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Common Factors Uniting the Peoples of Ethiopia
By Fikre Tolossa, Ethiopian Review, February 1994
Regarding religion, a significant number of the so-called Amhara Christians exercise the indigenous Oromo religion, including the Atete, Borenticha, Irecha and Awulia rituals. As far as language is concerned, Amharic is heavy-laden with Oromo vocabularies, proverbs, sayings and tales. The Amhara have adopted the Oromo way of life to a great extent in the spheres of warfare, horsemanship, agriculture, clothing, handicraft, hair dressing, social relationships including the method of child adoption called Gudifecha and Mogassa, to mention just a few. Besides mixing with the Amhara common folks, the Oromo intermarried with the Amhara nobles and ruled Ethiopia for centuries as dejazmaches, rases, princes, kings, emperors and empresses. As a matter of fact, Ethiopia has been enriched by the Oromo, who, pumping fresh blood into the veins of the Amhara and introducing a rich and diverse culture among the rest of the ancient peoples of Ethiopia, strengthened to an immeasurable extent the demographic, political, linguistic, social and cultural dynamics of Ethiopia.
Reciprocally, the Amhara have exposed the Oromo to their language, culture, and religion so that some of them were converted to Christianity speaking Ge’ez and Amharic and leading the life-style of the Amhara. The Oromo language has been enriched by Amharic words, proverbs, sayings and folk tales which cry for a deeper examination.
An obvious Amhara Christian influence on the Oromo is the celebration of Meskel (the holiday of the founding of the True Cross) and Timket (Epiphany). Meskel is celebrated not only by the Oromo and the Amhara alike, but by many other Ethiopians including the peoples of Sidama, Kefa, Mao and Janjero. Timket is observed by numerous Ethiopians, except Muslims, who appreciate and enjoy each other’s songs and dances. A number of sacred places, however, are frequented by both Christian and Muslim Oromo and Amharas as well as other Ethiopians. These sacred places include Mt. Zuqualla, the Church of St. Gabriel in Kulubi and the tomb of Sheik Hussein in Bale.
Surrounded by the Somali, the Oromo, the Saho and some Eritrean ethnic groups, the Afar have kept their Ethiopian identity for ages. Like their fellow Tigreans, Amharas and Somalis, some of them claim their ties with South Arabia. According to both the Adoimara (commoners) and the Asaimara (nobles) traditions, they (the commoners and nobles) descend from an intermarriage of the indigenous Afar people with Yemeni Arabs. At the same time, I.M. Lewis mentions in his book, People of The Horn of Africa, that the Asaimara also descend from immigrant Abyssinians (Tigre/Amhara) of the Ethiopian highlands.
Whereas northern Afar tribes were associated with Tigrai and Eritrea, the Anfari of Aussa dealt with Central Ethiopia. In an attempt to create a good relationship with the leaders of the Aussa, some of the Amhara emperors sought to get married with them. The common Amhara merchants were engaged in salt trade with the Afar for a long time. The Afar and the Somali have a number of things which they share in common. Their physical features are the same. Both are predominantly Muslim. Their economy depends on camels, sheep and goats. Many of them are nomads. They share the same territories. Their tools and weapons are the same. Their food, dresses and hair-styles are the same. Their application and techniques of circumcision is the same. Both the Afar and the Somali practice sorcery to combat illness and use amulets to keep away diseases and evil spirits.
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