Eritrean Hairstyles

Traditional Eritrean hairstyles consist of tight braids with full curls in the back. Traditionally on special occasions, women adorn their braids with gold jewelry. The hair is tightly and meticulously braided taking anywhere from 2 to 6 hours.

Eritrean music and musical instruments

Eritrean Traditional Musical Instruments:

How Eritrea is named

Eritrea used to be called Mdree-Bahree meaning Land of the Sea. In 1890 Italy colonised Midri-Bahri and called it Eritrea from the Greek term Sinus Erythraeus, which translated to Red Sea in English. Red Sea is located between the Arabian Peninsula and the Africa continent. The first known inhabitants of Eritrea are the Kunama and Nara about 3500 B.C. The 'Land of Punt' is believed to be in this part of the world. Around 2000 BC the Beja people from southern Egypt entered Eritrea. The first inscriptions in Geez alphabet date from 800 B.C.

Eritrean Clothing

Eritrea is a multilingual and multicultural country with each one of them having their own distinctive traditional clothing. Urban people in Eritrea have adopted western clothing like jeans and shirts for casual wear while in the offices they wear western suits. A traditional dress is worn for holidays, church, special occasion and domestic affairs. Traditional clothing of Eritrea is a bright colored garment mainly made out of cotton.

Eritrean Food

The main cultural food in Eritrea consists of Tita/Injera (bread) and Tsebhi (sauce/stew). Tita is made from teff very tiny grains. To make Tita, the  teff flour and yeast is mix with water and left for a couple of days to ferment before being baked. Tita is fluffy and thin pancake-like bread used to eat with Tsebhi. Tsebhi (sauce/stew) is made from meat or vegetables and served on a tray with Tita. The Tita is placed on the bottom  and the stew is poured on the top. This food is eaten using your fingers by breaking bits of Tita and scooping up the stew. Traditionally meals are shared with family members from the same plate:)




The common Tsebhi (stew)

• • Nai tsom (fasting food - vegetarian combination).
• • Alicha birsen (lentil curry).
• • Zigini (meat stew). 
• • Zigna assa (fish stew). 
• • Tibzi (meat sauté of either lamb or beef with fresh tomatoes and hot peppers).  
• • Shiro (chick pea purée). 
• • Ades (lentils). 

Traditional Drinks

•  Bun(coffee) and shahi (plain tea). Tea and coffee are drunk black with a lot of sugar. 
•  Siwa (beer brewed from a local grain).
•  Mess (local brew made from honey).
•  Daga (a local brew from Barentu).
•  Caticala (a very strong spirit from the western lowlands).th ginger or black pepper and sugar. 

Language

Eritrea has nine regions and languages. Tigrinya is the main language spoken, Tigre, Afar, Saho, Bega, Bilen, Nara and Kunama. English, Arabic, and Italian are also widely understood. 
How we greet each other in Tigrinya:
To say How are you?
ከመይ ኣለኻ (kemey 'aleka) for man 
ከመይ ኣለኺ (kemey 'aleki) for woman
ከመይ ኣለኹም (kemey 'alekum) for men 
ከመይ ኣለኽን (kemey ' aleken) for women

Where Eritrea is located

Eritrea is located in the Horn of Africa. The capital city is Asmara. 
It is bordered by Sudan to the north and west, Ethiopia to the south, Djibouti to the south-east and the Red Sea to the north and north-east. Eritrea derives its name from the word 'erythro' which is an ancient Greek term for red since it is located by the coast line of the Red Sea.With a land area of about 125.000 km2, Eritrea is about the size of England, or the state of Pennsylvania in the USA. The coastline measures around 1.200 km and off it there are over 350 islands, of which 210 comprise the area of the Dahlak Archipelago.There is an eight hour time difference (ahead) between USA Eastern Standard Time and Eritrea, which is reduced to seven during Daylight Savings Time.

Land boundaries	1,630 km
Djibouti	113 km
Ethiopia	912 km
Sudan	605 km
Coastline	1,200 km
Land + island coastline	2,234 km