Ethiopia: Across
northeastern Oromia, from Sheikh Hussein to Harar (January 2017)
5. Days 14 to 15: Harar
Return to main Ethiopia January 2017 webpage
Old Harar (Jugal), the main spiritual
center of Ethiopia′s Muslim population, is a uniquely fascinating city.
Believed to have been founded by Arabian immigrants around the 10th century, it
became a crossroads for trade and culture between the Ethiopian highlands, the
Afar depression, the shores of the Gulf of Aden, and eastern Africa. It
forms a dense maze of narrow streets and alleys enclosed by a 3.4km-long
5m-high fortification wall built in the 16th century against the threats of
Christian forces from Ethiopian highlands and increasing migration of the Oromo
people. It is said to have the largest density of mosques of any city in the
world. It is located on a hilltop at an elevation of 1880m. About 30,000 people
live within the walled city.
This was my second
visit to Harar. Click here
to see photos taken during my 2012 visit. In 2017 I found the streets of Harar slightly less crowded and colorful than in 2012. I
was told that this was due to new regulations constraining the activities of
street vendors. Despite that Harar still remains a
very exciting city to visit.
Aerial view of the
walled city. The encircling wall has barely changed shape since the 16th
century.
(Source:
Google Earth.)
Along the wall.
Women with donkeys
carrying sugar cane.
Gates.
The wall has six main
gates built at different time periods. Running in anticlockwise order from Harar gate (a modern gate created under the reign of Haile
Selassie to facilitate car access to the central Feres
Megala square) are: Showa, Buda, Sanga, Erer, and Fallana gates.
Showa gate.
Buda gate.
Sanga gate.
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Erer gate.
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Fallana gate.
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There are also a few
smaller gates that are shortcuts for people to exit/enter the walled city on
foot.
Market scenes at Erer gate.
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Mekina Girgir.
This street (its name
means ″machine street″) is one of the busiest in old Harar, with tailors‛ workshops and men at sewing
machines aligned on both sides. In the afternoon, many women (Harari, Oromo,
Somali...) dressed in colorful dresses are strolling in this street
looking for new clothes.
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Other Streets and alleys.
Old Harar is densely populated, but most of its smaller streets
and alleys are surprisingly quiet.
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Mosques.
Harar is said to have 90
to 100 mosques. However, none of them is really spectacular. Many are tiny and
some are private.
Al-Jami mosque, the
largest mosque in old Harar.
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Mosque outside Erer gate:
- Minaret.
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- Prayer room with
its mirhab.
- View over Harar from the top of the minaret (with another mosque on
the right).
Mosque near Showa
gate.
Mosque near Gidir Magala (main market
square).
Egyptian
mosque built during the period of Egyptian rule (1875-1884).
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Other mosques.
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Harari
man near a mosque.
Shrines and tombs.
Various shrines and
tombs are scattered across the city. (For a photo of the tomb of Emir Nur, the builder of the city wall, click here.)
Tomb of Sheikh Abadir, considered to be the founder of Harar:
- Left: entrance of
the compound, which consists of Sheikh Abadir‛s
tomb, an adjacent cemetery, and the traditional house where descendants of
Sheikh Abadir are still living. Right: entrance of
the tomb.
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- Adjacent cemetery.
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Family house.
House of Sheikh Abadir‛s brother, now a meeting place for Harari
people.
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Tomb of Jeberti Ismail, a Somali man who came to Harar to study the Coran.
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Tomb of Sheikh Ali
Hassan.
Tomb of Sheikh Ahmed Ansar. A sycamore tree has grown over it.
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Traditional houses of rich families. (To see photos of
the the interior of such houses click here.)
Shops.
Bakery and coffee
shop.
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Coffee roasting shop.
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Morning rush in a
butcher shop to grab the best pieces of meat.
Peugeot 404 taxis.
They are
hand-me-downs from Djibouti when it was still a French colony. In 2012 they
were ubiquitous in Harar. In 2017, there were
slightly fewer of them. (These cars were manufactured from 1960 to 1975. Djibouti
became independent in 1977.)
The so-called ″Arthur Rimbaud‛s house″. It was built by an Indian merchant on
the site of an earlier house where Rimbaud is believed to have lived. This
house now hosts a museum.
Links
to the various sections of the trip:
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