Culture and HIstory

2024 Meskel celebration in Irob

source: Irob Multimedia

Meskel is a popular holiday in Ethiopia, celebrated in various forms across many Ethiopian communities. The cultural celebration of Meskel is particularly prominent among the Irob people in Eastern Tigray and the Gurage people in Southern Ethiopia. In recent years, it has also been emerging as a colorful an annual holiday, especially in the Agame area of Eastern Tigray, where the Irob minority resides.

Source: Irob Multimedia

Additional video on the celebration of Meskel Holiday at the Mabino Meskele-Kristos Church, Irob. Meskele-Kirstos church was built by the Blessed Abba Zewengel Z-Assimba. This church is a renovation of one of the numerous 5th-century churches constructed during the reign of Emperor Gebre Meskel in the Irob region. Enjoy some interesting historical facts (about 16 minutes into the video) yet to be uncovered.

Saho Language and Culture Research

The video below on the left short presentation of Saho language and culture research by "Ethnorema". Explore their site for more for more.

Video-Saho-2014.mov

የቀብር ስነ ስርዓት በኢሮብ ህዝብ/funeral procession in Irob

የኢሮብ ህዝብ በሞት የተለየው የምወድው ወገኑን በሃዘን፤ በቅዳሴና

በጸሎት ሲሸኝ በእንድህ መልክ ነው። የቀብር ቦታው ዓሊቴና ከተማ ነው።

የዓሲምባ ፍቅር መጽሓፍ ትረካ

ጻሓፊ፤ ካሕሣይ አብራሃ ብስራት

ተራኪ፤ ሸገር አፍሬአም ራዲዮ

ለሁሉም ክፍሎች (1 እስከ 20) ሊንኮቹን በዩትዩብ ይፈልጉ

የዓሲምባ ፍቅር መጽሓፍ ድንቅ የኢሕአፓ/ኢሕአሰ ትግል እና የኢሮብ ብሄረሰብ ቁርኝኘት እያዋዛ ያስተዋውቃችኋል። ዓሲምባ በኢሮብ ውስጥ የሚገኝ፤ በትግራይ በከፍታ ከሚታወቁ ተራሮች አንዱ ሆኖ፤ ከፍታውም ከባህር ወለል በላይ 3,210 ሜትር ነው። ዓሲምባ ማለት በሳሆ ቋንቋ 'ቀይ ተራራ' ማለት ሲሆን፤ የኢሮብ ሕዝብ ለኢሕአፓ የሰጠው የመጠሪያ ስያሜም ነው።

ሳሆ ጎይላ/saho music

Education

Religion in Irob

Modern Catholicism began with an Italian priest, St. Justin de Jacobis, who evangelized in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. His church was in Alitena. Further reading here

ቅዱስ ገበረሚካኤል

ቅዱስ ያዕቆብ

የደቂቀ እስጢፋኖሳዊያን እና የኢሮብ ብሔረሰብ

ሁሉም የኣባ እስጢፋኖስ ተከታዮች (ደቂቀ እስጢፋኖሳዊያን) የየራሳቸው የገድል መፃህፍት ኣሏቸው። ሁሉም በበወቅቱ ግብፃዊው ሊቀ ጳጳስ ኣቡነ በርተሎሜዎስ ድቁናን እና ምንኩስናን ያገኙ ቅዱሳን ናቸው። የመሚገገረርመመወው ደደገግመሞ የኣባ እስጢፋኖስ ክብር በሁሉም ገድላት ተፅፏል።

ደቂቀ እስጢፋኖስ፣ "በሕግ አምላክ"፣ ጌታተቸው ሃይሌ

ደቂቀ እስጢፋኖስ

ዐፄ ዘርዓ ያዕቆብና ደቂቀ እስጢፋኖስ (ደቂቀ እስጢፋ)

የጉንዳ ጉንደ ማንስክርብት ላይብራሪ

The enlightened Deqiqe Estifanos followers sought refuge among the Irob people. Their sanctuary was the historic Gunda Gunde monastery in Irob.

ኣባ እስጢፋኖስ በ1414 በትግራይ የጉንዳጉንዶንና የአሲራ መቲራ ቅ/ድ/ማርያም ኣድባራትና ገዳማትን መስርተው በእመቤታችን ቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም ስም ሰየሟቸው ፣ በጻፉዋቸው መጻህፍትና ገድላት ሁሉ የእመቤታችን ቅድስት ድንግል ማርያም የምስለ ፍቁር ወልዳ ስዕል አለ። ውዳሴ ማርያምና አንቀጸብርሃንም ይደግማሉ። (ፕ/ር ጌታቸው ሃይሌ "በህግ ኣምላክ"በሚለው መፅሃፋቸው፣የ1995 እትም ፡ ገፅ 7 ላይ)

የኣባ እስጢፋኖስ ተከታዮች (ደቂቀ እስጢፋኖስ)ቁጥራቸው 12 ሲሆኑ ስማቸውም ፦ 1) ኣባ እዝራ, 2) ኣባ ይስሃቅ, 3) ኣባ ኣበከረዙን, 4) ኣባ ገብረ መሲህ, 5) ኣባ ሃብተ ስላሴ, 6) ኣባ ተክለ ነቢያት

7) ኣባ ኢሳይያስ, 8) ኣባ ገ/ክርስቶስ, 9) ኣባ ሳሙኤለ ዘከስዋ, 10) ኣባ ኢዮሳብ, 11) ኣባ መዝገበ ስላሴ, 12) አባ ተወልደ መድህን

ልዑል ራስ መንገሻ ስዩም በ96 ዓመታቸው ሁለት ሰዓት ቆመው አድማጭን ምን የመሰለ ታሪክ ሲያስተምሩ። የሚደነቅ ችሎታና አእምሮ ነው!

Irob's demonstrating in Dawhan Against the EEBC, The Hague Decision

This video is about the continued opposition of Irob against the Algiers "Peace" Agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that divides the Irob minority between two countries for no apparent reasons. Irobs have been voicing their grievances ever since. This particular demonstration is from 2018, Dawhan, Irob, after the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali announced that Ethiopia will accept the Algiers agreement with out conditions.

“If the decision of the EEBC is implemented as it is, this tiny Irob land and people will be divided into two belligerent nations. That, almost certainly, will be the end of the existence of the Irob minority as a viable ethnic group,” argued Fissuh.

Re-invasion of Irobland by Eritrean forces &during the 2020-2022 Tigray war

Irob Adar, a traditional poetic songs

Irob Traditional Goyla & Hora

Blessings in Saho language on Coffee Ceremony

አይኒ ሳሓህ ያናም

Christmas with Irob Children, Ethiopia: A Vanishing Tradition

One of the most cherished memories of Irob children is celebrating Ethiopian Christmas. The Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated on January 7th, according to the Julian calendar. It is also known as Lidet or Genna, and it is a time of joy, festivity, and community.

In the past, children from different villages in Irob would gather and form groups to sing "Lidet Hora", or Christmas songs, in the Saho language. They would visit every house in their village and receive food and drinks from the hosts. They would also carry decorated sticks called Oro-Oro (ዖሮዖሮ). They would sleep over at one of the houses and continue their rounds the next day until they covered all the houses in their village. This could take several days, depending on the size of the village.

In Adaga for instance, the kids from Sasale-Riyi, Dululuho, and Delbul would spend together. Sometimes, there would be conflicts between children from neighboring villages over who had the right to visit certain border houses. For example, Adaga Tabia had disputes with Bobo village, Agam village, Dirbi-are, Gibidawo, and Abbe. However, these were usually resolved peacefully by the elders.

This tradition was a way of strengthening social bonds, preserving cultural heritage, and celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. It was also a lot of fun and excitement for the children, who looked forward to it every year.

Preserving Our Cultural Heritage: A Call to Action

Lidet Hora with Irob Kids

It is disheartening to witness the decline of this cherished tradition, which has been deeply affected by urbanization, migration, modernization, and conflict. Many children today no longer take part in "Lidet Hora" The ravages of wars and drought have destroyed or abandoned many villages where this tradition once thrived. Families, in search of better opportunities, have relocated to cities or even abroad. As Western customs and lifestyles take root, they often overshadow our ancestral practices, pushing them further into obscurity.

The loss of such a beautiful and unique tradition feels like losing a part of our history and identity. Yet, let's hold onto the hope that one day, we can revive it and pass it on to future generations.

Elders' version of Hora

Special thanks to Shifare Kahsay Suba Medhin Fessuh (Sanage TV) for sharing this wonderful video with us. If you have more videos or memories of this celebration, please share them with us so we can continue celebrating and preserving our rich cultural heritage.

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