Celebrating age old Christmas

Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and is celebrated in different ways in various parts of the world. But the style of celebrating Christmas in the western world seems to have become dominant as the rest of the world mimics the commercialized theme of Western Christmas.

Setting up Christmas trees, dressing up as Santa Clause and hanging up green socks for presents have become an integrated part of Christmas celebration in Ethiopia .

How did Christmas come to be celebrated in Ethiopia , why do we put up trees and dress like Santa and other questions cross through the minds of many Ethiopians who still want to preserve the traditional way of celebrating this holiday.

Capital talked to Professor Richard Pankhurst, a celebrated historian who shared his own views of how the western world has a strong influence on Christmas celebrations around the world, among other issues.

Capital - When would you say the custom of celebrating Christmas began in Ethiopia ?

Professor Richard Pankhurst - We believe that Ethiopia turned to Christianity during the time of the Apostles, certainly we can prove it came at the start of the 4th century when the cross of Christ appeared in Axum . This means that Ethiopia could have celebrated Christmas from the beginning, meaning that it was an age old custom.

It is believed that Ethiopia turned to Christianity during the time of Emperor Ezana because we see coins of Ezana with the moon and sun where he used to worship the gods that came from Arabia, but we also saw coins of Ezana with the cross, meaning that he converted Ethiopia to Christianity.

Do you know why there is a difference between the way Ethiopia and the rest of the world celebrate Christmas, especially in the date and year?

The difference is nothing but a different way of using the calendar than the western world. But it is not just Ethiopia that celebrates Christmas differently from the rest of the world Churches in the Eastern horizon also celebrate Christmas on the same day as Ethiopia . The Coptic church of Egypt , churches in Russia , Romania and other Eastern countries. These countries celebrate Christmas and Easter on the same days because they have the same way of counting the days that lead up to the two holidays.

Considering the fact that Ethiopia heard of Jesus Christ at about the same time as the western world, would it mean that the difference in calendars came before or after Christ?

Ethiopia would actually have heard about Christ before many countries because Christianity came here very early. Because the Armenians were the first to adopt the Christian churches and Ethiopia is the second with a few years difference between them, meaning that the difference in date has nothing to do with the birth of Jesus Christ.

Being an age old culture, do you think that it is the most celebrated holiday in such a religious country like Ethiopia ?

Though an age old celebration in Ethiopia , Christmas is not all that important than holidays such as Meskel and Timket where they are celebrated in a much more colorful and enlightened spirit.

If you also see what goes on during the Christmas celebrations, the game of Gena is the most interesting thing. Though it is the most important part of the traditional culture, it is a game that is falling out, but is still seen in some parts of the country.

Why do you consider Timket or Meksel to be more important holidays than Christmas? What historical or traditional relationship do you see as to how the holidays are celebrated?

I don't mean to say that it is a less important holiday, but there is more activity during those holidays. If you look at the Easter celebration, there is this big feast following the big fasting period that is taken seriously by the Christians. More spectacular things are seen during the Timket celebrations and of course Meskel. There is nothing to indicate about a religious difference in the celebrations, but the fact that Meskel comes following a long rainy period could have had a climatic influence on the traditional celebration.

Speaking of the game of Gena, how do you think it started and why is it being forgotten these days? What exactly does the game have to do with the celebration of Christmas?

The simple reason is that life is changing. For example, in the old days the nobility used to play Centourage or the traditional chess, but now it is all forgotten. People might play the modern type of chess, but as for the traditional one it is literally dead, as only a few people did. I was studying about this game and few people in this generation have even heard of it or that it was played by nobility.

It is the same with Gena, as it is not being widely played these days. Gena was not a game of the nobility. As a matter of fact, it was a game of the public, but its popularity is gone. As for its relationship with Christmas, there is no relationship between the game and the holiday, it is just that the game was played around the Christmas season.

The reason for the game not being passed down to this generation is that the younger generation is developing new interests as this is an age of new computer games and other, more intersting games. I am not saying that newer games are not important, but the old ones are also important, especially in the case of Centourage. It is amazing how few people know about it. This game probably came from China and moved to India and on to Arabia and then to Ethiopia and in time, it developed in one way and after moving to Europe, it developed in a different way.

If the game of Gena was to be brought back in a more developed and sophisticated way, do you think that this generation's imagination could be ignited?

I think that it would be worth trying and that it would go a long way in helping preserve the culture. Looking at Gena as it is, it might not be attractive, but put in a more modern way, it could be as exciting as football, though I am not a huge fan of football.

What do you feel when thinking of Christmas these days? Do you see changes in the way Ethiopian Christmas is celebrated due to western influence?

Now-a-days, Christmas has become so much more about giving presents than playing Gena here in Ethiopia as it is following the culture of the western world. In the countryside, Christmas is still celebrated as the birth of Jesus Christ, but in the towns it is changing. What you have in the west is that the celebration of Christmas used to be in December only, now opening of shops for Christmas has moved up to November and October, to get the maximum sales period. The holiday has become commercialy orientated.

But one has to understand that culture changes everywhere in the world as people change and this is exactly what is hapenning. One has to be proud of what he/she has and in that case, one has to perpetuate and preserve what one can so that when change comes, even though people are getting interested in new games the old Ethiopian games are still preserved. A simple example is the amazing development of football which is not traditional in Ethiopia , but people still watch that game with fascination.

Putting up Christmas trees and dressing up as Santa Clause has become synonymous with celebrating Christmas here in Ethiopia . Is it our culture to incorporate Christmas trees and Santa for the holiday?

It is definitely not Ethiopian culture. Even in the west, it is not their culture, they took it from Germany . When Queen Victoria 's husband was in Germany , he saw a Christmas tree and he brought the culture to his homeland and that is how it spread and besides, it is not as old as the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, it is not even close. It is also the same with Christmas cards as it is relatively new. Though it is not the culture of Ethiopia , there are many beautiful Ethiopian Christmas cards that show Ethiopian scenes made by Ethiopian artists, and though not traditional, Ethiopian Christmas cards are something to be proud of.

Talking about the Christmas trees, I believe that they are wasteful traditions, down to the cutting of trees for the purpose. It would be better to use plastic ones because every year more and more people build these trees and more and more of these trees are cut down without any replacement, trees are very important in terms of preserving soil and the environment as well. Looking at Christmas trees in terms of celebrating the holiday, there is nothing Christian about them and they are pagan in the sense that they have nothing to do with Christianity.

Christmas these days has become more of commerce in the western world and it is a simple example of how commercialized, capitalized and globalized the world is becoming and when the whole world becomes globalized it will have the same kind of people all over the world and we don't want that. We need to preserve our heritages and traditions so that we will have a sense of who we are.