Ethiopia (and especially the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church)
still use the old Julian
calendar, so they celebrate
Christmas on January 7th, not
December 25th! The Christmas
celebration in the Ethiopian
Orthodox Church is called
Ganna. Most people go to
Church on Christmas day.
Many people fast (don't eat
anything) on Christmas Eve
(January 6th). At dawn on the
morning of Ganna, people get
dressed in white. Most people
wear a traditional garment
called a shamma. It's a thin
white cotton piece of cloth with
brightly colored stripes across
the ends. It's worn like a toga.
If you live in a big town or city
you might wear 'western'
clothes. The early Ganna mass
starts at 4.00am!
The Ethiopian capital city is
Addis Ababa. It's a modern
city. Most people who live
outside big cities live in round
house made of mud-plastered
walls which have thatched
cone-shaped roofs. Sometimes
houses in the country are
rectangular and made of stone.
The design of Ethiopian Church
is similar to the houses. In the
country, they are often very old
and have been carved out of
rock. In cities, modern churches
are built in three circles, each
within the others.
The choir sings from the outer
circle. Everyone who goes to
church for the Ganna
celebrations is given a candle.
The people walk around the
church three times in a solemn
procession, holding the
candles. They then go to the
second circle to stand during
the service. The men and boys
are separated from the women
and girls. The center circle is
the most important and holy
place in the church and is
where the priest serves the
Holy Communion or mass.
It's also a tradition that one of
the Wise Men who visited Jesus
came from Ethiopia.
Around the time of Ganna, the
men and boys play a game that
is also called ganna. It's played
with a curved stick and a round
wooden ball, a bit like hockey.
Traditional Christmas foods in
Ethiopia include wat which is a
thick and spicy stew that
contains meat, vegetables and
sometimes eggs (sounds
yummy!). Wat is eaten on a
'plate of injera' - a flat bread.
Pieces of the injera are used as
an edible spoon to scoop up
the wat.
Twelve days after Ganna, on
19th January, Ethiopians start
the three day celebration of
Timkat. It celebrated the
baptism of Jesus. Children walk
to church services in a
procession. They wear the
crowns and robes of the church
youth groups that they belong
to. Adults wear the shamma.
The priests wear red and white
robes and carry embroidered
fringed umbrellas.
Musical instruments are played
during the Timkat procession.
The sistrum is a percussion
instrument with tinkling metal
disks a bit like a vertical
tambourine. A makamiya, a
long T-shaped prayer stick is
used to keep the rhythm and is
also used by the priests and a
stick to lean on during the long
Timkat church service!
Ethiopian men also play a sport
called yeferas guks. It's played
on horseback and the men
throw ceremonial lances at each
other (sounds rather
dangerous!).
People don't give and receive
present during Ganna and
Timkat. Sometimes children
might be given a small gift of
some clothes from their family
members. It's more a time for
going to church, eating lots and
playing games!
In Ethiopia, in the Amharic
language, Father Christmas or
Santa Claus is called 'Yágena
Abãt' which means 'Christmas
Father'.

http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/ethiopia.shtml

This should enter FP... Wow.
Enlightening

Dude u nid 2 edit ur post...its just too damn long
@toipc-dis ethiopians are weird peeps

ok

How come

Hapi xmas ethi..opians

benny4wax: How come

they use d julian calender, we use d calender of pope gregory called d gregorian calender.

Ubenedictus: they use d julian calender, we use d calender of pope gregory called d gregorian calender.

Yeah. I just love that country.