Religion and Origins

The people of Ethiopia practice Christianity, Islam, Judaism and Paganism. Ethiopia is however a predominately Christian county and majority of those Christians are Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. Christianity began in the county when two Syrian Christians decided to travel to Aksum and started to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Ezana, King of Aksum, declared Christianity as the kingdoms main religion in 341 AD. A good amount of Ethiopians believe that the Ark of the Covenant is still existent and can be found in Aksum. The Ark of the Covenant is very sacred in their country. A replica has been made and is known as the tabot. And is placed in every Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Ethiopia 

Fasting is very important to the Orthodox Tewahedo Christians. While they’re fasting they cannot eat meat or dairy products. According to the church “the faithful must abstain from eating meat and dairy products to attain forgiveness of sins committed during the year and undergo a rigorous schedule of prayer and atonement.” The followers are only allowed one meal a day and that meal must be eaten after 3pm. They have over 7 different times throughout the year that they practice fasting.

The Ethiopian people also have a lot of myths/theories that they believe in as well. A very long time ago, Ethiopia was under the rule of a serpent. A man from another land came to Ethiopia and decided to live with the people. He observed the horrific acts the serpent did to the people and decided to take it upon himself to get rid of the serpent. He decided he was going to trick the serpent and kill it. He killed a goat, then cut into its stomach and filled the body with poisonous herbs. He then offered the serpent the goat and the serpent ate it right up and soon after died. The people then made that random man their kind since he rescued the people from the serpent’s reign. He married and had a daughter named Makeda. On his death bed his daughter became the queen of Sheba.  Queen of Sheba is a very valued and looked at figure in Ethiopia. 

"Ethiopian Treasures." Ethiopian Religions - Christianity, Islam, Judaism & Paganism. Accessed February 03, 2017. http://www.ethiopiantreasures.co.uk/pages/religion.htm.