Lesson #6

Ok, I got up early to finally write about our Lesson #6 but instead I've spent the last 15 minutes checking out some of my friends' blogs and had so much fun...living vicariously through Holli and her friends living it up in England shopping & eating...reading about the hilarious things Jami and Megan's kids have said recently...finding out Abby just got her I-171H!...I could go on. I'm feeling kind of (ok, totally) boring!!! :) But here goes...

This past Friday was a crazy one. It was my sister's last day in town and we decided to move all of her wedding gifts that have been in our basement closet to our parent's house. (To make a long story short, they're building a house and we plan on buying theirs, so we are in the process of cleaning out and getting ready to sell, and now my sister's stuff will be packed by the movers and stored in my parent's new place.) Anyway - Lesson #6 was sandwiched sometime between lugging everything up out of our basement and onto our front porch (it was such a huge load, people thought we were already moving!) and then hauling it over in 4 car trips to my parent's. The kids worked like troopers and we were all incredibly beat. But, it was a good break to sit and listen and yet again, be crafty. :)

Our lesson was just a brief history and a little on the influence of Christianity in Ethiopia. Kind of heavy for kids, and to be completely honest, I lost them pretty early on. But they totally loved making cross necklaces - and it was kind of cool because we've been reading that American Girl book, Saba, and in places it talks about how important her cross necklace is to her. So, my kids were able to grasp some significance and meaning as to why they were making necklaces with big crosses. :)

Some cool things we learned:
1. Ethiopian history dates back to at least 1000 B.C., when people from Arabia sailed across the Red Sea into northern Ethiopia. (And it could even be 2000 B.C. when an Egyptian sailed to the "Land of Punt" which is possibly Ethiopia.)

2. Christianity became the official religion of the early Axumite kingdom in the fourth century and the church's influence became very intertwined with the Ethiopian monarchy (so much so that it remained the official church through the era of Haile Selassie - the mid-1970's.)

3. Ethiopia's Christians remained isolated in the highlands (while Muslims occupied much of the lowlands.) I guess historians feel that this isolation allowed the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to adopt some different, unique practices - much that are rooted in really interesting legend. The story goes like this: When the Queen of Sheba went to honor King Solomon in the 10th century B.C., they fell in love, and after her return to Ethiopia she gave birth to Solomon's son, Menelik. When he was 22 yrs. old, he went to Jerusalem to meet this father. While there, he saw the Ark of the Covenant and dreamed God told him to take it back to Ethiopia. It's believed that the Ark has been in Aksum ever since. Although this has never been proven, and scholars are skeptical, Ethiopian Christians fully believe. It's safely guarded in a chapel by a special caretaker and can't be viewed by anyone else. Every church has a replica ark.

4. And then, the significance of the cross necklaces from:
http://www.authenticafrica.com/etcros.html

"African jewelry: Christianity was established in the Ethiopian highlands as early as the 4th century. For over 1600 years Christian Ethiopians have worn neck crosses as a symbol of faith. The cross was suspended around the neck by a cotton blue cord called a “mateb” which was received at baptism. Jewelry wise, the cross is the most prized personal possession and most valued to collectors of all highland selections.The crosses are usually named from the region that they originate. The crosses feature various design styling from the simplistic Greek or Latin crucifix to the more elaborate with flared arms, trefoils, decorative projections, complicated openwork designing and patterns of interwoven lines symbolizing eternity. "

So, here's our attempt at some unique Ethiopian cross necklaces: