The culture of Ethiopia is diverse and generally structured along ethnolinguistic lines. The country's Afro-Asiatic-speaking majority adhere to an amalgamation of traditions that were developed independently and through interaction with neighboring and far away civilizations, including other parts of Northeast Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, India, and Italy.
Ethiopian Music: A Symphony of Sounds
The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of the country's ethnic groups being associated with their own sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. In southeastern Ethiopia, in Wollo, a Muslim musical form called manzuma developed in 1907.
In the North, traditional string instruments include the masenqo, a one-string bowed lute; the krar (also known as kirar), and a large ten-string lyre. The dita (a five-string lyre) and musical bows (including an unusual three-string variant) are among the chordophones found in the south. The washint is a bamboo flute that is common throughout or in the highlands (Central and North).
Trumpet-like instruments include the ceremonial malakat used in some regions, and the holdudwa (animal horn; compare shofar) found mainly in the south. Embilta flutes have no finger holes and produce only two tones, the fundamental and a fourth or fifth interval. These may be metal (generally found in the north) or bamboo (in the south).
In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, liturgical music employs the senasel, a sistrum. Additionally, the clergy will use prayer staffs, or maqwamiya, to maintain rhythm. Rural churches historically used a dawal, made from stone slabs or pieces of wood, in order to call the faithful to prayer. The Beta Israel use a small gong called a qachel as liturgical accompaniment, though qachel may also refer to a small bell.
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The kebero (ከበሮ) is a large hand drum used in the Orthodox Christian liturgy. Smaller kebero drums may be used in secular celebrations. The nagarit (ነጋሪት), played with a curved stick, is usually found in a secular context such as royal functions or the announcement of proclamations, though it has a liturgical function among the Beta Israel.
| Instrument | Type | Region/Context |
|---|---|---|
| Masenqo | String instrument | North Ethiopia |
| Krar (Kirar) | String instrument | North Ethiopia |
| Washint | Bamboo flute | Highlands (Central and North) |
| Malakat | Trumpet-like | Ceremonial (some regions) |
| Kebero | Hand drum | Orthodox Christian liturgy |
Ethiopia is a musically traditional country. Popular music is played, recorded and listened to, but most musicians also sing traditional songs, and most audiences choose to listen to both popular and traditional styles. A long-standing popular musical tradition in Ethiopia was that of brass bands, imported from Jerusalem in the form of forty Armenian orphans (Arba Lijoch)[5] during the reign of Haile Selassie. This band, which arrived in Addis Ababa on 6 September 1924, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia.
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Ethiopian popular musicians included Bizunesh Bekele, Mahmoud Ahmed, Alemayehu Eshete, Hirut Bekele, Ali Birra, Ayalew Mesfin, Kiros Alemayehu, Muluken Melesse and Tilahun Gessesse, while popular folk musicians included Alemu Aga, Kassa Tessema, Ketema Makonnen, Asnaketch Worku, and Mary Armede. Perhaps the most influential musician of the period, however, was Ethio-jazz innovator Mulatu Astatke.
During the 1980s, the Derg controlled Ethiopia, and emigration became almost impossible. Musicians during this period included Ethio Stars, Wallias Band and Roha Band, though the singer Neway Debebe was most popular. Popular musicians from Ethiopia include internationally renowned and recognized artists such as the Los Angeles-area expatriate Aster Aweke, The Weeknd and Teddy Afro, who is often accredited with the fusion of Rastafarian styles into mainstream Ethiopian music.
More recently, music from Tigray and Eritrea has become popular in Ethiopia and among exiles, especially in Italy. One of the biggest new trends, however, has been the rise of bolel, a sort of blues-like music, played by sarcastic azmari playing in parts of Addis Ababa, especially Yohannès Sefer and Kazentchis. Other popular performers include Tewodros Tadesse, Neway Debebe, Ephrem Tamiru, Tadesse Alemu, Hamelmal Abate, Martha Ashagari, Yohannes Berhanu, Kuku Sebsebe, Aster Aweke, and Manalemosh Dibo.
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Éthiopiques producer Francis Falceto criticizes contemporary Ethiopian music for eschewing traditional instruments and ensemble playing in favor of one-man bands using synthesizers. Harvard University professor Kay Kaufman Shelemay, on the other hand, maintains that there is genuine creativity in the contemporary music scene.
🛑 ETHIOPIAN GOLDEN ARTISTS MUSIC COLLECTION ❤️ | Dj Eyobed Mix
Diverse Ethiopian Dances
There are many different types of Ethiopian dances, each unique to the diverse regions of the country. In a 1964 ethnographic study, a Hungarian sociologist visiting Ethiopia recorded one hundred and fifty variations of Ethiopian dance using videos and photos. This study postulates that Ethiopian dances can be divided into three forms: group dances, dances divided by gender, and coupled dances.
In group dances, men and women gather and dance in ways that are not partnered or gender-specific. One such example is the traditional Amhara dance, eskista. Dances that have gender-specific movements include certain Oromo dances like the dances of Shewa/Tulama region in which men tend to have more stiff, jilted moves that mimic riding into war and emphasize physical power whereas women step to the same beat, but with an emphasis on technical and delicate neck movements.
In most traditional Ethiopian dances, women tend to dance in ways that emphasize the movement of their neck and hair through the momentum of the bounce of their steps. Ethiopian dances usually involve short, repetitive movements of the legs, neck and shoulders. The speed and intensity of these movements varies depending on the rhythms being played.
The third category of dance is the coupled dances. These dances involve partnership between a man and a woman, and often involve direct physical contact or a physical closeness that is coupled with complementary dance moves that create a sort of back and forth between the partners. One of the most popular coupled dances in Ethiopian traditional dance is the 'shagoyee' dance which originates from the Harerghe region of the Oromo ethnic group. In this dance, the male partner stands close and places his hands on the woman's shoulders and guides her from side to side, while the woman bends at the waist, twists, and fluidly swings her hair in the direction that her partner pushes her. Another popular coupled dance is called Awris, a playful traditional dance of the Tigre ethnic group.
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As mentioned above, one of the most well-known traditional dances of Ethiopia is the eskista, a dance that originates from the Amhara ethnic group. It is a shoulder-focused dance that involves the movement of the head, chest and neck as well. The eskista is known for its distinct use of vertical, sagittal, and diagonal shoulder movements. Both men and women use similar movements in this dance, and instead of partnership often has a competitive nature in how dancers mirror each other.
Traditionally, the dance has been said to mimic rattlesnake shedding its skin due to the rapid and intensely controlled shaking of the upper body. Some forms of eskista also mimic a bird-like style that emphasizes both stiff and fluid neck movements which is characteristic of the Ethiopian dances in most parts of the country. On the contrary, the southern parts of Ethiopia tend to have dances that are more focused on foot and hip movements. For example, the Gurage region is known for its dances, called Abolala after a typical vocable used in their traditional songs. These dances feature a running-like motion where the feet rapidly step in front of one another while staying in place. The Wolayta people are also known for their uniquely southern dance that focuses on the controlled toss of the waist and hips as the feet are held widely apart for a strong base.
Traditional Ethiopian Clothing
In some central and northern areas, women's traditional clothes are often made from cloth called shemma. It is basically cotton cloth about 90 cm wide, woven in long strips which are then sewn together. Sometimes shiny threads are woven into the fabric for an elegant effect. It takes about two to three weeks to make enough cloth for one dress.
Men wear pants and a knee-length shirt with a white collar, and perhaps a sweater. They also frequently wear knee-high socks, while women might not wear socks at all. Men as well as women wear shawls, the netela. The shawls are worn in a different style for different occasions. When going to church, women cover their hair with them and pull the upper ends of the shawl about their shoulders reproducing a cross (meskelya), with the shiny threads appearing at the edge. During funerals, the shawl is worn so the shiny threads appear at the bottom (madegdeg).
Women's dresses are called habesha kemis, and are often made from the shemma cloth. The dresses are usually white with some color above the lower hem. Bracelets and necklaces of silver or gold are worn on arms and feet to complete the look.
In May 2021, a public exhibition titled The Wax and Gold of Hairstyles in Ethiopia, presenting historical photographs and modern drawings of traditional hairstyles was shown at the Addis Ababa Museum. This exhibition aims to invite the interested public to discover documentary photographs of people and their hairstyles taken by German anthropologists during their field trips to southern Ethiopia between 1934 and 1971.
Culinary Traditions: A Taste of Ethiopia
The Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrees, often prepared as a wat or thick stew like doro wot; a very popular traditional stew made out of chicken and egg. One or more servings of wat are placed upon a piece of injera, a large sourdough flatbread, which is 50 cm (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented teff flour. One does not eat with utensils, but instead uses injera (always with the right hand) to scoop up the entrees and side dishes. When eating with others, Ethiopians might give a gursha, involving using your hand to grab a bite of injera and feed it to someone.
Traditional Ethiopian food does not use any pork or seafood (aside from fish), as most Ethiopians have historically adhered to Islam, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, or Judaism, all of which prohibit eating pork and shellfish. Additionally, throughout a given year, Orthodox Christians observe numerous fasts (such as Lent), during which food is prepared without any meat or dairy products.
A common ceremony is the coffee ceremony. Unlike most countries, coffee is served during social gatherings, amongst family, friends, or neighbors. There are three rounds of coffee drinking: the first one called "awol" (Tigrinya: ኣዎል), the second "tona" (ቶና) and the third "baraka" (ባርካ). The tradition of coffee drinking goes back to Kaldi, a 9th century goat herder from Keffa Zone who noticed his goats were caught up in hysteria after eating a shrub that stimulated them to dance uncontrollably.
