Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
shoulders are juddered up and down and backwards and forwards, in a careful rhythm,
while the hips and legs stay motionless - is the best known, there are myriad others.
Dances in praise of nature, such as after a good harvest or when new sources of water
are discovered, are still found in rural areas, and dances that allow the young 'warriors' to
show off their agility and athleticism. Look out for the
fukara
(boasting dance), which is
often performed at public festivals. A leftover from less peaceful times, it involves a man
holding a spear, stick or rifle horizontally above his shoulders at the same time as moving
his head from side to side and shouting defiantly at the 'enemy'.
Among the tribes of the Omo Valley in the south, many dances incorporate jumping and
leaping up and down, a little like the dances of Kenya's Maasai.
Literature
Literature has a long and illustrious history in Ethiopia. Inscriptions in Ge'ez, a South
Semitic language, have been found to date as far back as 2500 years; though it wasn't un-
til Aksumite times that it became widely used as a language of literature. It was during
this early period that the Bible was translated from Greek into Ge'ez.
Even though Ge'ez had long since died as a spoken language, the 13th and 14th centur-
ies are considered to mark the golden age of Ge'ez literature, in which many works were
translated from Arabic, as well as much original writing produced. It's thought that in the
early 14th century the Kebra Negast (
Click here
)
was written.
During the 16th-century Muslim-Christian
Wars, book production ground to a halt and co-
pious amounts of literature were destroyed. By
the 17th century, Ge'ez was in decline as a lit-
erary language, but that didn't mean the value
of books had been lost. It's around this time
that rumours spread of a vast library hidden on
the mysterious flat-topped mountain of Amba
Gishen. Inside the library's endless halls could
be found every kind of book, including the works of Job and Abraham and the lost Book
of Enoch. What makes this tale so extraordinary is that in 1773 a Ge'ez version of the lost
Book of Enoch was discovered in Ethiopia (to this day it remains the only complete copy
ever found).
Amharic, now Ethiopia's official language, was the Amharas' language. It was Emperor
Tewodros who encouraged the local language in an attempt to promote national unity. In a
continuation of the trend begun in the 14th century, Tewodros and other emperors right up
There is much debate as to the origin and date of
the Kebra Negast. Some say it was originally writ-
ten in Coptic then translated into Arabic and finally
into Ge'ez. Some say there was never a Coptic ver-
sion. Some insist it dates back to the 1300s; others
that it was written as late as the 16th century.
