Ancient Egypt and present Ethiopia: a comparison
Traveling southward along the White and Blue Niles a revealing phenomenon unfolds.
One virtually steps back in time to witness a continuation of living culture that has survived until this day. Layers of foreign interference dissolve, until Pre-dynastic Egyptian methods of agriculture, pottery, trappings of religious ceremony and even social fabric, are found to still be in some form of relative practice.
Immediately apparent are the various wooden farming tools still used in industry today, which are identical to those of Pre-dynastic Egyptians. Egyptian furnishings and accoutrements such as the traditional African headrest and the long toothed hair comb also draw immediate comparisons with their Sub-Saharan counterparts. Even the two omnipresent hand held symbols of Pharaoh’s authority, the hook and flail, transmute as the flywhisk, and the staff – both of which continue to carry time-honored significance into our lifetime as symbols of African authority.
Because Ethiopia’s rugged highland terrain and well-ordered society rendered foreign intrusions difficult, it in particular retains a link to the age when Pharaohs of Egypt sent expeditions there via the Red Sea, the Nile and overland, in search of ebony, ivory, giraffes, leopard hides, captive human labourers, frankincense, myrrh and gold.
Comparative similarities between these two ancient lands are striking.
Ethiopians venerated symbols, such as the sun disc – quite similar to those of ancient Egypt. They also performed sacred music with strikingly similar instruments, such as the Y-shaped sistra-cymbal and the lyre. These continue to be as ever-present in the religious ceremonies of modern Ethiopia as they were during those of ancient Egypt, as is the profuse burning of frankincense and myrrh.
The well known funeral march of the Ancient Egyptians is also still played out in Ethiopia, including precisely the same entourage of dedicated mourners called criers, whose duty it is to follow the deceased’s body, wailing in a demonstrative procession of sorrow.
In ancient Egypt, beer was widely consumed as a vital sustenance – in fact it was even served daily to workers of the Great Pyramid. A traditional Ethiopia brew, called tala might very well then have been a precursor to the Egyptian version.
There is also a remarkable similarity in form between the rectangular African board game, known in Kiswahili as bao, and the correspondingly proportioned, refined Egyptian version called senet.
Even the traditional manner in which women often transport goods upon their heads throughout Africa is frequently found in Ancient Egyptian works of art. The list of other notable similarities goes on to include weapons, basketry, jewelry, and ceremonial masks.
Excerpted from an article by Bruce Strachan for Daily Nation
