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Epiphany (Timket)

This is an extremely colorful three-day festival commemorating the baptism of Christ. this greatest festival of the year falling on the 19 January just two weeks after the Ethiopian Christmas The night before, priests take the Tabot (which symbolizes the Ark of the Covenant) containing the Ten Commandments from each Church. Concealed by an ornamental cloth, it is taken to a tent, close to a consecrated pool or stream, accompanied by much ringing of bells, blowing of trumpets and the burning of incense. In Addis Ababa many tents are pitched at Jan Meda, to the northeast of the city center.

At 0200 there is a Mass, and crowds attend, with picnics lit by oil lamps. At dawn the priest extinguishes a candle burning on a pole set in a nearby river using a ceremonial cross. Some of the congregation leaps into the river. The Tabots are then taken back to the Churches in procession, accompanied by horsemen, while the festivities continue.