Addis Ethiopia Weblog

Ethiopia's World / የኢትዮጵያ ዓለም

  • June 2023
    M T W T F S S
     1234
    567891011
    12131415161718
    19202122232425
    2627282930  
  • Archives

  • Categories

  • Recent Posts

Posts Tagged ‘Enqutatash’

ዘመነ ማቴዎስ ፀረ-ተዋሕዶውን የአውሬ መንግስትን የምንገረስስበት ዓመት ነው

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on September 10, 2020

እንኩዋን አደረሳችሁ አደረሰን!!!

🕊🌻🌻🌻🕊

🌻️ 🌻🌻 መልካም 🌻🌻️ 🌻

🌻️ 🌻🌻 አዲስ 🌻🌻 🌻

🌻️ 🌻🌻 ዓመት 🌻🌻️ 🌻

🌻️🌹⁣🌾🌻💐🌷🌻

👉 በ፪ሺ፲፫ ዓ.ም ዓመተ ምህረት መሻገር የሌለባቸው

፨ ጭንቀት..

፨ መከራ..

፨ ማጣት..

፨ ጉሥቁልና..

፨ በሽታ..

፨ ፍርሃት..

፨ ድንጋጤ.

፨ ድንገተኛ ሞት..

፨ ጭንገፋ..

፨ ድካም..

፨ ስንፍና..

፨ ወሬ..

፨ ውሸት..

፨ ሐሜት..

፨ ድንዛዜ..

፨ ያለ መትጋት..

፨ ያለ መፀለይ..

፨ ያለ ማመን..

፨ ጥርጥር..

፨ ቂመኝነት..

፨ ጥላቻ..

፨ ምቀኝነት..

፨ ያለ መዋደድ..

፨ ጠብ መዝራት..

፨ እርኩሰት..

፨ ሴስኝነት.

፨ ዘፋኝነት..

፨ ግብረ ሰዶማዊነት..

፨ ሟርት..

፨ ድግምት..

፨ እርግማን..

፨ ጥንቋላ..

፨ አስማት..

፨ የዋቄዮአላህ መንፈስ..

፨ የጠቋር መንፈስ..

፨ የጨሌ ቆጣሪ መንፈስ..

፨ የአቴቴ መንፈስ..

፨ በባሕር ዳር ደም ማፍሰስ መንፈስ..

፨ ነፍሰ ገዳይ መንፈስ..

፨ የቃሊቻ መንፈስ..

፨ የእሬቻ መንፈስ..

፨ የጫንባላላ መንፈስ..

፨ የቦራንቲቻ መንፈስ..

፨ የወሴን ጋላ መንፈስ..

፨ የአዳል ሞት መንፈስ..

፨ የዘር መንዘር መርገም..

፨ የአዙሪት መንፈስ..

፨ የንፁሃን ደም ማፍሰስ..

፨ የኢሉሚናት መንፈስ..

፨ የ666 መንፈስ..

👉 ይሄ ሁሉ ክፉ መንፈስ፤ በአብ ልጅ በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ሥም የፈረሰ ይሁን!!!

👉 በ፪ሺ፲፫ ዓ.ም መሻገር ያለበት

፨ ፍቅር

፨ ሠላም

፨ ደስታ

፨ ጤና

፨ ቸርነት

፨ ፍትህነት

፨ በጎነት

፨ እራስን መግዛት

፨ የጠፉትን በጎች መፈለግ

፨ የአውሬውን መንግስት መገርሰስ

፨ የጠላትን ደጅ መውረስ

፨ አገር ማስመለስ

፨ አገር ማጽዳት

፨ ምርኮን መበዝበዝ

፨ በፀሎት መትጋት

፨ ቃሉን ማንበብ

፨ እንደ ቃሉ መኖር

፨ ቡናን፣ ጫትንና ጥንባሆን መጥላት

፨ የፍሬአማነት ሕይወት

፨ የምስጋና ዘመን

ይሁንልን!

አሜን

______________________________

Posted in Ethiopia, Faith, Life | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

The Ethiopian New Year (Enkutatash)

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on September 7, 2014

Enkutatash2007

By Bantalem Tadesse

Six events are observed every Ethiopian New Year, seven in each hundred year and eight in each thousand year. The Ethiopian calendar celebrates New Year on Meskerem first to commemorate the receding of the great storm during the time of Noah and beheading of Kidus Yohannes, (St. John the Baptist). Hence, the Ethiopian New Year is also known as Kidus Yohannes in memory of the saint and his sacrifice.  All these symbolize the transition from the Old Testament to New Testament. The church also commemorate other monthly and annual holidays (Time Out, Volume 2, Issue13, September 6-12, 2002:9).

Six events are observed every Ethiopian New Year, seven in each hundred year and eight in each thousand year. The Ethiopian calendar celebrates New Year on Meskerem first to commemorate the receding of the great storm during the time of Noah and beheading of Kidus Yohannes, (St. John the Baptist). Hence, the Ethiopian New Year is also known as Kidus Yohannes in memory of the saint and his sacrifice.  All these symbolize the transition from the Old Testament to New Testament. The church also commemorate other monthly and annual holidays (Time Out, Volume 2, Issue13, September 6-12, 2002:9).

One of the monthly holidays observed on the same day is Lideta (Birth day of St. Mary). The other one is Mebacha (beginning of each Ethiopian month). The word ‘mebacha’ is driven from the Ge’ez word ‘ba’ate’, meaning, beginning (or beginning of each Ethiopian month). Therefore, the first day of each Ethiopian month is known by the name of Mebacha. Job is said to have been cured from his wounds on Meskerem first. The annual holiday of the Archangel Raguel and St Bartholomews are also observed on Meskerem first (Synaxarium, V.1, 1994E.C:2). Meskerem first is also the beginning of each Ethiopian year, Ethiopian Century once every hundred years, and Ethiopian Millennium once every thousand years.

The Ethiopian New Year also honors the seasonal transition from the heavy rainy season to the bright and sunny seasons. A typical New Year greeting that is often heard is “May He brings you safely from the year of Luke to the year of John…” Every believer passes through this time wishing for a safe transition to the next season. Hence, when Meskerem comes, it is the time of blissful happiness and relief. The safe transition from the rainy season to the breathtaking bright Meskerem is symbolic of the passage from an awe inspiring night into a beautiful morning. Thus, believers celebrate it with first Enkutatash and then Maskal holidays. This prior season lacks brightness, and is awe-inspiring and often frightening, with lightening and thunder accompanied by powerful rains for the length of the period. As a result, it was traditionally believed that death was on hand at that time, and so insecurities and fear ran rampant. The clergymen sing about the dawning of Meskerem because they consider the preceding rainy season to be darkness.

Within the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church, many religious services accompany Enkutatash. The ecclesiastical procession comprised of liturgy, the showing of the New Years Calendar, and a veneration of St. John. Amongst other wishes, the prayers asked for the protection of the people and domestic animals of the country. It also asks that the harvest to be protected from insects and bad weather conditions.

Mass is conducted early in the morning if the festival falls on non fasting days and in the afternoon if it falls on fasting days (Wednesdays and Fridays). Other liturgical services such as the chanting, preaching, and the explanation of the New Year calendar are performed after the mass when the mass is conducted early in the morning and before the mass when the mass is conducted in the afternoon.  After the chanting and preaching, the proto priest or the Aleka (head) of each church reads the calendar of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, which is called Bahere- Hassab. This points out the days of  festivals and the beginning and end of the fasting days during that year.

Then, the same priest declares the replacement of the old year by the new one. As it is already mentioned, the most commonly used cycle to which the clergy and Ethiopian Christians follow is the four-year cycle. The declaration of the clergy includes, therefore, the transfer from the year of the evangelist of the old year to the year of the evangelist of the New Year. For instance, if the transfer is from the year of  Mark to the year of  Luke, the declaration says ‘ Marekos teshare Lukas negese’ meaning Mark is replaced by Luke … This declaration is repeated three times in the church by the leading priest and other members of the clergy repeat it after each step of the leading priest.

Both Enkutatash and Maskal fall at the end of the rainy season so that traditional songs that reflect the season are common at the celebrations of both Enkutatash and Maskal. The following is a small excerpt from the traditional New Year and Maskal songs: “Eyoha mebratie/Hoye/Leneqati/Eyoha abebaye/Hoye Emotaalhu biye sibaba/ Essey Maskal teba…” Literally, it means, “Let me rejoice with the bright light/ [The dark night] replaced by dawn/ Let me rejoice with flowers, /for Meskerem has dawned with the Maskal Festival, /and I have been shocked by fear of death/ but now rejoice for Meskerem has dawned.”

Both Enkutatash and Maskal also fall with the mass blooming of golden yellow Maskal daisies known as ‘adey ababa’. At the celebrations of Enkutatash and Maskal, children can be heard singing interesting traditional seasonal songs. “Eyoha abebaye / Meskerem tebaye/ Meskerem siteba adey sifeneda/ Enkuan sew zemedum yieteykal bada….” roughly translated as “The bright season of September with the fields decorated with blooming flowers encourage people to visit not only kinsmen but also non kinsmen friends…” These words announce the coming of the bright Ethiopian month with its colorful flowers. The song also encourages everybody to pay a visit to his or her relatives, because the now-receding rivers make it easier for people to travel from place to place.

The Ethiopian new year is also known as Enkutatash. Etymologists relate Enkutatash to the visit of the Queen of Sheba to King Solomon of Israel. According to this interpretation, the Queen offered gold and other sumptuous gifts to the King upon her visit to Jerusalem. In return, the king rewarded her with plenty of enku (jewels). When she returned to her country, the people were believed to have celebrated her homecoming- especially the children who were carrying bunches of flowers and singing the phrase “Enquletatash” meaning King Solomon gave you the gems to help you to cover the costs of your trip.

Therefore, the festival’s name is believed to have been driven from the Amharic words “enku”, meaning “jewel”, and “latatash”, which suggests the covering of one’s expenses. In another interpretation, the children said to have a song  “Enqu letatesh”, which means King Solomon gave you enqu (jewels), and letatesh (meaning for your fingers). The festival’s name is believed to have been driven from the Amharic phrase of Enqu Letatish.  Over time, the Amharic letter ‘
‘ (the prefix le-) was dropped and the name was corrupted in to “Enqutatash”. The Enkutatash tradition wherein children give gifts of flowers is a proactive stemming from the Queen Sheba’s homecoming when the children gave her with bouquets (Time Out, Volume 2, Issue13, September 6-12, 2002:9).

While going in the villages, singing the traditional Enqutatash song, children, particularly in the country side, carry gifts of bunches of flower. According to the above interpretation, this tradition is thought to be proactive stemming from the Queen Sheba’s homecoming from Israel after her visit to King Solomon of Israel. It represents the gifts children presented her. In the towns, due to lack of flowers, children go with the pictures of flowers, angels, saints and Ethiopian heroes. In return, children are given or at least promised new clothes or a domestic animal (in the country side) and given coins and slices of home made bread (in the towns).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church does not accept this interpretation. The Amharic language did not develop at that time and hence ‘Enkutatash’ could not possibly be derived from the Amharic terms “Enqu legetish”, or “Enqu letatish”. Instead, the Church suggests that the flower gifts given at ‘Enkutatash’ represent the olive branch or kietema(wet green grass) that Noah’s dove brought to him to show the receding of the flood waters (as described in Genesis 8: 11-13).

Even though every Orthodox Church celebrates the holiday of ‘Enqutatash’ (Ethiopian New Year), liturgically this festival is observed with special occasions in the churches dedicated to Kidus Yohannes (St. John the Baptist) in commemoration of his beheading. This festival is also celebrated with special emphasis at the Entoto Raguel Church at the top of Entoto Mountain, north of Addis Ababa. It is believed that God authorized the Angel on this day to observe every activity undertaken by God.
GLORY TO GOD
AMEN

__

Posted in Ethiopia, Faith | Tagged: , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Happy New 2006 Year

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on September 7, 2013

Enquttattash

Happy New Ethiopian 2006 Year!

__

Posted in Ethiopia, Faith | Tagged: , , , | 4 Comments »

Enkutatash: Happy Ethiopian New 2005 Year

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on September 9, 2012

Enkutatash, the Ethiopian New Year, marks the end of the rainy reason and the beginning of the spring sunshine. While Ethiopia follows the Julian calendar, the holiday falls on September 11th according to the Western or Gregorian calendar, except for leap years, when it occurs on September 12th.

Enkutatash, meaning “gift of jewels” in Amharic, originally derives from the story of the Queen of Sheba returning from visiting King Solomon in Jerusalem, according to popular legend. When the Queen arrived, she was greeted by her Ethiopian chiefs with enku, jewels. This joyful holiday has supposedly been celebrated since this time, marked by dancing and singing across the green countryside, budding with spring flowers.

Enkutatash is a very festive occasion. After attending church in the morning, families gather to share a traditional meal of injera (flat bread) and wat (stew). Later in the day, young girls donning new clothes, gather daisies and present friends with a bouquet, singing New Year’s songs. They often receive a small gift in return, usually either money or bread. Young boys paint pictures of saints to give away and also receive a small token in return. The day of festivities winds down with families visiting friends and sharing a drink of tella, Ethiopian beer, while children go out and spend their newly received riches.

____________________________________________

Posted in Ethiopia | Tagged: , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Enqutatash is Ethiopian New Year

Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on September 1, 2010

Enqutatash, Enquan Metash, Babeboch Mehal…Enfineshnesh!

Ethiopian New Year is typically different and unique in the World. Unlike the others, the Ethiopian New Year is closely associated with the nature’s calendar, i.e. phenology of plants.

Enqutatash”, meaning “gift of jewels”, is celebrated each year on September 11 or “Meskerem” 1 according to the Ethiopian Calendar, that fits well with the flowering season of most herbaceous species. Species diversity (richness) and abundance has a direct link to the Ethiopian New Year celebration. Almost all of the species with high social and cultural value are either endemic or indigenous to Ethiopia. We present here the most widely known cultural practices on the Ethiopian New Year using biological resources such as ornamentals, food, drinks and ecosystem services.

The brightly yellow-colored flowers of “Adey Abeba” (Bidens pilosa) are parts and parcels of the New Year celebration in the country. On this New Year, floors of each house in Ethiopia are decorated with fresh grasses, sedges and the deep yellow colored flowers of Adey Abeba.

Other plant species used include bread wheat (Triticum aestivum) for making the traditional bread called “Difo Dabo”, Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) for “Fendisha”, which is a roasted sorghum used during coffee ceremony, Coffee (Coffea arabica) for drinking and also for its excellent aroma, “Teff” (Eragrostis teff) for making “Injera” and others.

The locally made alcohol called “Tella” is also prepared from different types of cereals including maize (Zea maiz), barley (Hordeum vulgarae), sorghum and Gesho (Rhamnus prinoides). Besides, animals are among the major parts of the New Year celebration. Hen used for making “Doro Wot”, cattle (mostly bulls) for preparing the different types of meat sauces, etc. Other products of biodiversity such as milk, butter, cheese, etc. are also among the most important ingredients in celebrating the New Year.

Micro-organisms also play a significant role in this celebration. To mention only few, the excellent taste of “Difo Dabo” (Bread) and “ergo” (yoghurt ) are the direct contributions of microorganisms. In general, many different types of plants, animals and microorganisms are directly linked to the Ethiopian New Year. It has to be noted that the above lists are much far from complete.

The eagerly awaited Ethiopian New Year is most remembered for the beautiful celebration decorated with flowers as well as for the diverse food types. Ethiopia is among the most diverse countries both biologically and culturally. This diversity has high economic and social value and therefore should be conserved.

Happy 2003!

__________________________________________________


Posted in Ethiopia | Tagged: , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

 
%d bloggers like this: