By
Ayele Bekerie, PhD
Cornell University
Hulet Sheh Amet. Kileetu Amaat. Ezra Me’et. Two Thousand Years. Second Millennium. Twenty First Century. These are terms that we have heard or read about for over a year now. They have dominated the air, print media, Internet outlets, blogs, or social conversations among Ethiopians, at home and abroad. No other event has attracted our attention, for an extended period of time, as much as the new Ethiopian New Year.It is perhaps the most singular event that brings Ethiopians together, if not in one place,but in spirit as we celebrate our Amaat all over the world, from Melbourne, Australia,Toronto, Canada, Seattle Washington, London, England, Geneva, Switzerland, Dallas,Texas, New York City, New York, Jimma, Ethiopia, Jijiga, Ethiopia, Mekele, Ethiopia,Bahr Dar, Ethiopia, Awasa, Ethiopia, Nekempt, Ethiopia, Harar, Ethiopia. Our new reality is certainly contrary to Edward Gibbon’si view of Ethiopians. The Ethiopians are awake in a thousand places fully aware of the world. Amaat or Isra Meet is terms that signify our temporal literacy and long historical journey.We are indeed lucky to have had the opportunity to celebrate such a unique historical event; after all it happens once in every eighty generations. I sincerely wish Happy New Amaat and Happy New Year to all Ethiopians. I am hopeful that we mark the event by getting involved in chosen activities, for the good of our motherland, in the New Year.Amaat or Isra Meet further signifies the ability of a people to define and control their time. And as one historian puts it, those who control time, control their past. And those who control their past control the present and have vision for the future. Our festive gathering here and everywhere to mark September 12, 2007 is our way of affirming the need to define and control time. The date is a great milestone in our reckoning of time.We enter into a new century, with confidence and hope, to build a better future.
As a result of our ability to create and maintain our own calendar, domesticate, cultivate or pastoralize a great many plants and animals, formulate and build institutions of power,learning, society and religion, invent and develop their own writing systems and numbers, and set aside their differences to defend their country from external enemies, it is appropriate to salute Ethiopians as Persons of the Millennium.At the beginning of the first millennium, the Aksumites, our ancestors, were busy dressing their monolithic stelae, the largest Aksum stela was the tallest and heaviest monolithic structure in the world, with distinct architectural narratives signifying remarkable achievements in governance, agriculture, trade, literature, aesthetics, religion,numismatics, diplomacy, and arts. Our ancestors carved their sense of home, small or big, private or public on the monument so as to distinctly define us as free people.
According to historical accounts, the Aksumites made a religious breakthrough by
synthesizing the traditions of the Old Testament and the New Testament into a unique
and dynamic tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The tradition of the
Old Testament was a tradition of our great legendary Queen Makeda and her son Menelik
I. It was a tradition that dominated part of our history some three thousand years ago.
In our long history, faith is a constant factor that informs our continuity and sense of identity. As we celebrate, the end of the second millennium, we give thanks to our ancestors who developed a reliable and unique way of time reckoning. We are grateful to our ancestors, who gave us a calendar not only to control our own time, but also to frame the meanings of our Ethiopian identity. Looking back two thousand years, we recognize that our ancestors achieved great deeds, from which we draw our strength as a people and continue to use as guiding light and inspiration for our future. We may draw the following seven principles from their immortal deeds: Power, Peace, Prosperity,Plurality, Purpose, Piety, and Perseverance.
At the beginning of the second millennium, on the other hand, the Agaus and the Lastas,another ancestral Ethiopians, were busy chiseling another set of architectural narratives,informed by the Aksumite narratives, into a mountain of solid rock. The great rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, recognized by many as the eighth wonders of the world, are lasting examples of St Lalibela and Queen Meskal Kebra’s visionary leadership. In fact, Bete Medhane Alem, one of the twelve rock-hewn churches, is the largest rock-hewn church in the world.
In the east, in Harar, at the beginning of the second millennium, our Muslim brothers and sisters were busy constructing urban narratives greatly enhanced by surrounding walls and the seven heavenly gates. Local and foreign traders freely traded their goods and services in this magnificent city with several mosques, shopping centers and other urban attributes. Later on the city also welcomed the building of churches and other governmental institutions. It was the vision of the founders of Harar city that ultimately resulted into an internationally recognized designation of Harar as a City of Peace.At the end of the second millennium or at the beginning of the third millennium, we have
the Ethiopian people who successfully retained the rich traditions of the past. They are striving to build their own modernity informed by the rich traditions of the last 2000 years. Upon reflection, we realize that we are endowed with rich and diverse traditions. It is our duty in the twenty first century to root out poverty, injustice, diseases and hunger, informed by historical and cultural legacies and by tapping into the lessons of economic achievements by the peoples of Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Who are the Ethiopians who claim ownership of the New Millennium?
The Ethiopians are the people who trace their human ancestry to Dinqnesh (Some like to call her Lucy).
The Ethiopians are the people of the Bible and the Holy Q’uoran. The Ethiopians are the faithful who stretch their hands unto God. The Ethiopians are the people who welcomed and protected the followers of the Prophet Mohammed at the formative period of Islam.
The Ethiopians are the people of dega, woina dega and qolla as well as islands and
foreign lands. The Ethiopians are the people associated with major and minor rivers.
The Ethiopians are the people who invented agriculture by domesticating a variety of
plants and animals. They are the people of Inset and Teff and Long Horn Cattle.
The Ethiopians are the people who introduced coffee to the whole world.
The Ethiopians are the people who carved and dressed monolithic stones so as to
permanently display the blueprints of their homes, palaces, churches or temples. The
Ethiopians are the people who re-created the holy city of Jerusalem by turning a
mountain of rock into a mountain of faith. The Ethiopians are the people who
transformed a long winding limestone cave into a sacred site of Islam.
The Ethiopians are the people of pastoral egalitarian democracy, as in the Oromo Gada
system, in which leaders are elected and serve only one term.
The Ethiopians are the people who invented a common language through their culinary
arts. Injera bewot, qochona kitfo, yetsom wot, qurt sega, yegebs qolo, dabo qolo, katikala,tej, ambasha are universally cherished legacies. The people of the world, through Ethiopian restaurants, enjoy these culinary traditions, thanks to the works of enterprising Ethiopians.
The Ethiopians are the people who know how to close ranks against external enemies.
The Ethiopians are the people who invented social networking in good and bad times via as Zemma, Qene, and Semena Worq. Ethiopians are also the people who are deeply
immersed in their oral traditions.
The Ethiopians are the people who inspired movements against colonial and racial
oppressions. They are the people who transformed their capital city into the capital city of Africa and the African Diaspora.
The Ethiopians are the people who are known for their diverse songs and dances. The
measure of a good singer is his or her ability to sing the great cultural song called Tizita (memories). In fact, Tizita captures the moods, aspirations, tribulations and joy of Ethiopians. Ethiopians love the Iskista of Gojam, Gondar or Menjar. We adore the rhythmic high jumps of the Oromos or the circular moves of the Tigres. We swear by the speedy cheferas of the Gurages. We delight ourselves by watching the hip-centered sensuous movements of the Wolaitas.
The Ethiopians are the people who practice their artistic talents and aesthetic expressions by painting, tattooing, piercing their god-given bodies. The Ethiopians are endowed with sene qal, sene tsehuf, kine tibeb, sene zema. And sene akal.
The Ethiopian people are chosen Persons of the Millennium because they passed to us a
tradition by defeating their enemies, by defending their values, sovereignty and territorial integrity. We salute our mothers who supplied qolo, dabo qolo, besso, and other logistics in all the battlefronts. In some instances, they have pulled the swords, fired the guns in defense of their country.
We salute our religious leaders who always council for religious tolerance and mutual
respect among all beliefs and denominations in the country. It is our duty to visit sacred sites throughout the country.
We salute the Ethiopians in the Diaspora who maintain their ties to the motherland by
sharing their fortunes and skills with families, institutions and various civic or charity organizations. We also salute those who make regular trips to our motherland. We congratulate those who returned back and get involved in the development of our
country.
In the last 2000 years, history has recorded ups and downs, victories and tragedies, hopes and despairs, rule of law and lawlessness, tolerance and cruelty, human elevation and degradation, achievements and disappointments, feasts and famines, as well as discoveries and destructions. Given the richness of our immensely long past, our timetested desire to live free, our sense of spirituality and philosophical conviction of unity in diversity, it is our hope that we pledge to mark the third millennium by fulfilling the seven principles extracted from the deeds of our ancestors.
We believe that the people of Ethiopia are poised in the new millennium to make a
breakthrough with regard to food security, participatory democracy, cultural plurality, individual opportunities and peaceful coexistence with all our neighbors.
September 8, 2007
Source: The original article was published by the Ethiopian American magazine and it
has been further modified for the Millennium Symposium.
http://www.theethiopianamerican.com/read.php?article=0&modu
le=features
1 comment:
goog stuff. keep it up
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