Inside an Ethiopian Orthodox Church: Tabot, Customs and Worship
Early on Sunday mornings, people dressed in white walk towards churches across Ethiopia. Many remain outside. They stand in the churchyard, lean against the…
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All Ethiopia Travel Guides
Practical guides to Ethiopia, with cultural context and details for planning your trip.
Ethiopian Music and Dance: Eskista, Krar and the Four Qenet
Ethiopian melodies often use five-note scales with distinctive intervals. Singers ornament long notes with a quick tremble, while dances may be led by rapid…
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Ethiopia’s Endemic Animals: Wildlife Found Nowhere Else
Many of Ethiopia’s best-known wild animals live nowhere else. They include a red wolf that hunts rodents on plateaus at 4,000 metres, a grass-eating…
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Lucy and Ethiopia’s Human Fossils: Ardi, Selam and Omo
On 24 November 1974, in the dry gullies of Hadar in Ethiopia’s Afar region, the American palaeoanthropologist Donald Johanson and his student Tom Gray…
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The Ethiopian Alphabet: How the Ge’ez Script (Fidel) Works
Shop signs, bus fronts and newspaper headlines in Addis Ababa use a script otherwise seen mainly in Eritrea. Ethiopians call it fidel (ፊደል), meaning…
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Ethiopian Names: How They Work and What They Mean
Updated October 2026. Ethiopian names work differently from names in most of the world, and knowing how can save you a lot of confusion,…
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Tej and Tella: Ethiopian Honey Wine and Home-Brewed Beer
Updated October 2026. Ethiopia’s traditional drinks are as distinctive as its food. Tej is a golden honey wine served in a round glass flask,…
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Doro Wat: How to Make Ethiopian Chicken Stew
Updated October 2026. Doro wat is the dish Ethiopians cook for the most important days of the year. At Genna, Fasika and other holidays,…
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The Battle of Adwa and Adwa Victory Day
Updated October 2026. On 1 March 1896, in the mountains around the small northern town of Adwa, the army of Emperor Menelik II defeated…
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The Rock-Hewn Churches of Tigray
Updated October 2026. Church entry and guide fees change and are not listed here. Read your government’s current travel advice for the Tigray region…
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