Dear
Tadias,
Thank you for sending me your magazine all the way to
Ethiopia. I appreciate and love the magazine - menem ayansawem.
I
have a couple of things to say: Your magazine should focus
not only on educating Ethiopians in the U.S.A. about their
culture and tradition, but you should also cover what
is going on here in the homeland.
Second,
it will be perfect if you could add foreigners’ views
and impressions of Ethiopian culture and traditions. Finally,
it would be great if you could establish a presence here
in Ethiopia. Special thanks to your new editor-in-chief,
Rekik Alehegn.
Eyerusalem Mengistu
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
History
The History Behind the Ethiopian Calendar (By Professor Ayele Bekerie)
Selam,
I read Dr. Ayele Bekerie’s article on the Ethiopian
calendar in your last issue. The author says the Ethiopian
calendar is based on the Julian calendar. Ethiopian
and Julian calendars agree on holidays such as Genna/Christmas.
Other than that the Ethiopian calendar is completely
different from the Julian calendar. Julian and Gregorian
calendars differ only in 10 days. In the 16th century,
Pope Gregory corrected the date of the vernal equinox
which was off by 10 days. The Julian calendar is not
7 years and 7 months behind the Gregorian calendar;
the Julian calendar does not have 13 months. The Julian
calendar is identical to the Gregorian calendar except
for the 10 day adjustment to correct the date of vernal
equinox. Thus, one cannot say that the Ethiopian calendar
is based on the Julian calendar. They have the same
roots but they are not the same.
Regards
Grum Ketema
Via the Internet
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Professor
Bekerie's Response
I appreciate Grum’s response to my short article on “The
History Behind the Ethiopian Calendar.” The Ethiopian
calendar is a unique combination of pre- Christian and
Christian history. The 7 or 8 years difference between
Ethiopian and Western calendars is because Ethiopians
“started to count time from the date they considered as
the beginning of creation, which was 7496 years ago (5500=1996).”
The difference is uniquely Ethiopian and it is not based
on the Julian calendar. Girum’s clarification is valid
in this regard. The Ethiopian calendar shares certain
dates of church holidays with the Julian calendar. As
such, the Ethiopian calendar is not adopted from the Julian
calendar.
The
Ethiopian, Julian, and Gregorian calendars may have their
origin from the Ancient Egyptian calendar. At first, the
13-month calendar of the Ancient Egyptians was universal.
While Ethiopia adhered to the 13-month calendar, the Julian
and Gregorian calendars shifted to the 12-month calendar.
Keakbrot
Gar,
Ayele Bekerie
Ithaca, NY
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