Translations:AY Honors/African Lore/Answer Key 2/187/en
Amhara
{{Ethnic group |name = Amhara |image = Adi Arkay.jpg |image caption = A street in Adi Arkay with a view to the Simien Mountains in the background (Amhara Region, Ethiopia). |Eating habits = Barley, corn, millet, wheat, sorghum, and teff, along with beans, peppers, chickpeas, and other vegetables, are the most important crops. In the highlands one crop per year is normal, while in the lowlands two are possible. Cattle, sheep, and goats are also raised. |Initiation ceremony = The Amhara consider it dishonorable for a man to marry a woman who is not a virgin. Therefore, girls were until recently married shortly after beginning menstruation. |Shamans = The Amhara have priests to administer their religious rites. |Living conditions = About 90 percent of the Amhara are rural and make their living through farming, mostly in the Ethiopian highlands. Prior to the 1974 Ethiopian Revolution, absentee landlords maintained strict control over their sharecropping tenants, often allowing them to accumulate crippling debt. After 1974, the landlords were replaced by local government officials, who play a similar role. |Religion=The predominant religion of the Amhara for centuries has been Christianity, with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church playing a central role in the culture of the country. According to the 1994 census, 81.5 percent of the population of the Amhara region (which is 91.2 percent Amhara) were Ethiopian Orthodox; 18.1 percent were Muslim, and 0.1 percent were Protestant ("P'ent'ay"). The Ethiopian Orthodox Church maintains close links with the Egyptian Coptic Church. Easter and Epiphany are the most important celebrations, marked with services, feasting and dancing. There are also many fast days throughout the year, when only vegetables or fish may be eaten. |Education=Today, most Amhara are educated in secular schools, but in the past, education was the duty of the church. |Burial= The body is washed, wrapped in funeral clothing, and carried to the church in a straw mat. The body is generally buried withing 24 hours of death. |Money=
The birr is the unit of currency in Ethiopia. Before 1976, dollar was the official English translation of birr. Today, it is officially birr in English as well.
|Dress=The Amhara live at high altitudes (2100-4200 meters
), so their clothing is designed to be warm. In modern times, the Amhara dress in western clothing manufactured in Asia. Some still prefer traditional clothing, which consists of jodphurs and a shirt, with an outer garment called a gabi.
