Sunday 20 January 2013

Merry Timket




Timket (which means baptism or Epiphany in Amharic) is another religious holiday in Ethiopia.  It is the most important orthodox Christian holiday of the year.  Although the holiday is meant to commemorate the baptism of Jesus in the River Jorden, it also seems to be a holiday to celebrate the Ark of the Covenant being in Ethiopia.

The Ark is thought to have been kidnapped from Jerusalem and brought to Ethiopia quite some time ago.  It is said to be guarded by a single priest in a church in Axum.  Strangely, no one but this priest is able to see the Ark, so I guess we just have to take his word for it.  There is some sort of process to replace the current priest/guard should he be called up for higher celestial duties.

Believe it or not, the Ark also has magical abilities and has the power to emit enough energy to sweep away enemies and any innocent bystanders.   This is why it obviously needs to stay locked up, hidden away from the rest of the world.
 
All churches have a replica of the Ark, and Timket is a big colourful parade of priests carrying beautiful umbrellas and replicas of the Ark covered with silk.

Thursday is the Muslim holiday of Maulid, celebrating the birth of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.   It’s nice to be living in a country that is so inclusive of all beliefs (as we get lots of holidays!).
Parade going by the Canadian Embassy


Happy Timket and Maulid to everyone!

Sunday 13 January 2013

The Land of Punt



We (the four of us and Brian) are just back from a short sojourn to Djibouti.  Before moving to Ethiopia I was unaware that the country of Djibouti even existed.  A bit embarrassing, as I previously thought of myself as someone with a reasonable working knowledge of the geography of Africa.

Djibouti is a tiny country that lies at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.  It is bordered by Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Somalia.

In the 25th century BC, the Djibouti area (along with other localities in the Horn) was part of the Land of Punt.   The Puntites had economic ties with Ancient Egypt during the time of Queen Hatshepsut.  They traded things like ebony, incense, short horned cattle (not sure what the issue was with long horned cattle).

In the late 19th century Djibouti was colonized by France through various treaties with the Somali Sultans.  It was then named French Somaliland.  Independence from France was gained in 1977 and the country was renamed The Republic of Djibouti. Arabic and French are now the official languages.

Modern day Djibouti is basically a large French and American military base and also a large port.  Land locked Ethiopia depends on the Djibouti port for transport of goods arriving by sea.

We didn’t actually go to Djibouti to learn about the very interesting history.  We went to snorkel with whale sharks and float in the salty Lac Assal.

A little info about whale sharks and Lac Assal:

The whale shark is a big, vegetarian, filter feeding shark.  It is the largest known fish species.   According to Wikepedia the largest recorded whale shark was measured at 12.65 meters (41.50 feet) and weighed 21.5 m tons (47,000 lb).  Quite exciting to swim next to one.

Lac Assal lies at 155 meters below sea level, which makes it the lowest point in Africa.  It is also the second saltiest body of water in the world (the first saltiest is in Antarctica).  Afar nomads extract salt from Lac Assal and long ago established the camel caravan routes into Ethiopia.

Floating








The salty bottom of Lac Assal







 A great holiday.  Now it's back to school for the kids and back to work for us.