Ethiopia 20, Lake Tana

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ETHIOPIA
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Lake Tana
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LAKETANA
Lake Tana is Ethiopia's largest lake and famous
for the churches and monasteries on 20 of the
lake's 37 islands. The Lake is known as the home
of the Monasteries founded on some of the 20 of
its 37 Islands. Lake Tana is fed by the Lesser
Abay, Reb and Gumara rivers and its surface area
ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 km,² depending on
season and rainfall. The lake level has been
regulated since the construction of the control
weir where the lake discharges into the Blue
Nile. This controls the flow to the Blue Nile
Falls (Tis Abbai) and hydro-power station.
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Tankwas!!!!
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The lake has a number of islands, whose numbers
vary depending on the level of the lake it has
fallen about 6 feet (1.8 m) in the last 400
years. According to Manoel de Almeida (a
Portuguese missionary in the early 17th century),
there were 21 islands, seven to eight of which
had monasteries on them "formerly large, but now
much diminished.
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When James Bruce visited the area in the later
18th century, he noted that the locals counted 45
inhabited islands, but stated he believed that
"the number may be about eleven.
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A 20th-century geographer named 37 islands, of
which he believed 19 have or had monasteries or
churches on them.
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Papyrellas, or papyrus boats, are often
represented on the terracottas, paintings and
mosaics of ancient Egypt The papyrus plant,
however, disappeared from the Egyptian
countryside centuries ago, and one must travel to
Ethiopia to see such craft, locally known as
tankwas.
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The papyrus reed grows on the banks of Lake Tana,
a lake that lies at 1850 metres above sea level
and through which the Blue Nile flows, by more
than 4000 km far from the river's mouth. The
local inhabitants use the long stems of this
plant to build their boats.
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Bundles of dried papyrus, laid end to end with a
slight overlap, are lashed to an untrimmed pole
of eucalyptus wood that acts as a sort of keel.
The boat has a short life span of some three
months and costs the equivalent of 3 euros. Its
length depends on the end use from 1 metre for
those built for children, up to 12 metres for the
largest that are used to transport cargoes of
wood or as ferries carrying a dozen passengers
from one bank of the Nile to the other.
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Hundreds of these tankwas crisscross Lake Tana,
as they have for millennia, representing an
essential part of commercial exchange and
reflecting a sustainable and respectful
exploitation of the local ecology.
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According to the Ethiopian Department of
Fisheries and Aquaculture, 1,454 tones of fish
are landed each year at Bahir Dar, which the
department estimates is 15 of its sustainable
amount
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Covering 3,500 sq km, it is not only the largest
lake in Ethiopia but also the home of the
numerous orthodox monasteries on some of its
thirty-seven islands
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As a source of the Blue Nile, its water is like
the milk which quenches the thirst and provides
the livelihood for more than a hundred million
people in Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt
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souvenirs sold on the street in almost every
tourist site in the country
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Waiting for tourists
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The most attractive souvenirs sold here are
mysterious, exotic and colorful
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Lake Tana, Exit from Ura Kidane Mihret monastery
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The intricate Ethiopian Orthodox crosses in
different churches have always been unique and
rarely identical
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Lake Tana Monastery of Kebran Gabriel
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Nearly every church in Ethiopia possesses similar
books with Geez written on sheep skins. The ages
of these books are often unknown but believed to
be a few hundred years
Lake Tana Monastery of Kebran Gabriel
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Among the bible stories, the killing of the
serpent by St. George is the most common graphic
depiction. Exhibition of the books to visitors
has become a standard procedure of the churches
Lake Tana Monastery of Kebran Gabriel
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Lake Tana Monastery of Kebran Gabriel
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Interesting and historic churches and monasteries
on or around the lake can be found on the islands
of Birgida Maryam, Dega Estefanos, Dek, Narga,
Tana Cherkos, Mitsele Fasilidas, Kebran and Debre
Maryam, as well as the peninsulas of Gorgora,
Mandaba, and Zeghe, which has long been renowned
for its coffee.   These places all have excellent
churches. Though founded much earlier, most of
the buildings date from the late sixteenth or
early seventeenth century. Many have beautiful
mural paintings and church crosses, and house
crowns and clothes of former kings.   Access for
the most part is closed to women, who are allowed
to land on the banks of the islands but not
permitted to proceed any further. The clergy, who
are usually very good humoured, can sometimes be
prevailed upon to bring some of their treasures
to the water's edge.   Women are, however,
permitted to visit churches on the Zeghe
peninsula and the nearby church of Ura Kidane
Mehret, as well as Narga Selassie. Kebran
Gabriel, the nearest monastery to Bahar Dar, is a
principal tourist attraction for male visitors
only, as this is one of the places where women
are forbidden. Originally established in the
fourteenth century and rebuilt during the reign
of Emperor Iyasu I (1682-1706), it is an
unassuming but impressive building with a
distinct cathedral atmosphere.
Lake Tana Monastery of Kebran Gabriel
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Ethiopia is your mother love her Ethiopia is
your country defend her Ethiopia is every to
you die for her Emperor Johannes IV (1837-1889)
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Men sitting by the road. Bahir Dar
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Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Sanda Negrutiu Alin
Samochis Daniel Scradeanu
Internet All  copyrights  belong to
their  respective owners Presentation Sanda
Foisoreanu
2014
Sound Alemayehu Eshete-Filiklike
Habeshia