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ETHIOPIA
Mothers,
Lucy’s
Diamonds and Solomon’s Sun Star
by
Jheri St. James
Mothers
in Africa: Lucy is called “the Mother of Mankind;” the
Queen of Sheba’s son began the dynasty that ruled Ethiopia
for centuries; our soil collector in Ethiopia is Dawn Bryan, an
elementary school teacher, TV producer of one of Ethiopia’s
first children’s programs, and a busy mother of three sons. “Ugh – I
really feel like I’ve dropped the ball on this soil thing!
I’m so sorry that you’re in the position where you
have to encourage me to get it in . . . We were just told recently
that our landlord is increasing our house rent. The increase is
to such an exponential degree that we will be unable to pay and
so therefore have just under 30 days to pack up and find a new
house in Addis (a very difficult market, believe me!). I’ve
also got two more TV programs to produce, while also teaching part
time and being a mom to three boys—all while getting ready
to come to the US for six months. It’s been a crazy time
. . .”
*
* *
One
wonders if Lucy had these kinds of challenges during her
life in Ethiopia. We can hardly imagine her domestic
issues of 3.5 million
years ago—dinosaur burgers for lunch? The national
museum in Addis Ababa is ranked among the most important
sub-Saharan museums
in Africa, because it contains fully preserved fossils of “Lucy”,
believed to be our earliest ancestor. Lucy was a female hominoid
who lived in what is now called the Awash Valley in Hadar.
Ethiopians refer to her as “Dinqnesh” and in
Hadar she is known as AL 299-1. She probably did not live
more than 20 years and weighed
around 60 pounds, standing three and a half feet. But why
was she called Lucy? Because the expedition crew of Donald
Johanson, the
anthropologist from Chicago University who discovered her
in 1974, was listening to the Beatles “Lucy in the
Sky with Diamonds,” when
the question came up.
*
* *
Ethiopian
Christians tell this story about the Queen of Sheba: Sheba
was an Ethiopian sovereign named Makeda
(Magda) who returned
from her journey to the Court of
Solomon in Jerusalem pregnant with his son David, who became the first
king of Ethiopia, ruling as Menelik I. “Solomon
had raised for her a throne covered with silken carpet
bound with fringes
of gold, of silver, of pearls, and of brilliants.
He had his servants scatter about the palace all sorts of perfumes.
When one entered one was satisfied without eating, because
of these
perfumes.”
After the evening’s banquet, Solomon tricked Sheba into succumbing to his
desire for her but, while sleeping afterwards, he had a vision. “He
saw a dazzling sun which came down from the heavens and shed its rays upon
Israel.
This brilliancy endured a certain length of time, then the sun moved away.
It stopped in its course over Ethiopia and seemed that it was shining there
for
centuries. The King waited for the return of this star to Israel, but it
did not come back. And again he saw a second sun which came down from the
heavens
and which shone upon Judaea. It was brighter than the sun which preceded
it, but the Israelites blasphemed it because of its ardor. They raised against
it
their hands with sticks and with swords. They wished to extinguish it, so
that the earth trembled and clouds darkened the world. Those of Israel thought
that
this star would not rise a second time. They had put out its light. They
had buried it. But in spite of their watchfulness the buried sun rose up
again. It
lighted the world. Its light illuminated the sea, the two rivers of Ethiopia
and the Empire of Rome. Further than ever it withdrew from Israel and it
mounted upon its former throne.
“
In the morning, Queen Magda said to King Solomon: ‘Send me back to my country.’ He
went within his palace, he opened his treasure, he gave splendid presents for
Ethiopia and important riches, dazzling raiment, and everything that is good.
Then he got ready the caravan of the Queen: The chariots numbered 6,000. They
were laden with precious things. Some of them rolled upon the ground, others
moved by the aid of the wind. The King had built them according to the learning
which God had given him . . . When they had gone a certain distance he wished
to speak alone with Queen Magda. He took from his finger a ring. He gave it to
her and said, ‘Take this ring and keep it as a token of my love. If thou
shouldst ever bear a child this ring will be the sign of recognition. If it should
be a son send him to me” (www.bethel.edu). The Queen of Sheba’s
son Menelik I is regarded as the first emperor of Ethiopia. His dynasty ended
with
Haile Selassie, who ruled from 1930 to 1974.
*
* *
Unique
among African countries, Ethiopia has historically maintained
its freedom from colonial rule, with the exception
of the five years
of Italian
occupation
in World War II. Formerly known as Abyssinia, the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia is in Eastern Africa, bordered by Eritrea
on the north, the Sudan
on the west, Kenya and Somalia on the south, and Somalia and Djibouti
on the east. It is a high plateau with a central mountain range
divided by the
Great
Rift Valley, the most fertile part of the country. The seven lakes
of the Rift Valley sit in a wide, fertile valley between Addis
Ababa and
the Kenyan
border.
Lake Lagano is blue, Lake Abiata is silver and Lake Shala is brown.
Ethiopia lost its coastline at the time of Eritrea’s declaration
of independence on May 24, 1993.
Today’s
life expectancy is 48.83 years, due to the many infectious
diseases on the rampage in this country—diarrheas,
hepatitis A and E, typhoid fever, malaria, meningitis, rabies,
schistosomiasis and AIDS. There is a constant turnover in
population because of repatriated Ethiopians who fled to
Sudan for refuge from war and famine in earlier years, and
the emigration of Sudanese and Somali refugees returning
to their homes.
Three major crops are believed to have originated in Ethiopia: coffee, grain
sorghum and castor bean. These crops are watered by the Blue Nile, the chief
headstream of the Nile. But war and drought have buffeted the economy, in particular
coffee production. Many farmers are switching to raising qat (khat) to supplement
their incomes, a legal drug in Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia. Qat (prounounced “cot”)
is a natural stimulant found in the flowering evergreen tree or large shrub,
which grows in East Africa and Southern Arabia. Khat is chemically similar to
amphetamine, and produces a mild cocaine or amphetamine-like euphoria. Khat has
been used since antiquity as a recreational and religious drug by natives of
Eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and throughout the Middle East. The government
owns all land and provides long-term leases to the tenants; a system which hampers
growth in the industrial sector, as entrepreneurs are unable to use land as collateral
for loans.
*
* *
According
to local tradition, ancient Ethiopians were Jews, and a community
of Ethiopian Jews lived in the country
until the late 1980’s, when the last
of them moved to Israel. Christianity was brought to the then Kingdom of
Axum by St. Frumentius in 330AD, right in the path of
the armies of Islam, which set
out from Mecca on a holy war of conversion in 632 AD. Over the next thousand
years the kingdom came under attack from pagan tribes, Muslims, Ottomans,
rival local warlords, the British, Italians, Soviets
and Cubans. Today over 80 languages
are spoken in Ethiopia from a variety of families—Semitic, Hemitic,
Nilotic and Omotic. Children are taught English from junior high onward,
and many people
can speak it. Perhaps this cacophony of tongues is the reason Ethiopia knows
something about war. But, as with all the countries of Common Ground 191,
we celebrate the serious truth that the quiet soil beneath Ethiopia knows
everything
about being peaceful.
Dawn
Bryan contributed two soil samples, one from Menagesha Suba
National Park, claimed to be the oldest national forest in
Africa, located about one hour outside Addis Ababa. “This
is a place we go several times a year with our three sons
for camping and hiking. Endemic wildlife—like bushbuck,
Colobus Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, Gelada Baboons, hyenas,
warthogs, and numerous birds—can be seen in abundance.
Because of deforestation elsewhere in Ethiopia, this carefully
protected forest is one of the last places in Ethiopia to
see such great, old examples of endemic trees, flora and
fauna.” Menagesha-Suba State Forest could be called
the “oldest park in Africa.” The Emperor Zera
Yacob (1434-1468) designed the forest as one of the “crown
forests” of the country. He arranged for it to be planted
with seedlings of the giant junipers found in Wef-Washa forest
between ankober and Debre Sina. Today the biggest trees in
Menagesha-Suba are over 500 years old. Emperor Menelik II
in the late 1890’s developed the first national forest
policy for Ethiopia. Located on the southwest facing slopes
of Mount Wechecha, Menagesha-Suba is an extinct volcano.
The crystalline cone, Dhamocha, at the summit reaches 3,385m.
Several rivers flow from the mountain, including the Akaki
River that runs through Addis Ababa, the capital city. A
survey in 2001 found 32 species of mammals and 186 species
of birds in this nature preserve, including aardvarks, hare,
mongeese, rats, cats and leopards.
The other soil sample came from the historic city of Lalibella
in Northern Ethiopia. “Lalibella’s rock-hewn churches,
carved right down into the ground in the 12th and 13th centuries,
are known as one of the wonders of the world, and play a very
significant role in Orthodox Christianity in Ethiopia. An Ethiopian
Orthodox priest collected this sample from the largest of the
rock-hewn churches in Lalibella, St. Georgis. The sample was
collected from the interior of a cave in which lie the mummified
bodies of pilgrims who traveled to this sacred site, some of
which you can see from the cave’s entrance. Only religious
leaders with the Orthodox Church have access to this cave because
of its significance. Without the help of this priest this sample
could not have been gotten.” Lonely Planet describes Lalibella
as “Africa’s Petra” another famous rock-hewn
city.”
The mothers Lucy, Makeda Magda (Queen of Sheba), and Dawn Bryan
. . . Solomon’s dream . . . Ethiopia’s richly diverse
flora and fauna . . . the endless cohabitation of Earth and Sky;
female and male. The timeless tale of women raising sons, later
to weep as men kill and conquer each other in wars. Ethiopia
is an ancient, complex, evolving country; sister to all the countries
on our Great Mother Earth. Even as many aspects of Ethiopia and
her people appear to be physically wasting away, the spirit of
Ethiopia endures. As of this writing (June 2005), many of the
world’s industrial nations are pledging monetary support
to Africa through the G-8 Agreement, aware that without help
the 18 proud African nations on their list will collapse finally
and forever. Common Ground 191 hopes that the venerable history
of Ethiopia will be preserved by this aid, and that Ethiopia
will become the land foretold in Solomon’s dream. “Those
of Israel thought that this star would not rise a second time.
They had put out its light. They had buried it. But in spite
of their watchfulness the buried sun rose up again. It lighted
the world. Its light illuminated the sea, the two rivers of Ethiopia
and the Empire of Rome. Further than ever it withdrew from Israel
and it mounted upon its former throne.”
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