+++++ The Calendar of the Oromo people of Ethiopia. ++++++++
v057...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
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Ethiopia consists of more than 75 different ethnic groups, each one
having its own unique and interesting culture, history and language. The Oromo
people are the largest single ethnic group in both East Africa and Ethiopia.
They belong to the Cushitic race just like their cousins, the ancient
Egyptians, the Somalis, the Afars, the Saho, the Kambatas, the Hadiyas, etc.
According to the C.I.A's World Book Of Facts(1995), the Oromo people are 40% of
the total population of Ethiopia, the Amharas and the Tigreans including
eritreans are 32%, and the other ethnic groups 28%
One of the very interesting things in the history of the Oromo people is
the Oromo Calendar which is one of the oldest calendars in the world, and the
Oromo socio-economic-political system which is known as the Gadaa System.
Jaalala.
P.S My name, Jaalala, in the Oromo language means Love. And my last name
Wako(Waaqa) means God. Altogether, Jaalala Wako, means God is Love.
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Time is a very important concept in Gadaa and therefore in Oromo life.
Gadaa itself can be narrowly defined as a given set of time (period) which
groups of individuals perform specific duties in a society. Gadaa could
also mean age. The lives of individuals, rituals, ceremonies, political
and economic activities are scheduled rather precisely. For this purpose,
the Oromo have a calendar. The calendar is also used for weather
forecasting and divination purposes.
The Oromo calendar is based on astronomical observations of the moon in
conjunction with seven or eight particular stars or star groups (Legesse,
1973 and Bassi, 1988) called Urji Dhaha (guiding stars). According to this
calendar system, there are approximately 30 days in a month and 12 months
in a year. The first day of a month is the day the new moon appears. A day
(24 hours) starts and ends at sunrise.
In the Oromo calendar each day of the month and each month of the year has
a name. Instead of the expected 29 or 30 names for days of a month, there
are only 27 names. These 27 days of the month are permutated through the
twelve months, in such a way that the beginning of each month moves
forward by 2 or 3 days. The loss per month is then the difference between
the 27-day month and the 30-day month, (Legesse, 1973). One interesting
observation is that, as illustrated in the computing of time like in the
Oromo calendar, Oromos visualization of events is cyclical just as many
events in nature are cyclical.
Since each day (called ayyaana) of a month has a name, the Oromo
traditionally had no use for names of the days of a week. Perhaps it is
because of this that today in different parts of Oromia different names
are in use for the days of a week.
Each of the 27 days (ayyaana) of the month have special meaning and
connotation to the Oromo time-keeping experts, called ayyaantu. Ayyaantu
can tell the day, the month, the year and the Gadaa period by keeping
track of time astronomically. They are experts, in astronomy and
supplement their memory of things by examining the relative position of
eight stars or star groups, (Bassi, 1988) and the moon to determine the
day (ayyaana) and the month. On the basis of astronomical observations,
they make an adjustment in the day name every two or three months.
The pillars found a few years ago in north-western Kenya by Lynch and
Robbins (1978) has been suggested to represent a site used to develop the
Oromo calendar system. According to these researchers, it is the first
archaeo-astronomical evidence in sub-Saharan Africa. Doyl (1986) has
suggested 300 B.C. as the approximate date of its invention. According to
Asmarom Legesse (1973), "The Oromo calendar is a great and unique
invention and has been recorded only in a very few cultures in history of
mankind." The only other known cultures with this type of time-keeping are
the Chinese, Mayans and Hindus. Legesse states that the Oromo are unusual
in that they seem to be the only people with a reasonably accurate
calendar which ignore the sun.
OROMO History and Oromo Calendar.
Burhaan Warsame
v057...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu wrote:
: P.S My name, Jaalala, in the Oromo language means Love. And my last name
: Wako(Waaqa) means God. Altogether, Jaalala Wako, means God is Love.
Hmmmm, that may explain why you have been propagating the Christian gospel
in this cave. Not that I want to curtail your freedom to post whatever you
choose, but I sure would like to read more about Oromo's astronomical
calendar than about christian sermons.
Anyway, thanks for that informative piece
--
bewarsame
v057...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu
In article <5390be$6...@morgoth.sfu.ca>, bwar...@sfu.ca (Burhaan Warsame) writes:
>v057...@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu wrote:
>
>
>: P.S My name, Jaalala, in the Oromo language means Love. And my last name
>: Wako(Waaqa) means God. Altogether, Jaalala Wako, means God is Love.
>
>
>
>Hmmmm, that may explain why you have been propagating the Christian gospel
>in this cave. Not that I want to curtail your freedom to post whatever you
>choose, but I sure would like to read more about Oromo's astronomical
>calendar than about christian sermons.
>
>Anyway, thanks for that informative piece
>
>
>--
>bewarsame
>
Mr/s Burhaan, if you are a Somali you were supposed to say, "How are you my
dear cousin, Love(Jaalala)", since Somalis are one of the cousins of the
Oromos. :-) Even more, you could have said, "I love Waaqa(God)", if you are a
believer. I hope Dr. Aldeeb's allucination did not imprint some kind of negative
thoughts on your mind regarding the devine revelation. :-)
Anyhow, thank you very much for your nice comments about the Oromo Calendar
which is one of the oldest Calendars in the world. Thanks to technology that we
can share such an invaluable historical data with each other around the globe.
By the way, the Oromo Home page at http://www.Oromo.com/ is not mine. I did
not create it either. It was created by other Oromo scholars. I just referred
you to it since it has a lot of interesting historical information, especially
on the Oromo Calendar and the Oromo Gadaa system.
Jaalala Wako.
MUHAMMED HUSSEIN
Jaalala:
Somalis also use Ayaan or Ayaamo as the days of the week. Also, Waaq is a
very common name for pre-historic Somali god (s).
Regards,
Udub.
Mahmoud Abib
mhus...@osf1.gmu.edu (MUHAMMED HUSSEIN) wrote:
>Also, Waaq is a very common name for pre-historic Somali god (s).
Udub,
Waaq is not a name for 'pre-historic Somali god'. The word is an Arabic
word and it simply means 'supporter' or 'defender'. And Waaq is an
attribute of Allah. He is our Supporter and defender. So when some
Somalis named their city Caabud Waaq or a place where Waaq is worshipped,
it perfectly makes sense.
Regards,
Mahmoud.
MUHAMMED HUSSEIN
In article <53hn8l$v...@news.goodnet.com> Mahmoud Abib
<eb7...@goodnet.com> writes:
>Udub,
>
>Waaq is not a name for 'pre-historic Somali god'. The word is an Arabic
>word and it simply means 'supporter' or 'defender'. And Waaq is an
>attribute of Allah. He is our Supporter and defender. So when some
>Somalis named their city Caabud Waaq or a place where Waaq is worshipped,
>it perfectly makes sense.
>
>Regards,
>Mahmoud.
Dear Mahmoud:
I always thought "Waaq" was an indigenous word, either Somali or Oromo in
origin. I never thought of it as an Arabic word. Thanks for the
explanation. I also read some research done by Somalis a long time ago
which in effect said that Somalis had christianity, judaism, and Islam as
their religion respectively. That research and others which I do not
recall where I read them repeatedly mentioned the term "Waaq". BTW, I
wonder what you thought of the various religious faiths Somalis were said
to have had in the past.
Regards,
Udub.