Why did the chauvnists called ስይጣን ቤት as such?
Posted: 31 May 2026, 21:52
Phobia to modernization 
ስይጣን ቤት (Saitan Bet), which translates to "House of the Devil," was a historical cinema hall in the Piazza area of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It received this name due to the shock and bewilderment of the Ethiopian aristocracy when moving pictures were first introduced. Here is why it got the nickname:
* Supernatural Suspicions: When Emperor Menelik II first introduced film screenings in the early 20th century, the moving images were so baffling to the traditional nobility that they concluded the realistic motion and shadows could only be the work of the devil, not humans.
* Rejection of Fiction: Aristocrats were highly skeptical of paying to watch projected scenes, famously questioning: "We neither eat nor drink it, why would we pay for something we see with our own eyes?"
* The Location: The site was originally the Club de l'Union, an early notorious bar and dancehall in the 1920s. This rebellious, modern atmosphere combined with the strange "devilish" movies caused the establishment to earn its famous nickname.
The hall eventually became part of the Mega Theatre complex in the Arada sub-city.
ስይጣን ቤት (Saitan Bet), which translates to "House of the Devil," was a historical cinema hall in the Piazza area of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
It received this name due to the shock and bewilderment of the Ethiopian aristocracy when moving pictures were first introduced. Here is why it got the nickname:
* Supernatural Suspicions: When Emperor Menelik II first introduced film screenings in the early 20th century, the moving images were so baffling to the traditional nobility that they concluded the realistic motion and shadows could only be the work of the devil, not humans.
* Rejection of Fiction: Aristocrats were highly skeptical of paying to watch projected scenes, famously questioning: "We neither eat nor drink it, why would we pay for something we see with our own eyes?"
* The Location: The site was originally the Club de l'Union, an early notorious bar and dancehall in the 1920s. This rebellious, modern atmosphere combined with the strange "devilish" movies caused the establishment to earn its famous nickname.
The hall eventually became part of the Mega Theatre complex in the Arada sub-city.