and is killed.
 

Namibia

The Himba people of Namibia kidnap a bride before the ceremony and dress her in a leather marriage headdress. After the ceremony she is brought into the house where the family tells her what her responsibilities will be as the wife and then anoint her with butterfat from cows. This shows that she has been accepted into the family.
 

Niger

The Wodabee of Niger court their cousins for marriage. The male cousins wear powerful amulets which are supposed to heighten their attractiveness to the girl. If there are two cousins who desire the same girl the girl chooses the one she wishes and the other man is welcomed into the home of the couple, and if consent is given by the bride he may even share her bed!
 

Sudan

The Neur people of southern Sudan the groom must pay 20-40 cattle, the marriage is completed only after the wife has born 2 children. If the wife only bears one child and the husband asks for a divorce he can also ask for either the return of the cattle or the first child. Divorce therefore is very difficult. Another interesting fact is that if a husband dies then the husbands family must provide a brother to the widow and any children born to the brother are considered the deceased's children