Types of hair styles exist in Ethiopia

Many types of hair styles exist in Ethiopia. Basically, braids (sheruba in Amharic), Afros (Goferay in Amharic) and dreadlocks of monks and pilgrims are common. In major towns however, the wonderful styles are not seen as common as in the rural areas. Most Ethiopians may proudly hang up photos of traditional hair styles in their homes but usually avoid wearing it themselves probably because they may be depicted as backwards. Many years ago The Ethiopian Post Office printed a set of stamps that depicted various tribes wearing unique and stylistic hair styles from the provinces of Arussi, Bale, Begemedir (Gonder), , Shoa and Kaffa. Some of these hair styles were actually used by the ancient Egyptians and Pharoahs and people of the Nile Basins. In fact there are many traditions and cultures used in Ethiopia that are presently absent in other parts of the Nile valley such as Head Rests, Cistrums, Ear wax cleaners and reed Rain Coats are still used in Ethiopia. Interestingly, the Ice Man found in the Alps of Italy used a similar Reed Rain Coat though he used it as a sleeping mat as do the Ethiopians!

Men usually have a hair style in the Afro fashion. However, they are known to also braid their hair. A well known examples of braids in men is that of Emperor Tewodros and Yohannes. This style is common among the Amhara of Ethiopia depicted on the left.

Hair styles also exists for the young. Mischievous toddlers receive a Mohawk type of hair cut. The Amharic name for this style is "Kuntcho". The traditional story behind this style is that the angels will pull the kids out of trouble by holding onto the tuft of hair of the kids. An example is the kid on the left. Young girls receive a hair cut that includes a shaved top surrounded by a halo of an Afro style. The girl on the left probably has this type of hair style but whether the top is shaved is not visible

Hairstyles of Ethiopia

Hairstyles for Children

Quntcho: This hairstyle is used mostly in toddlers and the very young. It consists of a tuft of hair on top of a shaved head. In Ethiopian tradition, the angels save the child from mischief and trouble by holding them by the tuft of the Quntcho hair. This Quntcho style however is disappearing in large towns but it is still common in rural Ethiopia where it is a sign of tradition and not backwardness.

Zerantch: The hair of the Quntcho that grows on the head of a child is called Zerantch.

Qaray: A narrow strip of hair is allowed to grow from the mid-forehead to the back of the neck. The rest of the head is shaved. This style of hair is known as a Mohawk in the United States of America. However, within Ethiopia, it has been practiced as a tradition for many centuries in young boys. A well known Hollywood actor with a famous Qaray is the African American actor known as Mr. T. However, Mr. T also has an extra pair sticking out of his temples! It should be emphasized that Qaray is a hairstyle for children not for the sexually mature and married individual. In the United States, the Mohawk in African Americans is sometimes called Black Mohawk or Fro Hawk. Fro stands for Afro. This style is used in both sexes.

Sheruba: Sheruba is braid whether it is braided as a cornrow or as a free-hanging braid.

Sadula: Teenager maidens shave their hair on the top of the head and leave the outlying fringes unshaven. The shaven hair is allowed to grow only after the women have matured and married. The first growth of this shaven hair after marriage is called Endermamit or Fesesay The hair that has not been shaved, that is, the outlying fringe, is either braided or combed into an Afro. The Sadula is practiced mostly by the Amharas and Tigreans and some other tribes of Ethiopia.

Gamay: The Gamay is similar to a Sadula hairstyle used by girls.

Zur Gamay: This hairstyle is another name for Gamay Sheruba worn by young unmarried girls. It is also similar to the hairstyle known as Sadula.

Gamay Sheruba: This hairstyle is a Sadula hairstyle using braids. Unmarried girls shave the top part of the head and braid the remaining hair surrounding the bald spot.

Endermamit: When a young virgin girl with a Sadula hairstyle has married, the one year growth of new hair from the previously shaved area is called Endermamit. It is customary to comb this new growth with great respect.

Fesesay: This term is identical with Endermamit. When a young virgin girl with a Sadula hairstyle has married, the one year growth of hair that she combs and takes care of is called Fesesay.

Hairstyles for Women

Sheruba:

Sheruba: Hair that is braided into a cornrow or as a free-hanging braid.

Gadeiray: This is a type of braided hairstyle by Amhara people.

Gofeiray: Any type of hairstyle that involves the excessive growth of woolly hair. In the West it is known as an Afro. This hairstyle is also used by women.

Gufta: Gufta is a hairstyle commonly practiced by the Oromo and Gurage people in Ethiopia. Basically, the hair is combed into a fluffy Goferay (Afro). It is then neatly covered with a shash and tied at the rear.

Eshem: This hairstyle is a thick large braid worn by women mostly but also by men in the older days. It is actually a large corn row beginning from the forehead and ending at the back of the neck. Tradition does not dictate as to the number of corn-row braids but Eshem is convenient for those who cannot stand the long hours of fine cornrow braiding. Gungun is another type of Eshem.

Eshem Dereb: This name implies a Double Eshem. This is a type of Eshem that involves the creation of one large Eshem over the top of another.

Gungun: This is a type of Eshem braid. It is a hurriedly prepared hairstyle to suit those who do not have time for an elaborate time-consuming cornrow braidng of the hair.

Mertu: This hairstyle is traditional amongst the Ethiopian Oromo people. The hair is braided in a rope-like fashion (twisted around) and ends in a tuft of hair. This is not done in the fashion of a cornrow. In most cases the hair and scalp is conditioned with ghee (an organic conditioner commonly practiced by Ethiopians) giving the hairstyle a glossy appearance. Mertu is also practiced by other ethnic groups such as the Gurage where it is also weaved like a rope. The hair is allowed to hang down freely.

Sadula: Teenagers, virgins and unmarried maidens shave off the hair on top of the head and leave the outlying fringes unshaven. The hair is allowed to grow only after the women have married. The hair that has not been shaved, that is, the outlying fringe, is either braided or combed into an Afro. The Sadula is practiced mostly by the Amharas and Tigreans of Ethiopia.

Endermamit: When a young virgin girl with a Sadula hairstyle has married, the one year growth of new hair from the previously shaved area is called Endermamit. It is customary to comb this new growth with great respect.

Fesesay: This term is identical with Endermamit. When a young virgin girl with a Sadula hairstyle has married, the one year growth of hair that she combs and takes care of is called Fesesay.

Hamar Bumi and Karo (Southwestern Ethiopians) Women Hairstyle: Hamar Bumi and Karo Ethiopian women who are unmarried have their hair rubbed with fat into small balls then cover them with ochre. These women change their hairstyle after marriage by changing the balls into long twisted strands rubbed in ochre. A fancy decorative ornament usually is included in the hairdo.

Afar Women Hairstyle: Afar (Danakil, Dankali) women that are unmarried wear their hair as hanging ringlets. After marriage, these women cover their hair with Shash or mushal.

Gerdaba Shash: A type of shash that covers the hair and used mostly by by Oromo women. The hair is usually combed as an Afro first then covered with the shash (Shash in Amharic).

Qelbay Shash: This is similar to the Gerdaba Shash but is a term in Amharic.

Kebs: this is a head and hair cover used by women and priests

Gutena: A type of Goferay, an Afro hairstyle.

Hairstyles for Men

Goferay: Any type of hairstyle that involves the excessive growth of woolly hair. In the West it is known as an Afro. This hairstyle is also used by women.

Hamar Bumi and Karo Hairstyle (Southwestern Ethiopians): Hamar Bumi and Karo men wear clay hair buns representing killing of an enemy or a dangerous animal. The hairdo lasts up to one year. Above the forehead, a small holder is made to hold ostrich feathers. Hamar men also braid their hair into cornrow.

Afar Hairstyle: Afar (Danakil, Dankali) men frizzle their hair into a fuzzy mop (so-called Fuzzy Wuzzy of the British). When ringlets are desired, ghee is used to soften the hair into the desired fashion.

Tchefrer (Fuzzy Wuzzy): The Tchefrer (or Fuzzy Wuzzy is a term created by the British and is only mentioned here as a historical note) is well known by patriots, Monks and Spiritualists (Qalitcha). The Ethiopians in the borderlands near the Red Sea were well known to be described as the Fuzzy Wuzzy people. The Beni Amir, Besharin, Amrar, Bilen, Afar, Saho, Hadendowa as well as others exhibit an unusual exaggerated Afro. Some of these tribes still wear this hairstyle. The Fuzzy Wuzzies gave these people a fierce appearance to their enemies. It should be mentioned here that these people were not conquered since the Roman times. When the British first encountered them, they aptly called them Fuzzy Wuzzies not knowing their culture language or origin. Previous to that the Romans and Greeks considered them as apes who resided in the ground and classified them as Troglodytes. The nearest Ethiopian word for Fuzzy Wuzzy is Tchefrer which means unkept frizzled hair worn by Patriots, Monks and Spiritualists.

Nazrawi: This is a Christian monk who wears his hair in a Goferey (Afro style combined with dreadlock) and wraps a long chain several times around his shoulders and waist. This monk or pilgrim also carries a long metal rod that is topped with the crucifix (cross). Nazrawi in itself is not a hairstyle but is mentioned here as an information about Nazrawi monk hairstyle.

Keloita; this is a skullcap worn by men of the Islamic faith.

Buqedaday; Elephants in Ethiopia were plentiful in the past centuries. An elephant killer (Zehon Gedaye) proudly showed their status by wearing the Buqedaday shash (head band) as a sign of valor. The narrow sash, usually green yellow and red (The Ethiopian National Symbol) over a white background, covers part of the forehead and was tied at the back of the head near the nape. An extra piece of the sash usually dangled down the back from the knot.

The Ethiopian tribes who use BUTTER to style their hair: Incredible photos reveal the elaborate curled creations of the Afar people, and the Hamer who mix ghee with red ochre to spectacular effect

? The Afar tribe is famous for its butter-covered 'asdago' afro styles and elaborately curled 'dayta' 'do

? But the Afar aren't the only ones to use dairy products as an unguent - the Bofana and Hamer also do

? Particularly spectacular is the look adopted by the Karrayyu tribe who allow butter to drip through their hair

? All four tribes are cattle herders by tradition and make the butter that they use on their hair by hand

? Although many of their compatriots use shea butter, for the Afar and Hamer, using real butter is traditional.

Effective: The liberal use of butter keeps curls in place for days, as well as keeping hair supple and moisturised and helping to protect the scalp from the sun

'They apply the butter to keep the curls in place,' explains photographer Eric Lafforgue. 'They look a little bit like Victorian ladies, or, if you prefer, Rastas. The curls are full of cow fat and butter.'

The Afars, who are grouped into unique mini-kingdoms, each ruled by its own sultan, also like across the border in neigbouring Eritrea and suffered much persecution under the Communist Derg regime.

More than 20 years after dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam was forced to flee, the people's fortunes - and talent for hairdressing - have recovered, although like other tribes living traditional lifestyles, they are under threat from encroaching modernity.

Impressive though the Afars' grasp of hair dressing is, they aren't the only Ethiopians to use butter to keep their hair in tip top condition. The Karrayyu, are an ancient nomadic group who live in the Awash Valley in the Fantalle district of Ethiopia, also create elaborate looks using the foodstuff.

Sadly, like the Afar, their way of life is also under threat, largely as a result of persecution during the last century of their ethnic parent group, the Oromo, as well as the establishment of national parks and the construction of sugar and cotton plantations which have deprived them of their land.

The Karrayyu also practice the Gada system, an ancient and complex form of African democracy which is traditionally based on the passing on of power from one generation to another every eight years.

The rules, which divide the tribespeople into around 11 strictly-observed group, governs the life of individuals in Oromo society from birth to death, controlling everything from economics, art, history, property ownership and making laws.

Every eight years under a full moon, around 10,000 people - strictly no tourists - gather for the Gada ceremony to transfer power from one group to the next.

There's no such prohibition on watching the Karrayyu hairdressers at work however, creating intricate looks that can take up to a day to complete.

'Karrayyu young men who are newly married make a hole in their "gunfura" (afro haircut) and put some butter in the morning, reveals Lafforgue. 'All day long, the butter goes through the hair and down in the neck. It's natural for them!'

And the buttery look isn't reserved solely for the men, as Lafforgue points out: 'Karrayyu girls also put butter on the hair. Sometimes you can see the men from the family spitting on the top of the head full of butter, which, although it sounds disgusting, is actually a blessing.'

Other tribes to embrace butter has an unguent for hair include the Borana, who believe it protects their scalps from the sun, and the Hamer, who mix it with red ochre to spectacular effect.

The Hamar, a semi-nomadic tribe of cattle herders, have a set of unique rituals surrounding the use of butter as a beauty product. The food is most often used by newly-wed women, who are completely covered in a butter and ochre mixture and shut in their home alone for six months after the wedding to ensure that any child she has belongs to her husband.

But it's not solely a wedding tradition: Women also use the mixture to keep their dreadlocks in place. 'Hamer women use butter and a little red soil

to put on their dreadlocks, explains Lafforgue.

'They put so much that it streams down the back and looks a lot like blood.' To keep the look tidy, regular haircuts are also on offer, although as Lafforgue explains, they aren't of the type found in a high street salon.

'They take a stone and a knife to cut them with,' he explains. 'A few minutes and it is done!'