CELEBRATING AGE OLD CHRISTMAS

Nazret.com, MD
Jan 8 2007

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Christmas is the celebration of the birth of
Jesus Christ and is celebrated in different ways in various parts
of the world. But the style of celebrating Christmas in the western
world seems to have become dominant as the rest of the world mimics
the commercialized theme of Western Christmas.

Setting up Christmas trees, dressing up as Santa Clause and hanging up
green socks for presents have become an integrated part of Christmas
celebration in Ethiopia .

How did Christmas come to be celebrated in Ethiopia , why do we put
up trees and dress like Santa and other questions cross through the
minds of many Ethiopians who still want to preserve the traditional
way of celebrating this holiday.

Capital talked to Professor Richard Pankhurst, a celebrated historian
who shared his own views of how the western world has a strong
influence on Christmas celebrations around the world, among other
issues.

Capital – When would you say the custom of celebrating Christmas
began in Ethiopia ?

Professor Richard Pankhurst – We believe that Ethiopia turned to
Christianity during the time of the Apostles, certainly we can prove
it came at the start of the 4th century when the cross of Christ
appeared in Axum . This means that Ethiopia could have celebrated
Christmas from the beginning, meaning that it was an age old custom.

It is believed that Ethiopia turned to Christianity during the time
of Emperor Ezana because we see coins of Ezana with the moon and sun
where he used to worship the gods that came from Arabia, but we also
saw coins of Ezana with the cross, meaning that he converted Ethiopia
to Christianity.

Do you know why there is a difference between the way Ethiopia and the
rest of the world celebrate Christmas, especially in the date and year?

The difference is nothing but a different way of using the calendar
than the western world. But it is not just Ethiopia that celebrates
Christmas differently from the rest of the world Churches in the
Eastern horizon also celebrate Christmas on the same day as Ethiopia
. The Coptic church of Egypt , churches in Russia , Romania and other
Eastern countries. These countries celebrate Christmas and Easter
on the same days because they have the same way of counting the days
that lead up to the two holidays.

Considering the fact that Ethiopia heard of Jesus Christ at about the
same time as the western world, would it mean that the difference in
calendars came before or after Christ?

Ethiopia would actually have heard about Christ before many countries
because Christianity came here very early. Because the Armenians were
the first to adopt the Christian churches and Ethiopia is the second
with a few years difference between them, meaning that the difference
in date has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.

Being an age old culture, do you think that it is the most celebrated
holiday in such a religious country like Ethiopia ?

Though an age old celebration in Ethiopia , Christmas is not all
that important than holidays such as Meskel and Timket where they
are celebrated in a much more colorful and enlightened spirit.

If you also see what goes on during the Christmas celebrations,
the game of Gena is the most interesting thing. Though it is the
most important part of the traditional culture, it is a game that is
falling out, but is still seen in some parts of the country.

Why do you consider Timket or Meksel to be more important holidays
than Christmas? What historical or traditional relationship do you
see as to how the holidays are celebrated?

I don’t mean to say that it is a less important holiday, but there
is more activity during those holidays. If you look at the Easter
celebration, there is this big feast following the big fasting period
that is taken seriously by the Christians. More spectacular things
are seen during the Timket celebrations and of course Meskel. There is
nothing to indicate about a religious difference in the celebrations,
but the fact that Meskel comes following a long rainy period could
have had a climatic influence on the traditional celebration.

Speaking of the game of Gena, how do you think it started and why is
it being forgotten these days? What exactly does the game have to do
with the celebration of Christmas?

The simple reason is that life is changing. For example, in the old
days the nobility used to play Centourage or the traditional chess,
but now it is all forgotten. People might play the modern type of
chess, but as for the traditional one it is literally dead, as only a
few people did. I was studying about this game and few people in this
generation have even heard of it or that it was played by nobility.

It is the same with Gena, as it is not being widely played these
days. Gena was not a game of the nobility. As a matter of fact,
it was a game of the public, but its popularity is gone. As for its
relationship with Christmas, there is no relationship between the
game and the holiday, it is just that the game was played around the
Christmas season.

The reason for the game not being passed down to this generation is
that the younger generation is developing new interests as this is an
age of new computer games and other, more intersting games. I am not
saying that newer games are not important, but the old ones are also
important, especially in the case of Centourage. It is amazing how few
people know about it. This game probably came from China and moved to
India and on to Arabia and then to Ethiopia and in time, it developed
in one way and after moving to Europe, it developed in a different way.

If the game of Gena was to be brought back in a more developed and
sophisticated way, do you think that this generation’s imagination
could be ignited?

I think that it would be worth trying and that it would go a long
way in helping preserve the culture. Looking at Gena as it is, it
might not be attractive, but put in a more modern way, it could be
as exciting as football, though I am not a huge fan of football.

What do you feel when thinking of Christmas these days? Do you see
changes in the way Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated due to western
influence?

Now-a-days, Christmas has become so much more about giving presents
than playing Gena here in Ethiopia as it is following the culture of
the western world. In the countryside, Christmas is still celebrated
as the birth of Jesus Christ, but in the towns it is changing. What
you have in the west is that the celebration of Christmas used to be
in December only, now opening of shops for Christmas has moved up to
November and October, to get the maximum sales period. The holiday
has become commercialy orientated.

But one has to understand that culture changes everywhere in the world
as people change and this is exactly what is hapenning. One has to be
proud of what he/she has and in that case, one has to perpetuate and
preserve what one can so that when change comes, even though people
are getting interested in new games the old Ethiopian games are still
preserved. A simple example is the amazing development of football
which is not traditional in Ethiopia , but people still watch that
game with fascination.

Putting up Christmas trees and dressing up as Santa Clause has become
synonymous with celebrating Christmas here in Ethiopia . Is it our
culture to incorporate Christmas trees and Santa for the holiday?

It is definitely not Ethiopian culture. Even in the west, it is
not their culture, they took it from Germany . When Queen Victoria
‘s husband was in Germany , he saw a Christmas tree and he brought
the culture to his homeland and that is how it spread and besides,
it is not as old as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, it
is not even close. It is also the same with Christmas cards as it is
relatively new. Though it is not the culture of Ethiopia , there are
many beautiful Ethiopian Christmas cards that show Ethiopian scenes
made by Ethiopian artists, and though not traditional, Ethiopian
Christmas cards are something to be proud of.

Talking about the Christmas trees, I believe that they are wasteful
traditions, down to the cutting of trees for the purpose. It would
be better to use plastic ones because every year more and more people
build these trees and more and more of these trees are cut down without
any replacement, trees are very important in terms of preserving soil
and the environment as well. Looking at Christmas trees in terms of
celebrating the holiday, there is nothing Christian about them and they
are pagan in the sense that they have nothing to do with Christianity.

Christmas these days has become more of commerce in the western
world and it is a simple example of how commercialized, capitalized
and globalized the world is becoming and when the whole world becomes
globalized it will have the same kind of people all over the world and
we don’t want that. We need to preserve our heritages and traditions
so that we will have a sense of who we are.

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