Culture of Ethiopia

The music of Ethiopia is extremely diverse, with each of the country's ethnic groups being associated with unique sounds. Some forms of traditional music are strongly influenced by folk music from elsewhere in the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia. In northeastern Ethiopia, in Wollo, a Muslim musical form called manzuma developed in 1907. Sung in Amharic, manzuma has spread to Harar and Jimma, where it is now sung in the Oromo language. In the Ethiopian Highlands, traditional secular music is played by itinerant musicians called azmari (Zageth), who are regarded with both suspicion and respect in Ethiopian society.

Chordophones

A krar player.

In the highlands, traditional string instruments include the masenqo (also known as masinko), a one-string bowed lute; the krar (also known as kirar), a six-string lyre; and the begena, 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. Also "kebero" ( a drum) used by the religious group like the Orthodox's or other Christian religious group to praise what they believe in.

Contemporary scene

Popular Ethiopian singer Aster Aweke.

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.[1] 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. Bolel musicians include Tigist Assefa, Tedje and Admassou Abate.

Currently the most prominent Ethiopian singer internationally is Gigi. Through her performing with top jazz musicians such as Bill Laswell (who is also her husband) and Herbie Hancock, Gigi has brought Ethiopian music to popular attention, especially in the United States, where she now lives.

Other popular performers include Tewodros Tadesse, Neway Debebe, Tadesse Alemu, Hamelmal Abate, Martha Ashagari, Yohannes Berhanu, Kuku Sebsebe, Aster Aweke, and Manalemosh Dibo. Neway was very popular among the youth of the 1980s and early 1990s with such songs as "Yetekemt Abeba," "Metekatun Ateye," "Safsaf," and "Gedam," among others. Abatte Barihun has exemplified all four main qenets on his 2005 album Ras Deshen.

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. She further points out that Ethiopian music is not alone in shifting to electronically produced music, a point that Falceto acknowledges.

There are many different types of Ethiopian dance, which were first recorded in 1964 by Hungarians who studied Ethiopian dances found in Ethiopian tribes and villages.[2] About one hundred and fifty variations of dance were recorded using videos and photos.[3] There are three categories of Ethiopian dance: group dances divided by sex, eskista, and couple dances.[3] In group dances divided by sex, large groups of either men or women perform dances.[3] While there are both men and women dances, most are dances performed by men.[3] Group dances divided by sex usually involve simple repetitive movements like stepping, stamping, running, or jumping.[3] The second category of Ethiopian dance is the eskista, which involves the movement of the head, neck, shoulders, and scapula.[3][4] The eskista is known for its distinct use of vertical, sagittal, and diagonal shoulder movements.[4] Besides direction, the shoulders can also jerk, shake, and twist.[2] The third category is couple dances, where a man and a woman dance together without touching.[3] This type of dance includes multiple couples dancing together as a group and singular couples dancing by themselves.[3]

Habesha women in urban wear

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. The bottom of the garment or shirt may be ornamented with patterns.

Omotic Hamar women wearing their traditional attire

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. A variety of designer dinner dresses combining traditional fabric with modern style are now worn by some ladies in the cities.

These traditional clothes are still worn on a day-to-day-basis in the countryside. In cities and towns, western clothes are popular. However, on special occasions such as New Year (Enkutatash), Christmas (Genna) or weddings, some wear traditional clothes.

Often, a woman will cover her head with a shash, a cloth that is tied at the neck. Shama and kuta, gauze-like white fabrics, are often used.[5] This is common among both Muslim and Christian women. Elderly women will wear a sash on a day-to-day basis, while other women only wear a sash also called a netela while attending church.

An Ethiopian woman preparing Ethiopian coffee at a traditional ceremony. She roasts, crushes and brews the coffee on the spot.

The Ethiopian cuisine consists of various vegetable or meat side dishes and entrees, often prepared as a wat or thick stew. 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. 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. Another dish served in Ethiopia is Doro wat, which is chicken stew with hard boiled eggs.

Track and field is Ethiopia's most successful sport, in which they have won many medals in the Olympic Games. Football is the most popular sport in Ethiopia. Despite lack of success by the national team, it is supported by a significant part of the population.

Radio and television are under the control of the Ethiopian government. There are nine radio broadcast stations, eight AM and one shortwave, licensed to operate. The major radio broadcasting stations (all AM) are Radio Ethiopia, Radio Torch (pirate), Radio Voice of One Free Ethiopia, and the Voice of the Revolution of Tigray. Television viewing has increased over the years and today there are a number of channels streamed via satellite television, such as Fana TV, EBS, Gospel TV, ETV 57 (government-owned), Kana TV, OMN, DM TV, and many more. In keeping with government policy, radio broadcasts occur in a variety of languages. Print media, because of high poverty levels, low literacy rates, and poor distribution outside of the capital, serve only a small portion of the population. Major daily newspapers include Addis Zemen, the Daily Monitor, and the Ethiopian Herald. There is also a small but lively film industry.

According to Ethnologue, there are ninety individual languages spoken in Ethiopia.[7] Most people in the country speak Afro-Asiatic languages of the Cushitic or Semitic branches. The former includes Oromiffa, spoken by the Oromo people, and Somali, spoken by the Somali people; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the Amhara people, and Tigrinya, spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people. Together, these four groups make up about three-quarters of Ethiopia's population. Other Afro-Asiatic languages with a significant number of speakers include the Cushitic Sidamo, Afar, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage, Harari, Silt'e and Argobba tongues.[6]

Additionally, Omotic languages are spoken by Omotic ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Among these idioms are Aari, Bench, Dawro, Dime, Dizi, Gamo, Gofa, Maale, Hamer and Wolaytta.[6]

Languages from the Nilo-Saharan phylum are also spoken by the nation's Nilotic ethnic minorities, who are concentrated in the southwestern parts of the country. These tongues include Nuer, Anuak, Nyangatom, Majang, Surma, Me'en and Mursi.[6]

English is the most widely spoken foreign language and is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. Amharic was the language of primary school instruction, but has been replaced in many areas by regional languages such as Oromiffa, Somali or Tigrinya.[8] While all languages enjoy equal state recognition in the 1995 Constitution of Ethiopia, Amharic is recognized as the official working language of the Federal Government. The various regions of Ethiopia are free to determine their own working languages,[9] with Oromiffa, Somali and Tigrinya recognized as official working languages in their respective regions.[8]

In terms of writing systems, Ethiopia's principal orthography is Ge'ez or Ethiopic. Employed as an abugida for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the 6th and 5th centuries BC as an abjad to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language.[10] Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches. Other writing systems have also been used over the years by different Ethiopian communities. The latter include Sheikh Bakri Sapalo's script for Oromo.[11]

About 63% of the population adhere to Christianity. About 34% of the population are Muslim, with other religions covering another 3%.[12]

In rural and urban Ethiopia, the senior male of the household has the majority of authority. Men in the country side are in charge of the more intense labor such as plowing, trading, building, and harvesting.[13] Women are more responsible for the domestic labor of the household such as cooking, collecting goods, and caring for the household. It is also not unusual to see women helping men with some tasks in the countryside. In the urban areas, traditional gender roles are less common, but the women are, more often than not, still in charge of domestic labor. In Ethiopia education is still stressed more for boys compared to girls and also given more leeway to social activities over girls, though enrollment rate for girls in education is on the rise.[14][15]

There are a number of public holidays in Ethiopia. Among these holidays are Meskel and Ramadan.[16]

• Architecture of Ethiopia
• Ethiopian chant
• Ethiopian Studies

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