Draft:Ashendye
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Submission declined on 17 August 2026 by Sophisticatedevening (talk). This draft appears to be a duplicate of an existing article. Wikipedia does not permit multiple articles on the same topic.
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Comment: Feel free to add parts of your draft to the article in mainspace. Sophisticatedevening(talk) 01:21, 17 August 2026 (UTC)
Ashendye (Amharic: አሸንድዬ) is a religious festival celebrated in Lasta, Lalibela, and Gondar of the Amhara region of Ethiopia.[1] In different localities of Amhara, the festival is also known as Shadey (ሻደይ) or Solel (ሶለል).[1] It explicitly commemorates the Old Testament story of Moses and the reed basket in which he was saved.[1] In contrast, Ashenda is a secularized civic festival celebrated in Tigray that centers on female social autonomy, gendered freedom, and modern regional political expression.[2]
Historical and Cultural Roots
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The Amhara highlands of Bete Amhara and Gondar serve as the foundational cradle of the Ashendye festival due to the region's ancient roots in early Jewish tradition.[1] [3] This deep Hebraic heritage is preserved through the historic use of the Tabot (Ark covenant replica) ceremony.[3] This celebration predates the Aksumite Christian era and goes back before the spread of Christianity.[1]
Girls participating in Ashendye traditionally wear fresh green Cyperus sedge grass, known as Ashenda (Amharic: አሸንዳ), woven and tied around their waist.[1] This grass is prepared as a thick, layered belt or skirt and serves as one of the festival's most recognizable elements.[1]
Within this historical framework, the connection centers on the symbolism of the reed basket.[1] In Amhara tradition, the primary reason young women weave and wear the native green Cyperus sedge grass around their waists is to symbolise the papyrus reed basket that saved the infant Moses on the Nile.[1] According to the Old Testament narrative, Moses's mother placed him in a basket hidden among the reeds of the Nile River to protect him from Pharaoh's decree.[1] The fresh river grass used in the festival acts as a living monument to this biblical event of preservation and divine protection.[1][4]
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Zeleke, Meseret (2026-08-10). "Bete Amhara: A Journey Through Wollo's Living Heritage, Landscapes, and Seasonal Festivals". Rex Clarke Adventures. Retrieved 2026-08-15.
- ↑ News, Hojun Choi l The Dallas Morning (2023-09-14). "Tigrayans in North Texas preserve culture, tradition through Ashenda, a day to honor women". www.keranews.org/. Retrieved 2026-09-20.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - 1 2 Leslau, Wolf (1951). Falasha anthology. Internet Archive. New Haven, Conn. ; London : Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-03927-6.
{{cite book}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link) - ↑ Bruce, James (1790). Travels to discover the source of the Nile, in the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. Boston University Mugar Memorial Library. Edinburgh, Printed by J. Ruthven, for G. G. J. and J. Robinson, London.