CULTURE
The roots of Ethiopian culture
lie in ancient Aksum, one of the greatest kingdoms of African
history. During the fourth century, the Emperor of Aksum converted
to Christianity. Religious cohesion under a royal family that
traced its descent from the biblical Solomon and the Queen of
Sheba offset the political difficulties of later Ethiopians, and
served to differentiate them from all of their Islamic neighbors.
Ethiopians are proud to have successfully resisted European colonialism
in the 19th and 20th centuries. The expansion of the country has
brought more Muslim groups into the population, and the Marxist
government after 1974 withdrew official support for the Christian
church. The capital, Addis Ababa, is a prominent center of pan-African
concerns, but local political and climatic difficulties have left
Ethiopians little time to develop new avenues for their rich cultural
heritage.
The Amhara people, although they are no longer the majority of
the population, are often assumed to have the representative culture
of Ethiopia because of the Amharazation program conducted by Emperor
Haile Selassie during much of the 20th century. Amhara is the
official language, derived from the ancient Geez of the Ethiopian
Orthodox liturgical literature. There are, however, over 75 different
local languages spoken in the country that are divided into Semitic
(like Amhara), Hamidic, Omotic, and Nilo-Saharan categories. English,
French, Italian, and Arabic are spoken as well. The majority of
Ethiopians are Oromo, and the majority of Oromo are Sunni Muslims.
Overall, nearly half of Ethiopians are Muslim. There are small
minorities of animists and Roman Catholics, while the remainder
of the population follows the traditional Ethiopian Orthodox Church,
a Monophysite Christianity like the Coptic Church in Egypt.
Most of the country's artistic expression has been devoted to
religious themes and is displayed in churches. A notable exception
to this is Afewerk Tekle, known locally for his
painting, printmaking, sculpture, and mosaics. Tekle is famous
internationally for the massive stained-glass window he designed
for the magnificent Africa Hall, a modern conference center in
Addis Ababa. The window depicts the past, present, and future
of Africa. The verbal arts are also highly esteemed in Ethiopia.
Sewassow, the Geez word for grammar, was a highly developed art
among early church scholars, and its practitioners continue to
be honored by many. Emperor Selassie was very skilled in this
art, and his speaking abilities played an important role in his
relations with the Ethiopian people. The craft skills of the subsistence
farmers who make up the majority of Ethiopians, Christian and
Muslim alike, have deteriorated with the poverty and disorder
of their recent history.
Though there were once seven giant obelisks standing side by side
in the ancient city of Aksum, only four remain. These monolithic
stelae are tall and narrow, carved as if to resemble multilevel
houses. Also at Aksum is the 17th-century Church of St. Mary of
Zion that houses the crowns and other memorabilia of the royal
families. Lalibela was the city of royal favor beginning in the
early 12th century and it is there that the sunken churches carved
from solid rock became the eighth wonder of the world. At 8,000
feet above sea level, these churches were excavated inside and
out in a building style that is uniquely Ethiopian. The city of
Gondar became the capital of the monarch Fasilades in the 17th
century, and his castle there combines the Aksumite traditions
with southern Arabian building styles. Harar has been a center
of Islam from its early expansion through the 19th century. Sturdy
medieval walls enclose 99 mosques within this ancient city. Addis
Ababa is home to many cultural landmarks, including the Cathedral
of St. George, not only a house of worship but also a storehouse
of Ethiopian art.
