Religious Mahbär in Ethiopia: Ritual Elements, Dynamics, and Challenges
This article explores the religious association mahbär, also called tsïwwa, in Ethiopia. Data from lay practitioners as well as priests show that religious mahbär has many religious as well as social functions. It is a ritual with long traditions in the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church. The author...
| Published in: | Journal of religion in Africa |
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| Authors: | ; |
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2016
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| In: |
Journal of religion in Africa
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| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Ethiopia
/ Äthiopische Kirche
/ Ritual
/ Socio-cultural change
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| RelBib Classification: | KBL Near East and North Africa KDF Orthodox Church |
| Further subjects: | B
religious association
Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahïdo Christian
mahbär
tsïwwa
commemoration
zïkïr
gender
modernization
|
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | This article explores the religious association mahbär, also called tsïwwa, in Ethiopia. Data from lay practitioners as well as priests show that religious mahbär has many religious as well as social functions. It is a ritual with long traditions in the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahedo Church. The authors show that what characterizes mahbär as a ritual is its unusual richness, complexity, multifunctionality and flexibility. By placing it within the Ethiopian religious context and the present development, the authors discuss why religious mahbär is in decline despite its multiple functions, flexibility, and support from the Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahïdo Church. In difficult economic times one would expect traditional rituals such as mahbär to become more important to people, and hence to be strengthened, but this does not seem to be the case here. In the authors’ view, three factors are pushing this decline: economic challenges, time constraints, and member recruitment. |
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| ISSN: | 1570-0666 |
| Contains: | In: Journal of religion in Africa
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15700666-12340062 |