Tigray Ethiopia, also spelled Tegray, Tigrai, or Tigre, a historical region, northern Ethiopia. Its western part rises in a high-plateau country where elevations generally range between 5,000 and 11,000 feet (1,500 and 3,300 meters).
The region is drained by the Tekeze and Gash (Mareb) rivers. To the east lies the Danakil Plain, including the Kobar Sink (some 380 feet [116 meters] below sea level).
Today, Tigrayans number about 4.9 million and are concentrated in Tigray Ethiopia state (Ethiopia) and in Eritrea. The regions of Ethiopia and Eritrea where most Tigrayans live are a high plateau, separated from the Red Sea by an escarpment (cliff-like ridge) and a desert.
In good years, rainfall on the plateau is adequate for the plow agriculture engaged in by the majority of Tigray Ethiopia. However, when rainfall is low, the region is subject to disastrous droughts.
Here are few important points you need to have on your note book about Tigray.
Where is Tigray?
Tigray is an impoartant city in Ethiopoia, located at the north end. The city boarders Eriteria in the north and Sudan in the south.
The town is situated between 12°–15° N and 36° 30′ – 40° 30′ E.
Is Tigray Ethiopia Safe?
In 1998 relations deteriorated rapidly when a border dispute between Eritrea and Ethiopia failed. Centered around the Badme the conflict between the two countries exploded into violence. Following two years of bloodshed, a peace was negotiated in December 2000, and the UN established a peacekeeping mission along the border in question.
An international boundary commission agreed on border demarcation, but Ethiopia rejected the decision and refused to leave the territory that the commission had recognized as Eritrean.
A recent diplomatic work seems to have brought the two counties together. However, it is safe to assume a conflict and not to visit such areas in Ethiopia, at least with out a guide.
What is the History and Culture of Tigray Ethiopia?
The city has a history that goes back thousands of years. The seat of the Ethiopian empire has moved over the centuries. Once it has been located in a Tigrigna-speaking area in other times it has been in an Amharic-speaking area.
The Tigray and the Amhara (as co-inheritors of the Ethiopian empire) have represented the political elite of the country, except during a brief period of Italian colonial rule (1936– 1942). Until the Empire ended with the Marxist revolution and Haile Selassie’s death in 1974, all emperors were either Amhara’s or Tigray’s.
What is the Battle of Adwa?
Adwa is found in the Tigray region and on (March 1, 1896), military clash at Adwa, in north-central Ethiopia, between the Ethiopian army of King Menelik II and Italian forces. The decisive Ethiopian victory eliminated Italy’s attempt to build an empire in Africa.
Past Empires that controlled the Tigray Ethiopia region
By controlling the Red Sea ports of Massawa (Mitsiwa) and Asseb, Tigray became the region through which trading caravans reached the seat of the empire to the south.
After losing the coast to the Ottoman Empire in the 16th century, the region also lost power and status. Thereafter, with the brief exception of Yohannes IV (reigned 1872– 89), the region was dominated by the rulers of the Gondar and Shewa regions to the south.
It was also under constant threat from Egyptian, Sudanese, British, and Italian armies trying to penetrate to the interior. After occupation by Italy (1935–41), it was governed by officials appointed from the national capital in Addis Ababa.
What is the Source of Economy in Tigray Ethiopia?
Although vegetation is sparse, most of Tigray’s population is engaged in agriculture (cereals, legumes, coffee, and cotton) and stock raising. Hides and skins are important exports. Salt and potash from desert deposits are also exported. The region, which has long been home to the people, also supports the Raya, Azebo, Afar, and Agew peoples.
What are Ancient Civilizations in Tigray Ethiopia?
Tigray Ethiopia contains the core of the ancient Aksumite kingdom and the historic settlements of Aksum, the king- dom’s capital; Yeha, a ruined town of great antiquity; and Adwa, the site of a battle in 1896 in which the Italian invading force was defeated.
Is The Ark of Covenant in Tigray Ethiopia?
According to Tigrean history, the Axumite empire, which later became the Ethiopian empire, was founded by Menelik (1889–1913), the son of King Solomon of Israel, and Queen Sheba (or Saba). According to this history, it was Menelik’s men who captured the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and brought it to Axum, in what is now Tigray state in Ethiopia, where it remains to this day.
What do the Tigray People wear?
Traditional clothing in this area is white, which is regarded as Christian, with little adornment. For dressy occasions and church, women wear ankle-length dresses with long sleeves made of fine material. Men wear ankle-length pants that are tight from the knee to the ankle and baggy in the upper legs and hips.
A fitted, long-sleeved shirt covers the upper body. The shirt extends to just above the knee for laymen and to just below the knee for priests and deacons. Both men and women wear a gabbi (shawl or toga) draped around the shoulders.
What Language Do They Speak In Tigray Ethiopia?
Tigrinya, the language spoken by the people in the area, is from the Semitic family of languages, and is related to Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic. To the north of the Tigrinya speakers live people who speak the closely related language known as Tigre.
Amharic, the official language of Ethiopia, is so closely related to Tigrinya that most people in the area have little difficulty communicating in Amharic. Tigrinya, Amharic, and the ancient religious language Geez are written with the same alphabet. Many of the letters used in writing these languages are derived from ancient Greek.
What is Religion in Tigray Ethiopia?
The city has been in their present location since before the time of Christ and began converting to Christianity in the fourth century. Most people think that Christianity in Africa is because of colonization, but that’s wrong in the case of this city.
The empire centered in Axum and Adowa was part of the Mediterranean world in which Christianity grew. The arrival of Christianity in Tigrayan lands happened about the same time that it arrived in Ireland. The Tigrayans, in fact, had been converted to Christianity hundreds of years before most of Europe.
Many Tigrayan churches were cut into cliffs or from single blocks of stone, as they were in Turkey and in parts of Greece, where Christianity had existed from its earliest years. The church is a central feature of communities and of each family’s daily life. Each community has a church with a patron saint.
