Embassies, missions send Timket greetings to Ethiopians

Addis Ababa, January 19, 2025 (FMC) – Embassies and missions of various countries as well as international organizations stationed in Addis Ababa have extended their best wishes to Ethiopians celebrating the Timket – alias known as Ethiopian Epiphany.

Embassies of the U.S., the UK, Iran, Pakistan, Italy, Canada, Australia, Germany, Israel, Switzerland, Sweden, among others wish joyous and vibrant holiday to Ethiopians celebrating the occasion.

Various UN missions and representatives have also expressed a happy and peaceful Ethiopian Epiphany holiday.

The annual Timket (Ethiopian Epiphany) is being colorfully celebrated, beginning in the early hours of   this morning across the country.

With processions of priests carrying replicas of the Ark of Covenant, locally known as ‘Tabot’, and escorted by millions of people, Timket on this day is observed in commemoration of Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River.

Gondar, Addis Ababa and Lalibela are the top spots of Epiphany for massive celebrations of the day.

Timket is the Ge’ez expression for the traditional celebration of Epiphany, commemorating the baptism of Jesus Christ in the hands of John the Baptist at River Jordan.

In Ethiopia, various festivals attract numerous tourists in this month of January. The most popular holiday throughout the country that is celebrated in this month is Timket (Epiphany).

Epiphany denotes the manifestation of the mystery of the Trinitarian God in which God the Father testified the sonship of Jesus, and the Holy Spirit revealed itself as a dove right at the Jordan River when Jesus was baptized.

Timket is also the religious practice that initiates a child to Christendom. Timket celebration, held annually on the 19th of January, is primarily a function in the purview of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, a church possibly as old as Christianity itself.

It is worth noting that Timket was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 2019.