June 19, 2008

How about a little background on Ethiopian history? This is paraphrased
from the Lonely Planet. I won't go back to the beginning of time, just
recent history. Emperor Menelik died in 1913 and his grandson Iyasu became
King. Continuing Menelik's reforms, he showed a modern secularist,
nonsectarian attitude. He built mosques, as well as churches, took several
Muslim and well as Christian wives and supported the empire's peripheral
populations, which had suffered under the oppressive hands of Amharic
settlers and governors. He was deposed in 1921, accused by the nobles of
'abjuring the Christian faith'. Menelik's daughter Zewditu was proclaimed
empress and Ras Tafari (son of Menelik's cousin) was proclaimed the prince
regent.

Prince Ras Tafari in an attempt to improve the country's international
image managed to abolish the Ethiopian slave trade. In 1923 he got
Ethiopia granted into the League of Nations. Continuing the tradition of
Menelik, Tafari established a modern printing press, several secondary
schools and an air force. In 1930 the last rebellious noble was defeated
and was killed in battle. A few days later the empress died. Ras Tafari
assumed the throne and was crowned Haile Selassie. The extravagant
spectacle was attended by representatives from around the globe and led
indirectly to the establishment of a new faith. Unbeknown to Ras Tafari he
gained subjects who lived far beyond his kingdom when he was crowned
Emperor Haile Selassie. In Jamaica where Marcus Garvey's 'return to Africa
movement' had been established, many saw the emperor's coronation as
fulfillment of the ancient Biblical prophesy that 'kings will come out of
Africa.' Identifying themselves passionately with Ethiopia's monarch and
the fact that Ethiopia was a free state in Africa, Garveys' followers
created a new religion. In it the emperor was accorded divinity and the
faith would bear his name. Rastafarians follow strict dietary taboos:
pork, milk and coffee are forbidden. Marijuana is held to be a sacrament.
Although embarrassed by this new religion in his honor, Haile Selassie in
1963 granted them land in Shashemene.

The year following his coronation, Ethiopia's first written constitution
was introduced. It granted the emperor absolute power, his body was even
declared sacred. Ever since the day of his regency, he had been bringing
the country under centralized rule. For the first time ever, the Ethiopia
state was unified.

In an earlier blog I briefly touched on the Italian occupation in the
1930's so won't repeat that here. During that occupation Haile Selassie
fled from Ethiopian for which some Ethiopians never forgave him. The
1940's and 50's saw much post war reconstruction. New schools were
developed and in 1950 the first institute of higher ed was established. In
1955 the Revised Constitution was introduced. The government remained
autocratic and the emperor continued to hold all power. Because of
Ethiopia's long standing independence, Addis Ababa became the headquarters
of the Organization of African Unity in 1962 and in 1958 of the UN
Economic Commission of Africa.

The pace of development was slow and dissatisfaction with the emperor's
autocratic rule grew. In 1960 while on a visit to Brazil, the emperor's
imperial body guard staged a coup d'etat. Though put down by the army and
air force it marked the beginning of the end of imperial rule in Ethiopia.
By September 1974 the emperor was deposed and taken to prison. This ended
the century old imperial dynasty. It is thought that Haile Selassie was
murdered. His body and that of his wife were later discovered in 1992
beneath the toilet in the president's office in what had been the imperial
palace. It now serves as government offices. He was given a formal burial
in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in 2000.

The Derg (Committee) took power and declared a socialist state. They
lasted until 1991. There was a transition period until 1995 when in August
of 1995 The Federal Democratic Republic was proclaimed.

That's an ever so sketchy modern history of Ethiopia but I found it useful
in understanding the country as it is today. Sorry for taking liberties
and skipping over the wars with Somalia and Eritrea.

More observations

Most women here wear head scarves. Most head scarves are made of white
gauzy cotton with a border of color on each end of the scarf. I hope to
learn more about who wears them and why. Many young women braid their hair
close to the scalp. These elaborate hair styles are quite attractive and
there are many variations on a theme. The fringe at the ends of the scarf
are tied together in clumps, and it looks very much like a jewish tallis
except for the four long strands at each corner. Some men wear them too
in a way that again looks like the way some orthodox Jews wear them draped
over their heads.

I see so many pedestrians and very few bikes and motorcycles here. There
seems to be either old cars, old buses, old mini-buses or pedestrians. I
have been astounded at the amount of construction taking place in Addis.
Everywhere I look I see high rises going up (8-11 stories). Some are mixed
use buildings: apartments, shops and offices. Some are hotels, others are
condos. The amazing thing is to watch construction here. Again we take
much for granted in the US. Today I was watching a construction crew next
to the hotel. There are carriers, both men and women. Two people carry a
stretcher like device with poles and a container between the poles that
holds sand, gravel or concrete. So there are three crews: one feeds sand,
and another feeds gravel into a mixer. The third crew waits for the mixer
to spill the concrete onto the ground. Two men shovel the concrete into
the carrier and two members haul it over to the building that is being
built. No concrete pumps here folks. It is almost all manual!

There is very little humidity here. When we first arrived it took a while
to adjust. It reminded me of being in Bend OR where your nostrils dry out.
We drink a lot of water here, all bottled. You can't brush your teeth or
drink water from the tap. I am grateful for the grocery store just down
the street and the refrigerator in our room.