Berta (people)
The Berta or Bertha are currently an ethnic group of around 200,000 people who live along the border between Sudan and Ethiopia . They speak Berta , a Nilo-Saharan language that is not closely related to the Nilo-Saharan Komuz languages of their neighboring peoples - the Gumuz and Uduk . In Ethiopia, 183,259 people were registered as Berta in the 2007 census.
history
The origins of Berta lie in the east of Sudan in the area of the Sultanate of Sannar (1521-1804). During the 16th or 17th century the Berta migrated to western Ethiopia in the area of today's Benishangul-Gumuz . Benishangul is an Arabicized form of the original Bela Shangul , which means "rock of Shangul". What is meant is a sacred rock in a mountain in the woreda volume , one of the places where the Berta originally settled after their arrival in Ethiopia.
Their arrival in Ethiopia was accompanied by a serious territorial conflict between individual Berta groups. For this reason and to protect against slave hunters from the Sudan area, the Berta decided to build their settlements in naturally more protected locations such as hills and mountains amidst towering rocks. Because of this topography, buildings were built over crevices. The German traveler Ernst Marno described this Berta architecture and settlements in his travels in the area of the Blue and White Nile (Vienna 1874). The Berta of Benishangul were incorporated into Ethiopia in 1896.
After conflicts and uprisings during the 20th century, the Berta moved into the valleys they inhabit today. During the 19th century, Benishangul was divided into different sheikdoms (Fadasi, Komosha, Gizen, Asosa ). The most powerful was ruled by Sheikh Khoyele towards the end of the century.
regional customs
After several centuries of Arab-Sudanese influence, the Berta speak fluent Arabic , most of them are Muslims, some are Christian. The descendants of mixed marriages with Arab traders are called Watawit , after the local name for bats, which means the mixture of different groups. Nevertheless, they continue to practice traditional customs that are similar to those of their Nilo-Saharan neighbors, for example the Neri ritual, which is said to evoke healing and prophetic powers. There are rituals in which evil spirits ( Shuman ) are conjured up, and rainmaker ceremonies.
Their wedding music is played by men with large calabash trumpets ( waza ). The bride comes to the wedding on a donkey, carrying a throwing stick ( bang ) in her hand. After the wedding, the groom has to build a hut and live in the bride's village for at least a year and till the father-in-law's land. Divorces are accepted. Berta decorate their faces with scarifications , usually there are three vertical lines on each cheek, which they regard as symbols of God (each line is interpreted as Alif , the first letter of Allah ).
Berta operate slash and burn. Their main food is millet , from which they prepare porridge in ceramic vessels and also brew beer. Millet beer (cf. Merisa ) is brewed in large ceramic containers called awar and is'u . Work parties play an important role in their society. If someone builds a house or works a field, his neighbors help him and receive food and beer in return.
literature
- T. Andersen: Aspects of Berta phonology. In: Africa and overseas. 76, 1993, ISSN 0002-0427 , pp. 41-80.
- T. Andersen: Absolutive and Nominative in Berta. In: Robert Nicolaï , Franz Rottland (ed.): Actes du Cinquième Colloque de Linguistique Nilo-Saharienne. 24 - 29 août 1992, Université de Nice - Sophia-Antipolis. = Proceedings of the Fifth Nilo-Saharan Linguistics Colloquium. Köppe, Cologne 1995, ISBN 3-927620-72-6 , pp. 36-49 ( Nilo-Saharan 10).
- Lionel Bender (Ed.): Berta Lexicon. In: M. Lionel Bender (Ed.): Topics in Nilo-Saharan Linguistics. Hamburg, Helmut Buske 1989, ISBN 3-87118-927-8 , pp. 271-304 ( Nilo-Saharan 3).
- Alfredo González-Ruibal : Order in a disordered world. The Bertha house (Western Ethiopia). In: Anthropos 101, 2, 2006, ISSN 0003-5572 , pp. 379-402.
- Artur Simon : Trumpet and Flute Ensembles of the Berta People in the Sudan. In: Jacqueline Cogdell Djedje, WG Carter (ed.): African Musicology. Current trends. A Festschrift presented to JH Kwabena Nketia . Volume 1. African Studies Center et al., Los Angeles CA 1989, ISBN 0-918456-62-2 , pp. 183-217.
- Alessandro Triulzi: Salt, gold and legitimacy. Prelude to the history of a no man's land. Bela Shangul, Wallagga, Ethiopia (approx. 1800–1898). Istituto di Studi Orientale, Naples 1981.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Central Statistical Agency : Summary and Statistical Report of the 2007 Population and Housing Census Results ( Memento of March 5, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 4.7 MB), p. 84
- ↑ On the "Rock of Shangul", see Alessandro Triulzi: Trade, Islam, and the Mahdia in Northwestern Wallagga, Ethiopia. In: Journal of African History, 16 (1975), p. 57 and the sources cited there.