Tsegaye Eshetu
October 2, 2023
Epiphany and Music
By Dawit Araya
Most of the festivals celebrated in Ethiopia are religious in origin. If we list Christmas, Easter, Arafah, Meskel, Mawalid, Ashenda, etc., it will strengthen our previous statement even more. Although the origin of the festival is religious, the celebration has been modified with traditional activities. It is highlighted by cultural activities without leaving the basic religious teachings. For now, our focus will be “timket” (epiphany) celebration.
It is registered as an intangible heritage of the world, it is one of the two public holidays of Ethiopian Orthodox. It has religious and cultural content. We follow the festival with traditional activities and try to look at it through the lens of music.
ለጥምቀት ያልሆነ ቀሚስ ይበጣጠስ
Timket (epiphany)festival which starts on January 18 will end on January 29 depending on some conditions. It begins with ‘Ketera’ and ends with ‘Astereo Maryam’. In order to be able to carry out the main activity of the festival, the local youth start cleaning the areas, buying or washing their cultural clothes, and preparing for the day.
During timket, the most important attention is given to the “ tabot and mezmur”. According to the tradition, there is a saying called “le timket yalhone kemis yebetates”, and everyone will shine in public.
What we are seeing in the cities in recent times is continued from the previous one. The tradition of making the “tabot” walk on a carpet started in a few villages and spread throughout the country. This beautiful tradition is a good deed that shows the dedication of the youth and they deserve respect.
The act of decorating clothes with the same message and color has gradually grown and it added more glamor to the festival. There are artists who sing about the special things of the festival. For example, Hamelmal Abate’s “enkuan des alen” is a holiday song that we can use for all holidays. A new version of “Misha Misho” is a holiday song that can be heard only for easter and Yehune belay and Tadesse Mekte’s music for the timket festival.
አንድም በጥምቀቱ አንድም በከተራው
ዘንድሮስ ሙገሳ ያንቺ ነበር ተራው
Artist Gizachew Teshome lyrics featured in the song “Ney Mela”. The loving character in this song seems to be giving the praise, applause, and cheers heard about the baptism of the woman he loves.
እንደኔ ያለውን ወስዶ እንዳንቺ ካለው
ከየትም ያለምዳል ፍቅር ሐገር የለው
አንድም በጥምቀቱ አንድም በከተራው
ዘንድሮስ ሙገሳ ያንቺ ነበር ተራው
Most of the singers in the past have been heard to say, “My beginning is the timket festival” in the interviews they give about their singing beginnings. But very few are ready for timket, which is their first public forum. Combined with other festivals or in songs about the country, timket has been raised repeatedly.
ዘና ዘና ፋሲካ ነውና
ዘና ዘና ለጥምቀት ለገና
(Tadesse Mekete on his “feka feta” song)
Among the songs that make timket (epiphany) the subject, we have heard it for several years during the season of timket festivals.
የገና የጥምቀት ሲወጣ ታቦቱ
ጸበሉን ተጠምቀን ባህረ ጥምቀቱ
ወርውሬ የመታሁት ጥላሽን በእንቧይ
ደግሞ ባንቺ በኔ ከልካይ አለን ወይ
He has described the celebration of the countryside in good language, in descriptive terms. In some areas, the lemon used to say that I have married the woman has been replaced by embuai (embuai is a fruit that looks like a lemon but is inedible.) As in the songs we already know, the use of the lemon is to beat the shadow, not the chest. From this , we can understand that the purpose of the throw is to provoke or to say yes and not to ask for a new crime.
Isn’t that the day of timket (epiphany)? Everyone is shining and bright enough to be seen in public and to be engaged, that’s why he said, “Do we have any objections?”
We should listen to this song thinking about the rural lifestyle. Those who live in remote villages, where it is difficult to see each other unless such gathering festivals are created, before the age of not only the Internet and the telephone, but also the letter
A song that incorporates the traditional performance to the style of clothing and adornment of the time seems to be a trick to preserve history for the future. “wenz ayfere kemis”, “Tiftf mekenet”, “Gunf”, “ambart”, “meskel”, “Mahteb”… are part of the song.
ወንዝ አይፈሬው ቀሚስ የተሸነሸነው
ትፍትፉ መቀነት ወገቡን የዞረው
ልክ እንደ ጉንፏ አውሎ አሳደረው
The character of Don’t Look at Me, the woman who came out to be seen in the square, is his friend who calls her “morning lot” when he pleads with her to come on the day of Zegalila, promising Maryam that she will not be left behind. The song’s lyrics seem to have a timing problem. The previous expression seems to be that the speaker or the main character made the call before the celebration. I will not leave for Asteryo Maryam and you will come for me on the day of Zegalila. In other verses, he seems to be talking to a friend with whom he has previous contact. The following verses, however, destroy the previous approach
የዘገሊላ ለት አይቼሽ ደክሜ
ልክ እንደ ታቦቱ አንቺን ተሳልሜ
ያአስተርዕዮ ማርያም መጣብኝ ህመሜ
Where does the character stand? Before the festival? After the festival? Astrio Maryam or Zegalila Day? Although there seems to be something unclear, what he has done to show the existing celebration, especially in rural areas, is much more than what is seen as a flaw. It ends with verses that connect the cultural and spiritual contents of the festival.
ሆታ እና ጭፈራው
ካህናተ መዝሙር ዜማና ውረባው
ካንቺ ጋር ደመቀ ያመትባል ጨዋታው
Timket is celebrated in different places. Among the places where it is celebrated more prominently are the timket of Tana monasteries and the timket of Gondar. artist Tadese Mekte sang “Tawabech Gondar” for the christening of Gondar
በወርሃ ጥሩ በከተራ
እልልታው ይድረስ ከዳሽን ጋራ
ወሸባው ይድመቅ በጥምቀቱ
ታቦታት ተመው አርባ አራቱ
ተዋበች ተዋበች ጎንደር – በጥምቀት
He included most of the processes in the poem, including the state of the city, its people and its celebrations.
የፋሲል ግንቡ ስሩ ጸበል
ያዩት ታቦት ነው አስርቱ ቃል
እንኳን ሐገሬ የምነት ምንጩ
ሁሌም ይመጣል ደንቆት ነጩ
ተዋበች ጎንደር – በጥምቀት
If you get used to songs that reconcile the tradition with the religious, the story can be kept like this. Happy epiphany!
