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The culture of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...
is diverse and generally structured along ethnolinguistic lines. The country's Oromo-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
Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...
, Sudan,
Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
, and other parts in East Africa. By contrast, the nation's Nilotic communities and other ethnolinguistic minorities tend to practice customs more closely linked with
South Sudan South Sudan (; din, Paguot Thudän), officially the Republic of South Sudan ( din, Paankɔc Cuëny Thudän), is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia, Sudan, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the ...
and/or the
African Great Lakes The African Great Lakes ( sw, Maziwa Makuu; rw, Ibiyaga bigari) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the second-largest fresh water lake in the ...
region.


Music

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 Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has ...
from elsewhere in the
Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...
, especially
Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...
. In southeastern Ethiopia, in
Wollo Wollo ( Amharic: ወሎ) was a historical province of northern Ethiopia that overlayed part of the present day Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions. During the Middle Ages this region was known as Bete Amhara and had Amhara kings. Bete Amhara had ...
, a Muslim musical form called ''
manzuma ''Manzuma'' is a genus of African jumping spiders erected by Galina Azarkina in 2020 as part of a study of genera placed in the tribe (biology), subtribe Aelurillina. During the study, she found that several species formerly placed in ''Rafalus'' ...
'' developed in 1907. Sung in Amharic and Oromo most notably in
Dire Dawa Dire Dawa ( am, ድሬዳዋ, om, Dirree Dhawaa, 3=Place of Remedy; so, Diridhaba, meaning "where Dir hit his spear into the ground" or "The true Dir", ar, ديري داوا,) is a city in eastern Ethiopia near the Oromia and Somali R ...
,
Harar Harar ( amh, ሐረር; Harari: ሀረር; om, Adare Biyyo; so, Herer; ar, هرر) known historically by the indigenous as Gey (Harari: ጌይ ''Gēy'', ) is a walled city in eastern Ethiopia. It is also known in Arabic as the City of Sain ...
and
Jimma Jimma () is the largest city in southwestern Oromia Region, Ethiopia. It is a special zone of the Oromia Region and is surrounded by Jimma Zone. It has a latitude and longitude of . Prior to the 2007 census, Jimma was reorganized administrative ...
where Ethiopian Muslims reside. In the Ethiopian Highlands, traditional secular music is played by itinerant musicians called ''
azmari An Azmari (Amharic: አዝማሪ) is an entertainer who sings and plays traditional string instruments of the Ethiopian Highlands. Its comparable to medieval European minstrels or bard or West African griots. ''Azmari'', who may be either male ...
'' (Zageth), who are regarded with both suspicion and respect in Ethiopian society.


Chordophones

In the highlands, traditional string instruments include the '' masenqo'' (also known as masinko), a one-string bowed
lute A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted. More specifically, the term "lute" can re ...
; the '' krar'' (also known as kirar), a six-string
lyre The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a ...
; and the ''
begena The ''begena'', also known as ''bagana'' ( am, በገና) is a ten-stringed box-lyre instrument from the Amhara people of Ethiopia, and is the sole melodic instrument devoted only to the ''zema'', the spiritual part of Amhara music. Etymology an ...
'', a large ten-string lyre. The ''dita'' (a five-string lyre) and musical bows (including an unusual three-string variant) are among the
chordophone String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner. Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the s ...
s 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.


Aerophones

The washint is a
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
flute that is common throughout or in the highlands.
Trumpet The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standar ...
-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). The Konso and other people in the south play fanta, or
pan flute A pan flute (also known as panpipes or syrinx) is a musical instrument based on the principle of the closed tube, consisting of multiple pipes of gradually increasing length (and occasionally girth). Multiple varieties of pan flutes have been ...
s.


Idiophones

In the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chri ...
, liturgical music employs the senasel, a
sistrum A sistrum (plural: sistra or Latin sistra; from the Greek ''seistron'' of the same meaning; literally "that which is being shaken", from ''seiein'', "to shake") is a musical instrument of the percussion family, chiefly associated with ancient ...
. 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 The Beta Israel ( he, בֵּיתֶא יִשְׂרָאֵל, ''Bēteʾ Yīsrāʾēl''; gez, ቤተ እስራኤል, , modern ''Bēte 'Isrā'ēl'', EAE: "Betä Ǝsraʾel", "House of Israel" or "Community of Israel"), also known as Ethiopian Jews ...
use a small
gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
called a ''qachel'' as liturgical accompaniment, though qachel may also refer to a small bell. The toom, a
lamellophone A lamellophone (also lamellaphone or linguaphone) is a member of the family of musical instruments that makes its sound by a thin vibrating plate called a lamella or tongue, which is fixed at one end and has the other end free. When the musician ...
, is used among the Nuer, Anuak, Majangir, Surma, and other Nilo-Saharan groups. Metal leg rattles are common throughout the south.


Membranophones

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. The Gurage and other southern peoples commonly play the ''atamo'', a small hand drum sometimes made of clay.


Popular music

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 Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
in the form of forty Armenian orphans (Arba Lijoch) during the reign of
Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
. This band, which arrived in
Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, ...
on 6 September 1924, became the first official orchestra of Ethiopia. By the end of
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, large orchestras accompanied singers; the most prominent orchestras were the Army Band, Police Band, and Imperial Bodyguard Band. Most of these bands were trained by Europeans or Armenians. From the 1950s to the 1970s, Ethiopian popular musicians included Bizunesh Bekele,
Mahmoud Ahmed Mahmoud Ahmed ( Amharic: ማሕሙድ አህመድ; born 8 May 1941) is an Ethiopian singer. He gained great popularity in Ethiopia in the 1970s and among the Ethiopian diaspora in the 1980s, before rising to international fame with African mus ...
,
Alemayehu Eshete Alemayehu Eshete Andarge ( am, ዓለማየሁ እሸቴ አንዳርጌ; French pronunciation: Alèmayèhu Eshèté; June 1941 – 2 September 2021) was an Ethiopian singer. He had performed since the 1960s and primarily in Amharic. He had been ...
, Hirut Bekele,
Ali Birra Ali Mohammed Musa (29 September 1950 – 6 November 2022), known professionally as Ali Birra, was an Ethiopian singer. He was regarded as the most popular Oromo icon, as well as an influential artist in the other regions and urban areas of Ethi ...
, Ayalew Mesfin, Kiros Alemayehu, Muluken Melesse and Tilahun Gessesse, while popular folk musicians included
Alemu Aga Alemu Aga ( am, ዓለሙ አጋ; born 1950) is an Ethiopian musician, singer, and master of the Begena. Life Born in Entotto, near Addis Ababa, Alemu became interested in the Begena (a ten-stringed member of the lyre family, also known as " ...
, Kassa Tessema, Ketema Makonnen, Asnaketch Worku, and Mary Armede. Perhaps the most influential musician of the period, however, was Ethio-jazz innovator Mulatu Astatke. Amha Records, Kaifa Records, and Philips-Ethiopia were prominent Ethiopian record labels during this era. Since 1997, Buda Musique's '' Éthiopiques'' series has compiled many of these singles and albums on compact disc. 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 Neway Debebe (; born 21 December 1958) is an Ethiopian singer and songwriter. Neway became popular after releasing his first debut album, recorded by the Tango Music shop, in 1970s with a local band called the Roha Band. Following this, Neway re ...
was most popular. He helped to popularize the use of Sem ena Worq (wax and gold, a poetic form of double entendre) in music (previously only used in qiné, or poetry) that often enabled singers to criticize the government without upsetting the censors.


Contemporary scene

Popular musicians from Ethiopia include internationally renowned and recognized artists such as the
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
–area expatriate Aster Aweke,
The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...
and Teddy Afro, who is often accredited with the fusion of
Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...
styles into mainstream Ethiopian music. More recently, music from Tigray and
Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
has become popular in Ethiopia and among exiles, especially in
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
. One of the biggest new trends, however, has been the rise of
bolel Bolel is a style of Ethiopian music that evolved out of the Azmari musical tradition in Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of E ...
, 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 Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, bandleader, and composer. Hancock started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. He shortly thereafter joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he hel ...
, Gigi has brought Ethiopian music to popular attention, especially in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, where she now lives. Other popular performers include Tewodros Tadesse, Neway Debebe,
Tadesse Alemu Tadesse Alemu ( am, ታደሠ ዓለሙ) was an Ethiopian singer from Wollega who sang traditional Ethiopian songs, sometimes Christian-based, in an upbeat pop-music style with the modern-day electronic instrumentation that is characteristic of ...
, Hamelmal Abate, Martha Ashagari, Yohannes Berhanu,
Kuku Sebsebe Kuku Sebsibe (also spelled Kuku Sebsebe) is an Ethiopian singer. She generally performs with synthesizer and drum machine accompaniment, occasionally with the addition of traditional instruments such as the ''krar'' or other instruments such as ...
, 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.


Dance

There are many different types of
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...
n 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
Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the Er ...
n 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. In this dance, the woman holds her arms near her chest, as if she is cradling a child, and glides around her partner while ducking and acting coy, while the partner gracefully leaps from one leg to the other and makes a motion of catching her. As mentioned above, one of the most well-known traditional dances of Ethiopia is the
eskista Eskista (Amharic: እስክስታ) is a traditional Ethiopian cultural dance from the Amhara ethnic group performed by men, women, and children. It's known for its unique emphasis on intense shoulder movement which it shares with the shim-shi ...
, 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 Eskista (Amharic: እስክስታ) is a traditional Ethiopian cultural dance from the Amhara ethnic group performed by men, women, and children. It's known for its unique emphasis on intense shoulder movement which it shares with the shim-shi ...
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 that incorporate a running-like motion in which the feet rapidly step in front of the other 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. These different dances are an important part of the cultural expression of the Ethiopian people and their histories.


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. The bottom of the garment or shirt may be ornamented with patterns. 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 Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
or
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...
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 New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...
('' Enkutatash''),
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
(''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. 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.


Body art

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 Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
. 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. These photographs and their original captions had been made available by the
Frobenius Institute The Frobenius Institute (Frobenius-Institut; originally: Forschungsinstitut fur Kulturmorphologie) is Germany's oldest anthropological research institute. Founded in 1925, it is named after Leo Frobenius. The institution is located at Grunebur ...
for anthropological research of the University of Frankfurt in Germany, as well as other institutions and scholars from Ethiopia and Germany. In June 2022, the exhibition was transferred to the city of
Jinka Jinka is a market town in southern Ethiopia. Located in the hills north of the Tama Plains, this town is the capital of the Debub Omo Zone of the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Region. Currently Jinka is the center of Jinka town a ...
for permanent display. The photographs and accompanying information of these forms of body art in Ethiopia was also published online, with an exhibition catalog for free download.


Ethiopian cuisine

The Ethiopian cuisine consists of various
vegetable Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems ...
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 Injera (, ; om, Biddeena; ) is a sour fermented pancake-like flatbread with a slightly spongy texture, traditionally made of teff flour. In Ethiopia, Eritrea, and some parts of Sudan, injera is the staple. Injera is central to the dining ...
, a large sourdough flatbread, which is 50 cm (20 inches) in diameter and made out of fermented
teff ''Eragrostis tef'', also known as teff, Williams lovegrass or annual bunch grass, is an annual grass, a species of lovegrass native to the Horn of Africa, notably to both Eritrea and Ethiopia. It is cultivated for its edible seeds, also known a ...
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 Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the domestic pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig husbandry dating back to 5000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooked and preserved ...
or
seafood Seafood is any form of sea life regarded as food by humans, prominently including fish and shellfish. Shellfish include various species of molluscs (e.g. bivalve molluscs such as clams, oysters and mussels, and cephalopods such as octopus a ...
(aside from fish), as most Ethiopians have historically adhered to the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church ( am, የኢትዮጵያ ኦርቶዶክስ ተዋሕዶ ቤተ ክርስቲያን, ''Yäityop'ya ortodoks täwahedo bétäkrestyan'') is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Chri ...
, or
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, all of which prohibit eating pork and shellfish. Additionally, throughout a given year, Orthodox Christians observe numerous fasts (such as
Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and L ...
), during which food is prepared without any meat or
dairy products Dairy products or milk products, also known as lacticinia, are food products made from (or containing) milk. The most common dairy animals are cow, water buffalo, nanny goat, and ewe. Dairy products include common grocery store food items in ...
. Another dish served in Ethiopia is
Doro wat Wat or wot ( am, ወጥ, ) or tsebhi ( ti, ጸብሒ, ) is an Ethiopian and Eritrean stew that may be prepared with chicken, beef, lamb, a variety of vegetables, spice mixtures such as ''berbere'', and ''niter kibbeh'', a seasoned clarified butt ...
, which is
chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...
stew with
hard boiled eggs Boiled eggs are eggs, typically from a chicken, cooked with their shells unbroken, usually by immersion in boiling water. Hard-boiled eggs are cooked so that the egg white and egg yolk both solidify, while soft-boiled eggs may leave the yolk, a ...
.


Sports

Track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...
is Ethiopia's most successful sport, in which they have won many medals in the
Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a multi ...
. 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.


Media

Radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300  gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transm ...
and
television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
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.


Language

According to Ethnologue, there are ninety individual languages spoken in Ethiopia. Most people in the country speak
Afro-Asiatic languages The Afroasiatic languages (or Afro-Asiatic), also known as Hamito-Semitic, or Semito-Hamitic, and sometimes also as Afrasian, Erythraean or Lisramic, are a language family of about 300 languages that are spoken predominantly in the geographic su ...
of the
Cushitic The Cushitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They are spoken primarily in the Horn of Africa, with minorities speaking Cushitic languages to the north in Egypt and the Sudan, and to the south in Kenya and Tanzania. As o ...
or
Semitic Semitic most commonly refers to the Semitic languages, a name used since the 1770s to refer to the language family currently present in West Asia, North and East Africa, and Malta. Semitic may also refer to: Religions * Abrahamic religions ** ...
branches. The former includes
Oromiffa Oromo ( or ; Oromo: ''Afaan Oromoo''), in the linguistic literature of the early 20th century also called Galla (a name with a pejorative meaning and therefore rejected by the Oromo people), is an Afroasiatic language that belongs to the Cushiti ...
, spoken by the
Oromo people The Oromo (pron. Oromo: ''Oromoo'') are a Cushitic ethnic group native to the Oromia region of Ethiopia and parts of Northern Kenya, who speak the Oromo language (also called ''Afaan Oromoo'' or ''Oromiffa''), which is part of the Cushitic ...
, and
Somali Somali may refer to: Horn of Africa * Somalis, an inhabitant or ethnicity associated with Greater Somali Region ** Proto-Somali, the ancestors of modern Somalis ** Somali culture ** Somali cuisine ** Somali language, a Cushitic language ** Soma ...
, spoken by the
Somali people The Somalis ( so, Soomaalida 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒆𐒖, ar, صوماليون) are an ethnic group native to the Horn of Africa who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic Somali language is the shared ...
; the latter includes Amharic, spoken by the
Amhara people Amharas ( am, አማራ, Āmara; gez, ዐምሐራ, ʾÄməḥära) are a Semitic-speaking ethnic group which is indigenous to Ethiopia, traditionally inhabiting parts of the northwest Highlands of Ethiopia, particularly inhabiting the Amhara ...
, 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 Afar may refer to: Peoples and languages *Afar language, an East Cushitic language *Afar people, an ethnic group of Djibouti, Eritrea, and Ethiopia Places Horn of Africa *Afar Desert or Danakil Desert, a desert in Ethiopia *Afar Region, a region ...
, Hadiyya and Agaw languages, as well as the Semitic Gurage, Harari, Silt'e and Argobba tongues. Additionally,
Omotic languages The Omotic languages are a group of languages spoken in southwestern Ethiopia, in the Omo River region. The Ge'ez script is used to write some of the Omotic languages, the Latin script for some others. They are fairly agglutinative and have c ...
are spoken by Omotic ethnic minority groups inhabiting the southern regions. Among these idioms are Aari, Bench,
Dawro Dawro (or Dawuro) is a zone in the South West Region of Ethiopia. It is located at about 500km southwest of Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia and 319 km of Hawassa, the capital of the SNNPR. Dawuro is bordered on the south by Gamo Gofa Zone, ...
, Dime, Dizi, Gamo,
Gofa Gofa may refer to: * Gofa people of Ethiopia *Gofa language *Gofa Zone Gofa Zone (Amharic language, Amharic "Greater Gofa Area") was one of the 17 Zones in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region of Ethiopia. Part of the Southern N ...
, Maale, Hamer and Wolaytta. Languages from the
Nilo-Saharan The Nilo-Saharan languages are a proposed family of African languages spoken by some 50–60 million people, mainly in the upper parts of the Chari and Nile rivers, including historic Nubia, north of where the two tributaries of the Nile meet. ...
phylum are also spoken by the nation's
Nilotic The Nilotic peoples are people indigenous to the Nile Valley who speak Nilotic languages. They inhabit South Sudan, Sudan, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania. Among these are the Burun ...
ethnic minorities, who are concentrated in the southwestern parts of the country. These tongues include Nuer, Anuak, Nyangatom, Majang, Surma, Me'en and Mursi. 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. 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 A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government (federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...
. The various
regions of Ethiopia Ethiopia is a federation subdivided into ethno-linguistically based regional states ( Amharic: plural: ክልሎች ''kililoch''; singular: ክልል ''kilil''; Oromo: singular: ''Naannoo''; plural: ''Naannolee'') and chartered cities (Amharic: ...
are free to determine their own working languages, with Oromiffa, Somali and Tigrinya recognized as official working languages in their respective regions. In terms of
writing system A writing system is a method of visually representing verbal communication, based on a script and a set of rules regulating its use. While both writing and speech are useful in conveying messages, writing differs in also being a reliable for ...
s, Ethiopia's principal orthography is Ge'ez or Ethiopic. Employed as an
abugida An abugida (, from Ge'ez language, Ge'ez: ), sometimes known as alphasyllabary, neosyllabary or pseudo-alphabet, is a segmental Writing systems#Segmental writing system, writing system in which consonant-vowel sequences are written as units; ...
for several of the country's languages, it first came into usage in the 6th and 5th centuries BC as an
abjad An abjad (, ar, أبجد; also abgad) is a writing system in which only consonants are represented, leaving vowel sounds to be inferred by the reader. This contrasts with other alphabets, which provide graphemes for both consonants and vowels ...
to transcribe the Semitic Ge'ez language. Ge'ez now serves as the liturgical language of the
Ethiopian Ethiopians are the native inhabitants of Ethiopia, as well as the global diaspora of Ethiopia. Ethiopians constitute several component ethnic groups, many of which are closely related to ethnic groups in neighboring Eritrea and other parts of ...
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.Hayward and Hassan
"The Oromo Orthography of Shaykh Bakri Saṗalō", ''Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies''
44 (1981), p. 551


Philosophy

Ethiopian philosophy Ethiopian philosophy or Abyssinian philosophy is the philosophical corpus of the territories of present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. Besides via oral tradition, it was preserved early in written form through Ge'ez manuscripts. This philosophy occupi ...
has been prolific since ancient times, though offset by
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and Patristic philosophy. The best known philosophical revival was in the early modern period figures such as
Zera Yacob Zara Yaqob ( Ge'ez: ዘርዐ ያዕቆብ; 1399 – 26 August 1468) was Emperor of Ethiopia, and a member of the Solomonic dynasty who ruled under the regnal name Kwestantinos I (Ge'ez: ቈስታንቲኖስ, "Constantine"). He is known for ...
(1599–1692) and his student Walda Heywat, who wrote ''
Hatata ''Hatata'' (; Ge'ez language, Ge'ez: ሐተታ ''ḥätäta'' "inquiry") is a Ge'ez term describing an investigation. The hatatas are two 17th century Ethics, ethical and rational philosophical treatises from present-day Ethiopia: One hatata is ...
'' (''Inquiry'') in 1667 as an argument of
existence of God The existence of God (or more generally, the existence of deities) is a subject of debate in theology, philosophy of religion and popular culture. A wide variety of arguments for and against the existence of God or deities can be categorize ...
.


Literature

Ethiopian literature traces back to the Aksumite period in the 4th century, most of which are religious motifs. In royal inscription, they employed both Ge'ez and
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
language, but the latter was dismissed in 350. Unlike most Sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia has ancient distinct language, the Ge'ez, which dominated political and educational aspects. In spite of the current political instability in the country instigates endangering cultural heritage of these works, some improvements are made for preservation in recent years. The Ethiopian literary works mostly consisted of handwritten
codex The codex (plural codices ) was the historical ancestor of the modern book. Instead of being composed of sheets of paper, it used sheets of vellum, papyrus, or other materials. The term ''codex'' is often used for ancient manuscript books, with ...
(branna, or ብራና in Amharic). It is prepared by gathering parchment leaves and sewing to stick together. The codex size varies depending on volumes and preparation. Another notable writing book is a protective
scroll A scroll (from the Old French ''escroe'' or ''escroue''), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. Structure A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus ...
, serving as written
amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protect ...
. Some of these were intended for magical purposes, for example ''ketab'' is used for magical defence. Scrolls typically produced by '' debtera'', non-ordained clergy experts on
exorcism Exorcism () is the religious or spiritual practice of evicting demons, jinns, or other malevolent spiritual entities from a person, or an area, that is believed to be possessed. Depending on the spiritual beliefs of the exorcist, this may be ...
and healings. In Ethiopian
poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings ...
, most poets recount past events, social unrests, poverty and famine. ''
Qene () is a genre of improvised oral poetry from Ethiopia. The genre originates in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, which historically provided traditional religious education, including the composition of qene. Its origins are supposed to d ...
'' is the most used element of Ethiopian poetry – regarded as a form of Amharic poetry, though the term generally refers to any poems. The most notable poets are Tsegaye Gebre-Medhin, Kebede Michael and Mengistu Lemma.


Religion

About 63% of the population adhere to
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesu ...
. About 34% of the population are Muslim, with other religions covering another 3%.2007 Ethiopian census, first draft
Ethiopian Central Statistical Agency (accessed 6 May 2009)


Gender roles

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 tasks such as plowing, trading, building, and harvesting. 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.


Holidays

There are a number of public holidays in Ethiopia. Among these holidays are
Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...
and
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
.


See also

* Architecture of Ethiopia * Ethiopian chant * Ethiopian Studies * Wedding customs in Ethiopia


Notes


External links


Ethiopian ArchitectureEthiopian Crucifixes GalleryEthiopian Habesha DressWebpage of exhibition ''The Wax and Gold of Hairstyles in Ethiopia''
wit
catalog for free downloadTezeta Articles, papers, photos, music -- Ethiopian culture
{{DEFAULTSORT:Culture Of Ethiopia