Four Winds Travel and Tour believes that there is a dire need to mobilize all towards effective and progressive awareness as well as tangible change. To this end, we cordially invite you to all interested travelers who actively engage himself/her self participating in the upcoming Ethiopian millennium and Ethiopia-related events.

Reckoning of time in the past, primarily concentrates on the events and traditions of northern Ethiopia. Of course, we salute the contribution of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in the establishment and keeping of the time period that we know as Amate Mehret (Year of Mercy). We are grateful to them mapping out a time scale that embraces our conception and understanding of werat (months), ametat (years), and zemenat (Centuries). We are also appreciative of the Church for the maintenance of Zemene (Genesis)Fitrit. Just as we recognize the diversity of our people, it is equally important to recognize the diverse reckoning of time by Ethiopians. Thanks to the Ethiopian Muslim chroniclers, time and events in the lowlands, coastal regions and in the southeastern part of the country have been recorded based on Islamic calendar. The Oromos have Gada system of time and community organizations based on age-grade. There may be numerous other ways of time reckoning in our country and we should study them and find ways of incorporating into our Ethiopian collective sense of time.

Ethiopia has its own ancient calendar. According to the beliefs of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, God created the world 5500 years before the birth of Christ. It is 1994 years since Jesus was born. Based on this timeline, we are in the year 7494 of the eighth millennium (or smnTow vh). These are referred to as Amete Alem (]MT ]Lm) in Amharic or "the years of the world". Era of the world dates from 5493 Ethiopian B.C.

Ethiopic is not the only calendar in Ethiopia either. The works of Enoch (hnk) had been in Ethiopia and Egypt before the times of Moses and on through the times of King Solomon and Queen of Sheba. As has been the case for Israel, Egypt and Ethiopia have had important roles in Biblical History. An Enochian year is completed in 364 days, Enoch 82:4-7 and Jubilees 6:23-28. More precisely, a 365-day-solar-year and the 365-year-solar-cycle appear as a 365-days-and-years single term. From the three books of Enoch, a curious 364-day length of calendar year lends new insight by reserving the last day of the solar year. Ethiopians followed the Old Testament before the introduction of Christianity (1 Kings 10:1-9). The Arc of the Covenant was brought to Ethiopia long before Christianity accepted the Old Testament and offered worship to God. The Oromo people have their own calendar. Bete Israel (bT asr]l) believe in the Jewish faith. More Info