Timkat, A subset of Epiphany

BY WORKU BELACHEW

Though Timkat shares some features with Epiphany, its way of festivity and the day on which it falls marks a visible difference. The word “epiphany” means “appearance” or “ manifestation”. Encyclopedia Americana puts the same word in a similar way: “a feast of Christian calendar celebrated on January”.

The meanings in both cases are alike “appearance o becoming manifest”. However, the word is further elaborated:

“The observance originated from total revelation of God in Christ, later it focused upon two events of

Jesus' ministry, his baptism and the changing of the water into wine at Cana of Galilee

It is also an observance for Jesus baptism at age of 30. The above premises support that Timkat

remains a subset of epiphany. However, epiphany has a closer meaning with what EOC called Zemene

Asterayo. It covers the time period from January 17 to a week before the fast of the Great Holy Lent

(Talaku Ya’abiy Tsome) as Zemene Asteraiyo, a period of manifestation, of Man becoming God, and

God's becoming man through Jesus. Therefore, this period comprises Jesus birth day, His baptismal day

and Cana of Glillee. This shows that Timkat could be a subset of Epiphany but could not be

synonymous to Epiphany.

From the outset, each church observed Timkat in their vicinity. As of 6th century AD, during the reign

of Atse Gebre-Meskel, a new tradition of taking the arc to riversides emerged True to Jesus' trek to River of Jordan . During the reign of

Yekunoamlak (1208-1265) with the support of Saint Tekle-Haimanot a decree came out to further

observe the day with added color. But each church celebrated the holiday separately before the time of

King Lalibella. Thus, king Lalibella (1156-1197), declared that churches found in the same locality

should celebrate the day at the same place, and during the reign of Atse Zerayakob (1426-1440), the

king ordered that the arcs should be taken to riversides on the eve of the holiday.

However, it was Atse

Naod who declared the people to accompany the arc when it goes to riversides as well as when it

returns to it’s perish. Therefore, as of 15th century this practice seemed to have spread to the rest of

Ethiopia. Following the founding of Addis Ababa by Atse Menelik II and his wife Etege Taitu in

1886, the celebration started to be marked in Janhoy Meda, north eastern Addis Ababa.

There are also a number of sites that Timkat celebration takes place. In addition, magnificent

celebrations are carried out across the nation while the grand-most ones are in Addis Ababa and Gondar.

Nowadays, people celebrate Timkat for two to three nights.

According to the traditions of the church, every year the feast begins on January the 17-18 which is

called the eve/Ketera. Ketera comes from the word Ketere, means to block, to block water from flowing or to go to baptismal ceremony. It has also a meaning to close, to block or to prohibit.

Ketera by itself is a special holiday, although it remains an integral part of Timkat. The water is collected and sanctified in readiness for sprinkling over the heads of all believers on the morrow, which is Timkat proper.

On this day, the arcs carried from each (parish) church are escorted by the priests to the selected spot for marking Timkat. The places could be by riversides or around artificial pools like the one in Janhoy Meda . On the second day, the holy arc is carried back to its place accompanied by joyous and reverential singing, dancing ... on one side of the

event the clergy do the Celestial proceedings, and on the other side, the people conduct various

cultural activities. The numerous social activities allow people to participate irrespective of gender,

age, class....

In Addis Ababa all the EOC churches bring their Tabots to Janhoy Meda, an open meadow near

Martyrs’s Square. At one end of Janhoy Meda is a special Timkat pool. Around this pool

colorful tents are seen pitched, flying the banners of their churches. There are also pavilions where delicacies or refreshments are sold, especially the beverages Tella and Tej, another sweet but alcoholic drink. A religious tradition calls for spending the night near the tents, where the Tabbots are placed. People from surrounding villages bring food and drink. Torches are lit and fires burn everywhere. The elders and clergy pray while the younger people sing and dance. Early on the morning of Timkat, the priests gather around the pool, light many candles, and celebrate the last part of the ceremony. And after making Timkat proper, the priest’s sprinkle water upon the gathering, also in some places people dip in the water. But it seems that bothways have no doctrinal conflict.

Among the factors that make the celebration unique is its occurrence at the sunniest and loveliest time

of the year. It coincides with the harvesting season and is a time of bounty and plenty. As such it is a time of rejoicing particularly for the farmers: Tella, Ethiopian homemade beer, is brewed and fattened sheeps are slaughtered to add glamour to the array of dishes prepared in connection with the ritual. The celebration of Timkat dates centuries back. And it has turned a relay over generations. Among other factors this has made it to evolve in to a popular secular culture.

And the religious and secular activities that co-occur during the celebration day have left room for

every segment of the society to carryout various social activities, particularly after the arcs go back to

their respective parish.

Therefore, playing Guks, a hokey like game, taking time with lover or with new lover which couples manage to know each other during the event, is usual. In places like South Wollo for instance the female holds an aromatic herb called Ariti and males dance around her competing to receive the herb from her hands, and she gives it to the one she favors most—the one she wishes to be

her husband.

And in most rural places young men throw lemon on the ones they love, and she either

expresses her agreement or refusal. Lemon is chosen because it has a wide acceptance as a sign of good aroma. In other rural places males hold lemon when they go to the ceremony and throw it to the one they favor. And she responds to that either by agreeing to be his wife or ignore the act by way of a refusal.

In Addis Ababa , though no male holds an organic lemon, by way of a joke it is usual to talk of throwing a lemon, if one gets a lover. There is “I wish I had a lemon to throw toward the chest of that girl!” . The female also tells

her friends that she catches lemon on the same way, to mean she has got someone to hang with.

Cana of Galilee

Another religious addition to this is, the churche's decision to celebrate additional holiday on the second

day of Timkat that is Cana of Galilee which originally was in late February. This had been made on

account of many reasons. The chief one is to connect the holidays that have to do with water

together. The second one resides in avoiding fasting on Cana of Galilee if the celebration falls on the original day, it may coincide with fasting periods. Another but very important reason is to render the day suitable for the farmers. January is an annual holiday for farmers because quite often farmers finish seeing to harvesting in this month, and it is not also a time to prepare for the next farming season.

And it is their break time. Farmers carryout their major social

activities such as wedding, family visit... More similar and still interesting co-incidence is that the

people themselves favor the month of January for wedding, so the church has also made the feast to chime in with this month because Cana of Galilee has much to do with marriage, a pillar of family and society.

This is addition to betrothal and wedding arrangement opportunity. Jesus appearance of the wedding

was to declare the sacrament of matrimonial. Therefore, the church also teaches the sacrament of

matrimony.

It is hard, however, to conclude that this ancient heritage of humanity is well promoted. Thus, pertinent bodies need to sweat more and more. One and important way toward this end is to make it registered in the UNESCO prestigious list of intangible heritages.

In the final analysis, being a pavilion of cultural diversity, Ethiopia peacefully hosts grand street festivals every year. Visitors from home and by way of a side event can feast their eyes on an array of spectacular cultural dances, dressing, songs and yet many more, during the day of Timkat in Addis, Gonder and other parts of the country. Residents in all areas also show their hospitality for the visitors.

What is more, attending such ancient festival in a country fast tracking in overall development and also lifting itself from the abyss of poverty, is an additional joy. It tells how hard work is paying off better life for humanity.

Ed.'s Note: This article is part of a term paper which deals with globalization vs. Local culture as partical fulfillment of requirement for the course philosophy of culture and submitted to Addis Ababa University, Center for African and Oriental studies, which the writer properly acknowledged others works. This piece is adopted for the consumption of this paper//