The believers have kept the religious and cultural traditions and have sent the arks off with different cultural clothes. The festival of Ketera is being celebrated in a colourful way around Ethiopia.
The festival of Timqat (Ethiopian Epiphany) is the biggest and most fascinating annual holiday celebration of the year in Ethiopia and registered recently by UNESCO as one of the world’s intangible heritages. It is observed on Tirr 11 (January 19) every year to commemorate the baptising of JESUS CHRIST by John the Baptist in the River Jordan.
Timqat is a three-day affair: Ketera on the eve of Timqat, the main festival of Timqat and Ca’ana, a day after the main festival. The word ‘Ketera’ is taken from the Amharic word, ‘Ketere’ meaning to make a dam, as it is usual to make a dam in some places where there is not enough river water for the celebration of Timqat.
Ethiopia is one of the early Africa countries that adopted Christianity in the world. Tracing the history of Christianity in Ethiopia, the idea of Monotheism came to Saba from Judaism during the reign of Solomon. The earliest and the best known reference of Christianity was when evangelist Philip converted the Ethiopian traveller in the first century A.D. All account do agree on the fact that the traveller (Eunuch Bacos) who was a member of the royal court who succeeded in the converting the queen Candace (Hendeke) was a queen of Ethiopia. Queen Candace or Heneke was baptized by Philips, and she preached Christianity. So Christianity came into Ethiopia in 34 A.D.
Prior to the country believed in one God following the rule of Old Testament. The Old Testament belief was introduced to the country after the visit of queen Sheba to Jerusalem. The people practiced their Jewish worship of God for one thousand years. Because after the Queen returned from her visit the Levites and the priest brought with them the book of the Old Testament and its religious practices to the country. It was because of the prevalence the Old Testament belief that the Ethiopia Eunuch went to Jerusalem for pilgrimage and to perform the religious rites instructed an old testament. On account of this Ethiopia has been known as the land of God in the books of Old Testament. The expression “Ethiopia stretches her hands to God” (psalm 66:31) indicates that Ethiopia has been worshiping God since then.
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