አኮ መኖዬ፣ እቴጌ ሙና፣ እና ሞናሊዛ: Coincidences?
Posted: 12 Aug 2020, 19:33
Until very recently, I had thought that the very common Ethiopian name Muna might have come from the famous painting Monalizza by the famous Italian Renaissance man Leonardo Da Vinci. I understand that the actual person that Da Vinci depicted by his painting may not be widely known. Nonetheless, I have been thinking he has conquered the world nobly by paining Monalizza and making the name Muna or its variation widely known around the world just like the names Moses, John, and so on.
I recently came across a comment on this forum by abel qael that there was actually a legendary Ethiopian እቴጌ named Muna.
It quickly reminded me about the name of the other legendary Ethiopian ጊፍቲ called አኮ መኖዬ that I heard about when I was young. If I am not mistaken, አኮ is a shortened version of አኮዬ, which means grandmother.
This legend goes that she was a very powerful leader in an ancient time that demanded that her palace be built above the ground and under the sky. The popular legend didn't say, at least the version that I heard, where or when she lived. However, the legend was often used as an example of demanding unrealistic things, at least at that time. I am unsure if she is an actual person who once lived, perhaps during the time of the matriarchal society, or if the legend is just a myth.
Even though I am a layperson to history, I keep wondering when I hear about historical coincidences, such as አኮ መኖዬ፣ እቴጌ ሙና፣ and ሞናሊዛ. It sounds like these coincidences are stretched too far when we talk about the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Intuitively thinking, I am inclined to believe that there are some consciousnesses that stay very long with various communities. For instance, I do not think that the words ጎረኤ፣ ጎራ፣ gory as in gory detail, and Gore are mere coincidences.
When I read the fiction The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, I appreciated how the ancient culture written about in the fiction connected me with the culture that I grew up in, more so than the fiction itself. In his other fiction, Angels and Demons, I learned about the libation places present in The Vatican to this day, or at least fictionally. I wondered and continue to wonder if the libation tradition in there and the traditioanl ዽባዩ have anything in common.
Wise and powerful leaders, including in ancient times, must have left their marks in the consciousness of their descendant generations.
Some of you may wonder how the unrealistic demand of አኮ መኖዬ ended. The legend goes that wise leaders in her command got together and were able to come up with an easy solution. They said let us prepare an ኡቱባ/ምሶሶ and tell her to erect it herself because that is the job left to the owner of any new house. It is said that she couldn't do it and dropped her demand.
Evidently, there were no NASA scientists among the wise leaders of the time who could defy gravity and build her something like the International Space Station where she could become its first resident during that ancient time.
Interestingly, one of many pioneering works of Leonardo Da Vinci was designing a flying machine that would defy gravity and pave the way for the future ISS.
As a layperson to history, I keep wondering if past names and consciosness that started in ancient times are mere coincidences.
I recently came across a comment on this forum by abel qael that there was actually a legendary Ethiopian እቴጌ named Muna.
It quickly reminded me about the name of the other legendary Ethiopian ጊፍቲ called አኮ መኖዬ that I heard about when I was young. If I am not mistaken, አኮ is a shortened version of አኮዬ, which means grandmother.
This legend goes that she was a very powerful leader in an ancient time that demanded that her palace be built above the ground and under the sky. The popular legend didn't say, at least the version that I heard, where or when she lived. However, the legend was often used as an example of demanding unrealistic things, at least at that time. I am unsure if she is an actual person who once lived, perhaps during the time of the matriarchal society, or if the legend is just a myth.
Even though I am a layperson to history, I keep wondering when I hear about historical coincidences, such as አኮ መኖዬ፣ እቴጌ ሙና፣ and ሞናሊዛ. It sounds like these coincidences are stretched too far when we talk about the works of Leonardo Da Vinci.
Intuitively thinking, I am inclined to believe that there are some consciousnesses that stay very long with various communities. For instance, I do not think that the words ጎረኤ፣ ጎራ፣ gory as in gory detail, and Gore are mere coincidences.
When I read the fiction The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, I appreciated how the ancient culture written about in the fiction connected me with the culture that I grew up in, more so than the fiction itself. In his other fiction, Angels and Demons, I learned about the libation places present in The Vatican to this day, or at least fictionally. I wondered and continue to wonder if the libation tradition in there and the traditioanl ዽባዩ have anything in common.
Wise and powerful leaders, including in ancient times, must have left their marks in the consciousness of their descendant generations.
Some of you may wonder how the unrealistic demand of አኮ መኖዬ ended. The legend goes that wise leaders in her command got together and were able to come up with an easy solution. They said let us prepare an ኡቱባ/ምሶሶ and tell her to erect it herself because that is the job left to the owner of any new house. It is said that she couldn't do it and dropped her demand.
Evidently, there were no NASA scientists among the wise leaders of the time who could defy gravity and build her something like the International Space Station where she could become its first resident during that ancient time.
Interestingly, one of many pioneering works of Leonardo Da Vinci was designing a flying machine that would defy gravity and pave the way for the future ISS.
As a layperson to history, I keep wondering if past names and consciosness that started in ancient times are mere coincidences.