The
Tigray-Tigrinya are an ethnic group who live in the southern, central and northern parts of
EritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen...
and the northern highlands of
EthiopiaEthiopia , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country situated in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia is bordered by Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Somalia to the east and Djibouti to the northeast. Its size is 1,100,000 km² with an...
's Tigray province. A few also live in Ethiopia's former provinces of
BegemderBegemder was a province in the northwestern part of Ethiopia. There are several proposed etymologies for this name...
and
WolloWollo was a historical region and province in the northeastern part of Ethiopia, with its capital city at Dessie. The province was named after the Wollo Oromo, who settled in this part of Ethiopia in the 17th century...
, which are today mostly part of
Amhara RegionAmhara is one of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia, containing the homeland of the Amhara people. Previously known as Region 3, its capital is Bahir Dar....
, though a few regions (e.g.
WolqaytWolqayt is a woreda and region in northwestern Ethiopia...
) were incorporated instead into modern
Tigray RegionTigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
. Their language is called
TigrinyaTigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two dominant languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia Tigrinya ( ትግርኛ, tigriññā), also...
. They make up approximately 96.6% of the inhabitants of the
Tigray RegionTigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
, and are 6.2% of the population of Ethiopia as a whole, numbering about 4.5 million. Tigrinya speakers are approximately 50% of the population in neighboring Eritrea at about 2.25 million people.
Not to be confused with the
Tigre peopleThe Tigre are an ethnic group residing in the north and eastern lowlands of Eritrea who speak the Tigre language.They are a mostly Muslim nomadic people who inhabit the northern, western, and coastal lowlands of Eritrea as well as areas in eastern Sudan...
who speak
TigreFor other uses please see Tigre Tigre is a Semitic language which along with Tigrinya is a direct descendant of the extinct Ge'ez language...
, a closely related language, see
Tigrinya languageTigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two dominant languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia Tigrinya ( ትግርኛ, tigriññā), also...
. Proto-Tigrayans were the main ethnicity of kingdom of Axum in the first millennium CE. Their language, a form of Ge'ez, remained the language of later Ethiopian imperial court as well as the Ethiopian Church.
Name
There is no name generally agreed upon for the people who speak Tigrinya. All speakers of Tigrinya in Eritrea are officially referred to as
Bihér-Tigrinya (or simply,
Tigrinya). Some
MuslimsIslam Islam Islam ( al-’islām,
[There are ten pronunciations of Islam in English, differing in whether the first or second syllable has the stress, whether the s is or , and whether the a is pronounced as in father, as in cat, or (when the stress is on the i) as in the a of sofa...]
, however, are known as
JebertiThe Jeberti are a Tigrinya- and Arabic-speaking group mostly found in Eritrea with a wider diaspora community in neighboring countries, primarily in the Arabian Peninsula. There are also small numbers of Jeberti living in Ethiopia...
s, although they are not recognized as a separate ethnicity.
History
Historically, the
province of TigrayTigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. By the time of its demise, Tigray had absorbed a number of its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and Enderta province.- History :Proto-Tigrayans and...
and central
EritreaEritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the Red Sea, directly across from Saudi Arabia and Yemen...
was where Ethiopian and Eritrean civilization had its origins. The first kingdom to arise was that of D`mt in the
8th century BCThe 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC.- Overview :The 8th century BC was a period of great changes in civilizations. In Egypt, the 23rd and 24th dynasties led to rule from Nubia in the 25 Dynasty...
. The Aksumite Kingdom, one of the powerful civilizations of the ancient world, was centered there from at least 400 BC to the 10th century AD. Spreading far beyond modern Tigray, it molded the earliest culture of Ethiopia and left many historical treasures: towering finely carved stelae, the remains of extensive palaces, and the ancient places of worship still vibrant with culture and pageantry.
The Tigray-Tigrinya people are descendants of early Semitic-speaking peoples whose presence in the region spanning central Eritrea and northern Ethiopia, is postulated to have existed from at least 2000 BC, based on linguistic evidence (and known from the 9th c. BC from inscriptions). According to Ethiopian traditions, the Tigrayan nobility; i.e. that of the Tigray province of Ethiopia, trace their ancestry to the legendary king
Menelik IMenelik I , first Jewish Emperor of Ethiopia, is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, Queen of Sheba and ruled around 950 BC, according to traditional sources...
, the child born of the queen of Sheba and King
SolomonSolomon is a figure described in the Hebrew Bible as a King of Israel and later in the Qur'an, where he is described as a Prophet. The biblical accounts identify Solomon as the son of David...
as do the priests of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo ChurchThe Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia...
(
Ge'ezGe'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa...
ካህን kāhin). Menelik I would become the first king of the
Solomonic lineThe Solomonic dynasty is the traditional Imperial House of Ethiopia, claiming descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, who is said to have given birth to the traditional first king Menelik I after her Biblically described visit to Solomon in Jerusalem...
of rulers of Ethiopia that ended only with the deposing of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.
Tigraway have long been subject to
AmharaThe Amhara are an ethnic group in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26 percent of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
rule and the prominence of the Amharic language above theirs in the ancient kingdom of Ethiopia, also called Abyssinia (from Habashat, an ancient group of Ethiopian clans). The Tigray-Tigrinya people share a common ancestry with them from the
Ge'ezGe'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa...
-speaking peoples of the Aksumite kingdom; as the Tigray-Tigrinya were previously undifferentiated as a specific group from Semitic speakers in the Kingdom of Aksum, their first mention didn't come until relatively late. The first possibly mention of the group dates from around the 8th to 10th centuries, in which period manuscripts preserving the inscriptions of
Cosmas IndicopleustesCosmas Indicopleustes of Alexandria was a Greek merchant and later monk probably of Nestorian tendencies. He was a 6th century traveller, who made several voyages to India during the reign of emperor Justinian. His Topografia Christiana contained some of the earliest and most famous world maps...
(fl. 6th century) contain notes on his writings include a mention of a tribe called Tigretes.
Biher-Tigrinya
The Tigrinya speakers of Eritrea share several cultural aspects there among the Tigrinya language with the Tigraway of Ethiopia (sometimes spelled Tigrai), although there are considerable differences in dialect as well as culture and many to most Biher-Tigrinyas view Tigraway as a completely different ethnic group from them. The Tigrinya people are one of Eritrea's nine ethnic groups and are referred to as Biher-Tigrinya roughly meaning "Tigrinya nation". Most of them live in rural areas in the highland province of Debub (Southern), the western fringes of Anseba and Gash Barka provinces as well as the eastern fringes of Semenawi Keyih Bahri (Northern Red Sea) province. They are small holding farmers largely inhabiting small communal villages (unlike in Tigray where the rural make-up is dominated by large estates and homesteads owing to a feudal past). Most Biher-Tigrinya are christian and members of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church with small minorities of Catholics and Protestants. There is however a considerable Muslim minority of Tigrinya speakers who are officially included in the definition of Biher-Tigrinya but who are largely referred to as (and refer to themselves as) "Jeberti", some even pushing for recognition as such, separate from the Biher-Tigrinya. The Jeberti are largely urban and involved in trade and artisan professions. The predominantly Biher-Tigrinya (and Jeberti) populated urban centers in Eritrea are the capital
AsmaraAsmara is the capital city and largest settlement in Eritrea, home to a population of around 579,000 people. At an elevation of 2,400 meters , Asmara is on the edge of an escarpment that is both the northwestern edge of the Great Rift Valley and of the Eritrean highlands...
,
MendeferaMendefera is a town in Eritrea. It was an important town of the Aksumite civilisation, but originated as early as the fifth century BC. Numerous buildings have been excavated since 1959, with both crosses and local and Roman coins found...
,
DekemhareDekemhare is a town in Eritrea, lying south east of Asmara. Developed by the Italians as an industrial centre, it became known for its vineyards but was largely destroyed in the Eritrean War of Independence.-History:...
,
Adi KeyhAdi Keyh is a market town in Eritrea, lying approximatively 110 kilometers southeast of Asmara. It lies almost 2,500 metres above sea level and has a population of around 25,000 people...
,
Adi QualaAdi Quala is a market town in Eritrea, lying south of Mendefera near the Ethiopian border, over 2,000m above sea level. It is known for its tukul church with its frescoes and its mausoleum for the Italian Army soldiers who died at the Battle of Adwa. It has a population of 14,000 people...
and
SenafeSenafe is a market town in southern Eritrea, on the edge of the Ethiopian highlands. The surrounding area is inhabited by the Saho people....
, while there is a significant population of Biher-Tigrinya (and Jeberti) in other cities including
KerenKeren may refer to:* Keren, Eritrea, formerly Cheren, a city in Eritrea* Keren District, a district in the Anseba region of Eritrea* Keren , Kabuki stagecraft* Keren DeBerg, an American singer-songwriter...
, and
MassawaMassawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋ , [Eritrean spelling reform], formerly ባፅዕ is a port city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Important for many centuries, it has been colonised by Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Italy,...
.
Language
The name of the language is
TigrinyaTigrinya , also spelled Tigrigna, Tigrina, Tigriña, less commonly Tigrinian, Tigrinyan, is a Semitic language spoken by the Tigray-Tigrinya people in central Eritrea , where it is one of the two dominant languages of Eritrea, and in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia Tigrinya ( ትግርኛ, tigriññā), also...
. Tigrinya is descended from an ancient Semitic language called Ge'ez. The
EthiopianThe Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church in Ethiopia...
and Eritrean Orthodox Churches officially use the
Ge'ezGe'ez is an ancient South Semitic language that developed in the current region of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia in the Horn of Africa...
as a liturgical language today, as in the past. The Tigrinya language is the direct descendant of Ge'ez, unlike
AmharicAmharic is a Semitic language spoken in North Central Ethiopia by the Amhara. It is the second most-spoken Semitic language in the world, after Arabic, and the official working language of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Thus, it has official status and is used nationwide...
(thought to be descended from a specific dialect or cluster of dialects of Ge'ez) and other southern
Ethiopian Semitic languagesEthiopian Semitic is a language group, which together with Old South Arabian, forms the Western branch of the South Semitic languages...
, though Tigre may share this distinction with Tigrinya (its status is uncertain).
Tigrinya is closely related to the
Tigre languageFor other uses please see Tigre Tigre is a Semitic language which along with Tigrinya is a direct descendant of the extinct Ge'ez language...
, spoken by the
Tigre peopleThe Tigre are an ethnic group residing in the north and eastern lowlands of Eritrea who speak the Tigre language.They are a mostly Muslim nomadic people who inhabit the northern, western, and coastal lowlands of Eritrea as well as areas in eastern Sudan...
, as well as many
Beja peopleThe Beja are an ethnic group dwelling in parts of North Africa and the Horn of Africa.-Geography:The Beja are found mostly in Sudan, but also in parts of Eritrea, and Egypt...
. Tigrinya and Tigre although close are not mutually intelligible, and while Tigrinya has traditionally been a written language which uses the same writing system called
fidel (
Ge'ez scriptGe'ez , also called Ethiopic, is an abugida script that was originally developed to write Ge'ez, now the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church...
) as Amharic, Tigre has not. Attempts by the Eritrean government to have Tigre written using the Ge'ez script has met with some resistance from the predominantly Muslim Tigre people who associate Ge'ez with the Orthodox Church and would prefer the Arabic or the more neutral Latin alphabet. It has also met with the linguistic difficulty of the Ge'ez script being a syllabic system which does not distinguish long vowels from short ones. While this works well for writing Tigrinya or Amharic, which don't rely on vowel length in words, it does complicate writing Tigre where vowel length sometimes distinguishes one word and its meaning from another. The Ge'ez script evolved from the
Epigraphic South Arabian scriptThe ancient South Arabian alphabet branched from the Proto-Sinaitic alphabet in about the 9th century BC. It was used for writing the Yemeni Old South Arabic languages of the Sabaean, Qatabanian, Hadrami , Minaean, Himyarite, and proto-Ge'ez in Dʿmt...
, whose first inscriptions are from the 8th century BC in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Yemen.
In Ethiopia, Tigrinya is the third most spoken language and the "Tigray" are the third largest ethnic group, after the Oromo and
AmharaThe Amhara are an ethnic group in the central highlands of Ethiopia. Numbering about 19.8 million people, they comprise 26 percent of the country's population, according to the 2007 national census...
. In Eritrea, Tigrinya is by far the most spoken language, and they represent about 50% of the population (and the Tigre around 30%).
Political Situation
The Eritrean people, thereamong the Tigrinya speakers mounted a revolt against the status of Eritrea as a province in 1962, which culminated in the defeat of the
DergThe Derg or Dergue was a communist military junta that came to power in Ethiopia following the ousting of Haile Selassie I...
(Ethiopia's government) in 1991 and independence by referendum in 1993. During the time of the Derg in the 1970s, various movements arose in
TigrayTigray was a province of Ethiopia. The Tigray Region superseded the province with the adoption of the new constitution in 1995. By the time of its demise, Tigray had absorbed a number of its neighboring provinces, including Semien, Tembien, Agame and Enderta province.- History :Proto-Tigrayans and...
and throughout Ethiopia against its persecution. One of these, the
Tigrayan People's Liberation FrontThe Tigrayan People's Liberation Front , known more commonly in Ethiopia as Woyane or Weyane is a political party in Ethiopia...
(TPLF), formed in the mid 1970s, grew disgruntled with the Derg and advocated the secession of Tigray. By 1991, however, when the group defeated the Derg, its views had changed, and it became the helm of the EPRDF, created under its guidance (and dominated by the TPLF), the current
dominant partyA dominant-party system, or one party dominant system, is a party system where only one political party can realistically become the government, by itself or in a coalition government...
. Some Ethiopians complain that the new TPLF-controlled government favors Tigray at the expense of other regions.
Culture
The way of life evokes images of Bible times. Camels, donkeys, and sheep are everywhere. Fields are plowed using oxen. The Orthodox Church is a large part of the culture for the large majority. The church buildings are built on hills. Major celebrations during the year are held around the church, where people gather from villages all around to sing, play games and observe the unique mass of the church, which includes a procession through the church grounds and environs. The Muslim minority of the
JebertiThe Jeberti are a Tigrinya- and Arabic-speaking group mostly found in Eritrea with a wider diaspora community in neighboring countries, primarily in the Arabian Peninsula. There are also small numbers of Jeberti living in Ethiopia...
however did not traditionally belong to a landowning pesantry as in Eritrea or serfs and lords as in Tigray, but to a class of artisans (weavers, goldsmiths, traders etc.) whose lives were very close to that of their Christian counterparts but revolved and to a great extent still revolve around working their trade in the market and praying
at the mosque.
Coffee is a very important ceremonial drink. The "coffee ceremony" is common to the Tigrinya and the Amhara. Beans are roasted on the spot, ground and served thick and rich in tiny ceramic cups with no handles. When the beans are roasted to smoking, they are passed around the table, where the smoke becomes a blessing on the diners.
The highlands receive most of their rainfall during the summer months, much of which goes into tributaries of the
NileThe Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world....
, 85% of whose water comes from Ethiopia. The soil has been depleted by many centuries of cultivation; water is scarce. Using methods that are thousands of years old, farmers plow their fields with oxen, sow seeds and harvest by hand. The harvest is threshed by the feet of animals. In the home, women use wood or the dried dung of farm animals for cooking. Women often work from 12 to 16 hours daily doing domestic duties as well as cultivating the fields.
Each family—some with eight or more children—must provide all of its own food. The women perform all work necessary to prepare the meals from grinding the grain to roasting the coffee beans. Children carry water in clay pots or jerry cans on their backs. Marriages are monogamous and arranged by contract, involving a dowry given by the bride's family to the couple.
The new couple spends some time in each family's household, before establishing their own home at a location of their choice. Inheritance follows both family lines. Inheritance is determined following a funeral commemoration a year after the death, which may consume most of the deceased's estate.
The country houses are built mostly from rock, dirt, and a few timber poles. The houses blend in easily with the natural surroundings. Many times the nearest water source is more than a kilometer away from their house. In addition, they must search for fuel for the fire throughout the surrounding area.
The Biher-Tigrinya people of Eritrea (former
HamasienHamasien was the name of a province including and surrounding Asmara, now part of modern Eritrea. The region has been divided and distributed amongst the modern Maekel, Debub, Northern Red Sea, Gash-Barka and Anseba regions....
Republic) commonly practiced a form of communal land tenure known as diessa. Under this system the land of the village is reallocated among the villagers on a rotational basis every five to seven years. To qualify for a portion of the land, a male resident of the village would first have to marry and create a household separate from his parents. These members of the village, also known as
Deqebats, were the only community members allowed a portion of the village’s arable land. The land of the village can not be sold or inherited, and it reverts back to the village upon death. Often village custom and law would allow single widows with children, orphans, and widowers a one-half share of the community’s land. The diessa land tenure system held all pasture land out for communal use.
The Tigray-Tigrinya have a rich heritage of music and dance, using drums and stringed instruments tuned to a
pentatonic scaleA pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches per octave in contrast to a heptatonic scale such as the major scale. Pentatonic scales are very common and are found all over the world, including Celtic folk music, Hungarian folk music, West African music, African-American spirituals,...
. Arts and crafts and secular music are performed by mostly pariah artisan castes. Sacred music and iconic art is performed by monastically trained men.
Religion
In Ethiopia, the Tigray Region is 95.6% Ethiopian Orthodox, 4%
MuslimAccording to the latest 1994 national census, Islam is the second most widely practiced religion in Ethiopia after Christianity, with over 25 million of Ethiopians adhering to Islam according to the 2007 national census, having arrived in Ethiopia in 615 .-History:The first Muslims in Ethiopia...
and the remaining 0.5%
ProtestantP'ent'ay or Pentay is a slang term widely used in modern Ethiopia, and among Ethiopians living abroad, to describe Ethiopian Christians who are not members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo, Ethiopian Orthodox Tehadeso, Roman Catholic or Ethiopian Catholic churches...
and
CatholicThe Roman Catholic Church in Ethiopia is part of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope and curia in Rome.There are approximately 800,000 Catholics in Ethiopia - just under 1% of the total population...
. In Eritrea the
JebertiThe Jeberti are a Tigrinya- and Arabic-speaking group mostly found in Eritrea with a wider diaspora community in neighboring countries, primarily in the Arabian Peninsula. There are also small numbers of Jeberti living in Ethiopia...
, some of whom do not consider themselves to be "Tigray-Tigrinya" are Muslim and account for about 10% of the Tigrinya people there. The remaining 90% are Christians, so divided: 73% of the Eritrean Orthodox faith, 12% Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic (whose mass is held in Ge'ez as opposed to Latin), and 5% belonging to various Protestant and other Christian denominations, the majority of which belong to the (Lutheran) Evangelical Church of Eritrea. These are the government registered (allowed) religions of Eritrea. Meanwhile there are those who profess faith to smaller Evangelical denominations whose rights to worship are currently suspended by the Eritrean government, such as the Pentecostals, Seventh Day Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses as well as non Christian denominations such as the
Bahá'íThe Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories.The Bahá'í Faith teaches a doctrine of...
. Nevertheless The Protestant Evangelical Church is a visible presence among the Tigrinya in Eritrea.
The Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches trace their roots back to the Axumite Church founded in the fourth century by Syrian monks. Historically, the Ethiopian and Eritrean churches have had strong ties with the Egyptian Coptic church, where the Egyptian Church appointed the
AbunaAlso see Leaders of ChristianityAbun is the title of the metropolitan bishop or head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church...
(archbishop) for the Ethiopian Church (which then incorporated Eritrea) until 1959. The Ethiopian Church gained independence from the Coptic church in 1948 and began anointing its own pope. The Eritrean Orthodox church split from the Ethiopian Orthodox in 1993 and reverted back to having its pope in the Coptic Church of Alexandria, Egypt.
Over 6 million Tigrayans are Oriental Orthodox, with one priest for every 92 members—the highest concentration in Ethiopia. The remainder are Muslims. There are many Muslims in Tigray Province, but they generally belong to other ethnic groups than the Tigrayans. The Tigrayans are reported to have fewer than 500 Evangelicals, but there are more Evangelicals among the Tigrinya in Eritrea.
The faith of the church is very intimately woven into the culture of the Christian members of the Tigrinya people and is central to their way of life. In the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox and Catholic churches,
MaryMary , usually referred to by Christians as the Virgin Mary or Saint Mary, was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, identified in the New Testament as the mother of Jesus of Nazareth. Muslims also refer to her as the Virgin Mary or Syeda Mariam which means Our Lady Mary...
is considered a saint, and the
Ark of the CovenantThe Ark of the Covenant is a container described in the Bible as containing the Tablets of Stone on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments as well as Aaron's rod and manna. According to the Pentateuch, the Ark was built at the command of God, in accord with Moses' prophetic vision on Mount Sinai...
(
tabot) features prominently in the Orthodox Church. Moreover, the Ge'ez bible preserves many texts considered apocryphal by Protestants, such as
1 EnochThe Book of Enoch is a pseudepigraphic work ascribed to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah and son of Jared .While this book today is non-canonical in most Christian churches, it was explicitly quoted in the New Testament and by many of the early Church Fathers...
, which has only been preserved in Ge'ez.
Church services are conducted in Ge'ez, the ancient language of Ethiopia and Eritrea, just as Latin once was in the Roman Catholic Church, and continues to be the
liturgical languageA sacred language, "holy language" , or liturgical language, is a language that is cultivated for religious reasons by people who speak another language in their daily life.-Concept:...
.
The Eastern Catholic Church in Eritrea was established in the 16th century by Portuguese and Spanish missionaries who had come to help the Christian Abyssinians fight off a Turkish invasion. Centered in the former Akele Guzai province (the eastern part of the Eritrean highlands) the churches maintained most of the liturgy of the already existing Orthodox Church, including Ge'ez as the liturgical language, with minor differences thereamong sharing communion with, and submitting to the authority of the Vatican Pope as opposed to the Pope in Axum.
Roman Catholicism arrived in Eritrea with the advent of Italian colonialism and almost coincided with the arrival of Swedish missionaries who brought Lutheran Christianity to Eritrea at the end of the 19th century. The relationship between these two religions was especially tense as the Roman Catholic Italians resisted and discouraged the spread of Protestantism in their colony and even lay prohibitions and numerous constraints on the activities of the Swedish missionaries. The Roman Catholic Church as an instrument of the colonial authority has held mass in Latin and Italian since its inception, incorporating local languages in its missionary work throughout Eritrea. It initially sought to cater to Italian citizens as well as foster an elite of Eritreans into becoming good Italian subjects. Today the church is a distinctly Eritrean church, although masses continue to be held in Italian and Latin along with local languages thereamong Tigrinya and it also caters to the very small Italian and Italo-Eritrean community mainly in Asmara. The Lutheran Church of Eritrea and its Swedish and Eritrean missionaries were the ones who translated the Bible from the dead Ge'ez language only understood by higher clergymen, into the Tigrinya and other local languages and their main goal was to reach and "enlighten" as many people as possible in the world through education. They were instrumental in raising the literacy rate of their community.
Christianity
Though Christianity in Africa was largely a European import that arrived with colonialism, but this is not the case with the Tigray-Tigrinya (or with the Amhara people). The ancient empire of Axum centered in north Tigray and the central highlands of Eritrea had intimate connections with the Mediterranean world in which Christianity grew. Christianity arrived in the Eritrean and Tigrayan area in the fourth century, growing dynamically in the pre-existing Jewish/Animistic mixed environment. The Tigrayan-Tigrinyas thus converted to Christianity centuries before most of Europe, thereby establishing one of the oldest state churches in the world.
Many Tigrayan-Tigrinya churches were cut out of solid cliffs or from single blocks of stone, just as they were in Petra and as well in Turkey and in parts of Greece. More commonly, churches and monasteries were built high up in the mountains on flat tops known as ambas. Religion is a central feature of the communities and of each family's daily life. Each community has its own church and a designated patron saint.
Islam
Early in the history of Islam, the Prophet Mohammed's companions found sanctuary in the Kingdom of Axum. When some of the Prophet's companions returned to the Arabian Peninsula some of these refugees remained, while some Axumites converted to Islam. These people were called
JebertiThe Jeberti are a Tigrinya- and Arabic-speaking group mostly found in Eritrea with a wider diaspora community in neighboring countries, primarily in the Arabian Peninsula. There are also small numbers of Jeberti living in Ethiopia...
(the elect of God). One of their oldest settlements is said to be
NegashNegash is a village in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia, which straddles the Adigrat-Mekele road 10 kilometers north of Wukro. It has a longitude and latitude of...
, in the Tigray Region. Most Tigrinya-speaking Muslims, or
Jeberti, are today Eritreans, although many of these trace their origins to the neighbouring province of Tigray in the former Kingdom of Ethiopia. In the late 19th century, during the reign of Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia, who was a devoutly Christian Tigrayan, Muslim Tigrayans were forcibly expelled from their homes and found refuge in the nearby northern areas in what is now Eritrea, out of reach of royal Ethiopian authority.
Although they continued to live as a minority among a Christian majority of landowning peasants and were denied rights to own land on account of their religion, they were allowed to settle in the market towns and engage in trades which the landowning Christians either considered taboo or frowned upon, deeming farming the only honorable form of sustenance. The Jeberti thus excelled as Eritrea's earliest mercantile bourgeoisie and skilled artisans, engaging in trades such as metalworking, goldsmithing, tailoring, pottery-making as well as shopkeeping.
Notable Tigray and Eritrean Tigrinya people
- Ras Mikael Sehul
Mikael Sehul was a Ras or governor of Tigray 1748–71 and again from 1772 until his death...
, Governor of Tigray and Hamassien (1741-1769) and Inderassie of Abysinia (1769-1772)
- Dejazmach Kefla Yessous Governor of Tigray and Hammasien (1769-1772)
- Ras Wolde Selassie
Wolde Selassie was a Ras of Ethiopia and warlord of Tigray. He was the son of Dejazmach Kefla Iyasus, governor of Enderta, and his wives included Mentewab , the sister of Emperor Egwale Seyon; and Sahin, the daughter of Emperor Tekle Giyorgis I...
, Governor of Tigray, Tigre and Hamassien (1790-1816) and Betwoded Inderassie of Abysinia (1803-1816)
- Dejazmach Sabagadis
Subagadis was a Dejazmach or governor of Tigray, a province in northern Ethiopia. He was the son of Shum Waldu of Agame, and a member of the Irob people....
, Governor of Tigray
- Emperor Yohannes IV, Emperor of Ethiopia, 1872 - 1889
- Ras Arayasellase Yohannes, Son of Emperor Yohannes, Prince of Ethiopia, Ras of Wello and Shum of Begemdir/Gonder
- Ras Mengesha Yohannes
Mengesha Yohannes was the "natural" son of Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia, Ras of Tigray, and, as a claimant of the Imperial throne, is often given the title of Leul. Ras Araya Selassie Yohannes was his older half brother....
, Son of Emperor Yohannes IV and Prince of Ethiopia
- Ras Seyoum Mengesha
Seyum Mangasha KBE was an army commander and a member of the Royal family of the Ethiopian Empire.-Biography:...
, Son of Ras Mengesha Yohannes, Prince of Ethiopia, Governor of western Tigray, 1910 - 1947, and Governor of all Tigray, 1947 - 1960
- Prince Mengesha Seyoum
Ras Mengesha Seyoum GCVO is a member of the Royal family of the Ethiopian Empire. In 1974, the monarchy was abolished by the Dergue, a communist military junta.- Biography :...
, son of Ras Seyoum Mengesha, Prince of Ethiopia, and Governor of Tigray, 1960 - 1974
- Ras Alula Aba Nega, Governor of Midri Bahri (present day Eritrea) and hero of the Battle of Adwa
- Bahta Hagos
Bahta Hagos was Dejazmach of Akkele Guzay, and considered an important leader of Eritrean resistance to foreign domination. He was born in the mid-1800s in the town of Segeneiti and was killed in a battle against the Italian Colonial Army on December 19 1894.Bahta originally gained recognition in...
, Dejazmach of Akkele Guzay
- Tedla Bairu
Tedla Bairu was an Eritrean political figure. He was the last independent head of state of Eritrea in 1952. He was then the first Chief Executive of Eritrea from 1952 in federation with Ethiopia, until he resigned in 1955. He was described as an "opportunist" by his opponents for his unwavering...
, Head of State of Eritrea
- General Aman Andom
Aman Mikael Andom was the first post-imperial acting Head of State of Ethiopia. He was Eritrean. He was appointed to this position following the coup d'état that deposed Emperor Haile Selassie on 12 September 1974, and served until his death in a shootout with his former supporters...
, President of Ethiopia
- Tesfaye Gebre Kidan
Tesfaye Gebre Kidan was an Ethiopian general who was President of Ethiopia for one week in late May 1991.Colonel Tesfaye Gebre Kidan served as a member of the Derg, the military committee which seized power from Emperor Haile Selassie, and which would later order the executions of his officials...
, President of Ethiopia
- Fisseha Desta, Vice President of Ethiopia
- Meles Zenawi
Meles Zenawi Asres is the Prime Minister of Ethiopia.-Background:Meles Zenawi was born in Adwa, Tigray in Northern Ethiopia, to an Ethiopian father from Adwa, Ethiopia and his mother from Adi Quala, Eritrea, ....
, Prime Minister of Ethiopia
- Isaias Afwerki, President of Eritrea
- Petros Solomon
Petros Solomon is an Eritrean politician. He was an Eritrean People's Liberation Front commander during the Eritrean War of Independence, and following independence he served in several positions in the Cabinet, including Minister of Defense and Minister of Foreign Affairs...
, Defense Minister, Eritrea
- Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo
Mahmoud Ahmed Sherifo , commonly known simply as Sherifo, served briefly as the Head of State of Eritrea while the President was away. He joined the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1967....
, Head of State of Eritrea
- Haile Woldetinsae, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Eritrea
- Seyoum Mesfin
Seyoum Mesfin is the current Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also an executive member of the Central Committee of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front...
, Minister of Foreign affairs, Ethiopia
- Mesfin Hagos
Mesfin Hagos was a founding member of the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in 1977. Before founding that organization he had joined the Eritrean Liberation Front in 1966 as an ordinary member. He eventually would become Deputy Commander of ELF Zone 5.Mesfin Hagos left the ELF in 1970 with...
, Defense Minister, Etitrea
- Estifanos Seyoum
Estifanos Seyoum is an Eritrean politician.He joined the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in 1972. Since independence, he has held the following positions:*member of the Central Council of People's Front for Democracy and Justice,...
, Minister of Finance, Eritrea
- Berhane Ghebrezgabiher
Berhane Ghebregzabher joined the Eritrean People's Liberation Front in 1972 and, since Eritrea gained its independence, has held the following positions: member of the Central Council of PFDJ, member of the National Assembly, Secretary of Industry, Administrator of Hasmasien Province, Commander...
, Minister of Industry, Eritrea
- Helen Meles
Helen Meles is a popular and recognized Eritrean singer. She is known for her successful transition from ex-war combatant with the Eritrean People's Liberation Front to pop star....
, Singer
- Miruts Yifter
Miruts Yifter is a former Ethiopian athlete, winner of two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics. His name is also sometimes spelled as Muruse Yefter....
, Athlete
- Zeresenay Alemseged
Zeresenay Alemseged is an Ethopian paleoanthropologist who discovered the 3.3 million year old girl Selam in Ethiopia. He is currently curator and chair of anthropology at the California Academy of Sciences....
, Scientist
- Abune Teklehaymanot
Tekle Haymanot or Takla Haymanot was an Ethiopian monk who founded a major monastery in his native province of Shewa. He is considered a saint by both the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches...
, Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Church
- Abune Paulos
Abune Paulos is Abuna and Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . His full title is "His Holiness Abune Paulos, Fifth Patriarch and Catholicos of Ethiopia, Ichege of the See of St...
, Patriarch of Ethiopian Orthodox Church
- Abune Phillipos
Abune Phillipos was the first Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church. He was born Tewolde Berhane and began his religious training at the Debre Bizen Monastery at the age of eleven....
, Patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church
- Dr. Kinfe Abraham
Kinfe Abraham is an Ethiopian academic and politician. He was President of the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development, as well as President of Horn of Africa Democracy and Development....
, professor, historian, Ethiopian diplomat and ambassador at large.
- General Hayelom Araya
Major General Hayelom Araya is former a member of the Tigrayan Peoples' Liberation Front, which is the leading member of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front political coalition. As a commander of EPRDF forces, General Hayelom led his forces to northern Shewa and later marched to...
, Chief of Staff of the Ethiopian National Defense Force
- Seye Abraha, former Ethiopian Minister of Defense
The Ministry of National Defense of Ethiopia is a cabinet level office in charge of defense related matters of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. It oversees the Ethiopian National Defense Force and Ethiopian Defense Industry....
- Gebru Asrat, former President of Tigray
Tigray Region is the northernmost of the nine ethnic regions of Ethiopia containing the homeland of the Tigray people. It was formerly known as Region 1...
and leader of an opposition party
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