This is a guest blog post by Fentahun Tiruneh, Area Specialist for Ethiopia and Eritrea in the African and Middle Eastern Division at the Library of Congress.
On January 7, 2016, Ethiopian Christians, particularly the followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox “Tewahedo” Church in Ethiopia, the United States, and elsewhere, celebrate Christmas. In Ethiopia, it is customary for the youth to draw colorful flowers on paper sheets or cut some wild flowers and hand them to relatives and neighbors as a good wish for the New Year and receive blessings with money or gifts or promises in exchange. On the contrary during Christmas gift giving is not an important part of this holiday. Midnight mass takes place on Christmas Eve, and includes elaborate chants and beating of drums. Men and women dress in their best clothes, and young people receive a gift of new clothes by their parents and or relatives. [This paragraph was updated by the author, July 10, 2020]
Books, recently translated into Amharic from ancient manuscripts written in Ge’ez, reveal a new interpretation of the story of the Magi, the three wise men who visited the scene of the nativity. Ge’ez is an ancient Semitic language which is mainly used today in the liturgy of the Orthodox Churches in Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community in Ethiopia. Based on these new revelations, Ethiopian historians are now looking at the theory that it was Ethiopian kings who traveled from different parts of ancient Ethiopia to present the gifts to the Christ child to fulfill the prophecy of their sages. Maṣḥaf Kebur (መጽሐፍ ክቡር), an Amharic source published in 2008/9, lists the names of the three wise men and the kings who accompanied them to Jerusalem. The first wise man was Agoja-Jabon; with him were three kings, namely Abol, Tona and Baraka. The second was Magal who had with him Kings Makdas, Awra, and Murno. The third wise man was Agabon who was accompanied by Kings Hajabon, Abulsalam and Arstatalu. The King of Kings of all the sovereigns was Atse Bazen, son of Nalk. According to the narrative translated from the Ge’ez manuscripts, it took two years for the sovereigns to arrive safely in Jerusalem.
To this day in each Ethiopian household in Ethiopia, the USA, and elsewhere, coffee is served three times using the same beans in memory of the three kings: Abol, Tona and Baraka, each serving named after one of the three kings. Legend has it that these three kings consumed coffee on their way to Jerusalem in order to stay awake. Besides leaving the legacy of coffee drinking, it is believed that the three kings knew how to tell the time and the year by observing the stars and the moon.
The Ethiopian Christmas always falls on January 7, based on the Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Calendar system. Although there are several calendar systems in Ethiopia, the solar-based calendar system has been adopted as the national calendar. According to the Ethiopian Orthodox calendar system, the world was created in 5500 B.C.E. — see Manuscript #23, a calendar book in the Thomas Kane Manuscript Collection at the African and Middle East Division — and Adam was born 5500 years before the birth of Jesus who, according to the teachings of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, was born on January 7. The Ethiopian year consists of 365 days, divided into twelve months of thirty days each plus one additional month of five days (six in leap years). Ethiopian New Year’s Day falls on September 11 and ends the following September 10.


Egyptian Coptic Christians also celebrate Christmas on January 7. Some Ethiopian scholars believe the Ethiopian calendar system was copied from the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that though the calendar systems appear similar with that of the Alexandrian church, the Ethiopian calendar was not an import but evolved to its present status with input from sister Eastern Christian churches.
The Library’s African and Middle Eastern Division houses a very important collection of books, manuscripts, newspapers and journals on Ethiopia and Eritrea, that are invaluable resources on the Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity and its calendar system. Among these resources is the Thomas Kane Collection, acquired in 2002, which includes manuscripts and rare books in Amharic, Ge’ez, and other Ethiopian languages.
Comments (6)
MY 2ND DAUGHTER IS ADOPTED FROM ETHIOPIA. THE MORE WE LEARN ABOUT HER CULTURE, THE RICHER OUR LIFE IS. WE ARE HAVING AN ETHIOPIAN CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION THIS FRIDAY. THIS INFORMATION WILL ADD TO OUR GATHERING. THANK YOU.
This is a good blog, bit I’m Ethiopian and I have grown up celebrating Gena(Christmas) very well. I belive you are mistaken when saying “In Ethiopia, it is usual for the youth to draw colorful flowers on paper sheets or cut some wild flowers and hand them to relatives and neighbors and receive money or gifts or promises in exchange.”. We do this ceremony on Enkutatashi(Ethiopian New year) not on Gena. Also I don’t like how you narrated the story, it’s a little improper. Kids give painted drawing to wish their family, neighbors and relatives to wish them a happy new year and to say hi and the one who got the wish will give them bread &/or food since it’s already a holiday. But recent days people give money so that the kids can save it and buy a study material for the new class they are about to start.
Please make sure you get a story from the those who know it instead of just writing it from observation. Your intentions were good I think, but turned out to be bad. Thank you!
Hi I liked the blog though there were some errors. I am Ethiopian so I know. Anyways I loved it. A lot of help for my research thank you and keep it up
This Is good start but done with people that dont know about the culture. We dont give paintings on Christmas that’s for new year’s.
Plus there is lots of Ethiopians scattered around the world trying to learn their culture and this is not the truth they need to see. This is just another white man’s work making our culture and heritage biased.
Am a proud Ethiopian well raised by Ethiopian in the lands Ethiopia and still living in harmony.if anyone have a question about any Ethiopian thing u can find me on any social media as @nh_tesfaye.
This is an excellent documentation about the Ethiopian heritage.To add few point;
The Ethiopian calander is basically based on the Ethiopian Orthodox Church thought called “Bahire Mezgeb or “Sea of thoughts” which describe the detail of what happend ever since earth created. As it is well described in the Book of Genisis, God gave Adam his covinent when he instructed to leaves Eden. He says “I will came back after 5,500 years to redeem you.”
Now Ethiopian church starts counting those 5,500 years up until the birth year of our Lord Jesus Christ which is exactly 7 years before what the Julians consider the birth year of Jesus which lies on 1AD according to the Julians.
Now the question comes did the Romans miscounted the days?
The answer lies on the designing of the Julian calander. The Julian calander unlike the Ethiopian is not based on the she start of Earth. It doesn’t have biblical background. Where as it starts 40BC after the great Roman Emperor Julious Cesar instructed the establishment of a new calander system to help him standardise his government across the Empire.
Ever since, the Julian calander seen a revision for about 25 times mean while a the good old Ethiopian church never.
Your first paragraph is wrong sir, I believe you have confused the Ethiopian new year (Enkutatash) with the Ethiopian Christmas (Genna). These two holidays are very different and are celebrated 3 months and 29 days apart.
Enkutatash is a new year’s holiday celebrated on September 11th (12th on leap years) – Meskerem 1 according to the Ethiopian Calendar, – while Genna is strongly associated with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, although it is celebrated by the other Christian denominations as well.
Visit Ethiopiangobgnu.com for more detailed information.