Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s Coffee Ceremony: A Ritual of Flavor and Fellowship

In Ethiopia, the preparation of coffee is elevated beyond the daily routine of brewing. It is ritualized, layered with meaning, and central to the country’s social and cultural life. The Ethiopian coffee ceremony,...

Ethiopia’s Music Scene: Where Tradition Meets Modern Sound

In Ethiopia, music resonates as both a guardian of history and a mirror of change. From the lilting strains of ancient instruments to the pulse of modern fusion, the country’s soundscape reflects a...

Ethiopia’s Dance Traditions: History Written in Movement

Ethiopia
In Ethiopia, dance is not simply performance but a living record of history, shaped by centuries of ritual, celebration, and cultural memory. Across the country’s highlands, valleys, and plains, movements unfold that embody the distinct identities of Ethiopia’s many communities. Each gesture, each rhythm, carries a narrative that connects the present to generations past. Among the most widely recognized forms is the Eskista, a dance of the Amhara and Oromo people that relies on rapid, rolling movements of the shoulders. The style, sometimes described as one of the world’s most physically demanding traditional dances, is performed at weddings, harvest festivals, and communal gatherings. The sharp, percussive motions often mirror the...

Ethiopian women and safety: why some switch their ethnic identity when they start working

Monica Beeder, University of Southampton - For many women in Ethiopia, getting their first formal job doesn’t just change their income; it can change...

In the Highlands of Ethiopia, a Trek Through Time

Ethiopia
The jagged escarpments of the Simien Mountains rise like ancient fortresses from the northern Ethiopian plateau, their sheer cliffs and deep valleys cut by centuries of wind and water. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage...

Cultural Journeys Through Ethiopia Reveal a Living Tapestry

In the highlands of northern Ethiopia, sunlight spills across the honey-colored walls of Lalibela’s rock-hewn churches, their centuries-old carvings still echoing the devotion of the artisans who shaped them from solid stone. Hundreds of miles to the south, in the Omo Valley, the rhythmic beat of drums marks a coming-of-age ceremony as a community gathers to celebrate traditions carried forward for generations. Across this vast country, cultural tours offer...

Lalibela’s Rock-Hewn Churches Stand as Pillars of Ethiopia’s Spiritual Heritage

High in Ethiopia’s northern highlands, where the air thins and the land rolls into rugged escarpments, a cluster of extraordinary structures rises not from stone but within it. Hewn directly into volcanic rock,...

Ethiopia’s Music Scene: Where Tradition Meets Modern Sound

In Ethiopia, music resonates as both a guardian of history and a mirror of change. From the lilting strains of ancient instruments to the pulse of modern fusion, the country’s soundscape reflects a...

Ethiopia’s Dance Traditions: History Written in Movement

In Ethiopia, dance is not simply performance but a living record of history, shaped by centuries of ritual, celebration,...