Object Description
February 08 2003, Asmara
Q. Is there any cultural explanation linked to lakaja?
A. No.
Q. In the Kunama groups, is there any social meaning given to lakaja?
A. No.
Interview with Mrs/ Ms. Satina Debesay (Kunama Radio Program), Mrs. / Ms. Asha Osman (Tigre Radio Program) Mrs. / Ms. Hayat Abubeker, Mr. Osman Adem and Mr. Salih Idris (Saho Radio Program), Mr Abdu Mohammed (Bilein Radio
Program), Mr Mohammed Idris (Afar Radio Program), and Mr. Bekit Salih (Hidareb Radio Program).
Voice of the Broad Masses, radio broadcasting, Ministry of information Interviewer: Melake Sultan, Ministry of information
March 18, 2005, Asmara
Q. The leather and wooden headrests are used by the Saho, Bilein, Tigre, Afar, nara and Kunama groups. What does each group call the headrest?
A. The leather headrest is called berkuma (Saho), wldiwldora (Bilen), wesidet (Tigre), barkuma (Afar) and tonbas (Hedareb). The wooden headrest is called dawliena (Saho), dukur (Bilein), meter'as (Tigre, Afar and Hedareb). Wooden headrest with only one leg is called tlagaday in the Hedareb groups and is used in the fields by the shepherds.
Q. Are these headrests made by women and men?
A. The leather headrests are made and decorated by women. The wooden headrests are made by men.
Q. Are the headrests available in the market?
A. People make their own headrests. But at present the leather headrests are available in the market.
Q. What is the main use of these headrests?
A. Except in the Kunama group, these headrests are marriage gifts for the bride and bridegroom. People use them to support their heads while sleeping.
Q. Is there any cultural meaning linked to this headrests, such as linked to dreaming or sleeping?
A. There is no any known meaning linked to what you mention.
Q. How about when they are offered as gifts to bride and bridegroom?
A. All the groups use them only as wedding gifts except the Bilein and the Saho. In the Saho groups, a single leather headrest {berkuma) is given to the bride and bridegroom by the bride's mother or parents. The meaning of the one headrest denotes unity. In the Bilein groups, a single leather headrest is filled with sorghum and is given to the bride to take it with her to the bridegroom's home. Then half of the sorghum contained in the wldiwldora is cooked and served to the bridegroom's close friends. The meaning of the sorghum is to wish the bride good fertility. In the Bilein society, the best man makes a wooden headrest and offer to the bridegroom.
Q. Is there any arrangement on how the headrests should be used?
A. There are no sleeping rules. But in most cases, a man sleeps on the right side and the woman on the left. In different activities, the man's position is on the right side. This may indicate respect offered to the man or even it may have religious connection.
Q. Is there any other value or traditional explanation given to the headrests?
A. Most people use headrests to protect their wet hair, bed sheets and pijamas from dirt.
People usually use likhay to treat their hair.
Appendix 8
Descriptive drawings and labels of some of the study samples
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Appendix 9
Note on Tigrinya (Ge'ez) letters
During the first millennium BC, south Arabians (Sabaeans) established settlements around the present-day Massawa which later expanded to the Eritrean plateau and northern
Ethiopia. One of the contributions of the Sabaeans to Eritrea was the art of the Sabaean writing. There are Sabaean inscriptions and monuments that suggest the existence of
Sabean culture in Eritrea. Since the third C BC, the Greeks gained access to establish their colony in Eritrea through the Ptolemys' of Egypt (the Hellenists) who replaced the
Pharaohs. The combination of Semitic and Greek cultures and the intensive maritime trade through Adulis (the ancient port near today's Massawa), led to the establishment of the wealthy indigenous state of the Aksumite Empire which developed its own language, Ge'ez with its own characters. Thus Ge'ez was derived from the Sabaean and was a spoken language of the Aksumites since the first C AD. Even though Ge'ez gave up to be a spoken language more than a thousand years ago, it still continues as a language of the Church and traditional education. Ge'ez gave rise to Tigrinya, Tigre and Amharic which are modern languages spoken in Eritrea and Ethiopia. At present, these written languages use Ge'ez letters.
The earliest Sabaean inscription in Eritrea dates back to the fifth C BC with a boustrophedon type. The earliest Ge'ez inscription on stones and coins in the third C AD
shows that Ge'ez was written without vowels, eg. the stele of Metera. Before the end of the third C, the Greek legend was substituted by Ge'ez on the gold, silver and bronze coins which were mainly minted for the purpose of international trade. The vocalized Ge'ez developed in the 4
thC AD after the introduction of Christianity (Buxton 1970: 179-179, Heldman 1993: 47, 57, EPLF-RB snetbeb 1982: 7-8, Kifle 2001: 22-28, Weldemaryam
1984:36-43)
Vocalization in Ge'ez is shown by modifying the basic characters. Ge'ez has seven different sounds.
The following table (Buxton 1970: 179) shows the comparison of Semitic and
other alphabets and the close dependency of Ge'ez syllabary on the south-Arabian
(Sabaean).
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