Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2015 02:16:03 -0400
Dear friends,
It is striking to see the newly built Barhi Negasi Hall at historic Debarwa
located on Asmara-Mendefera road. The original residential place was a
conic hut with a single flat at the top. According to Alarez, there was
also a big meeting hall including an open market areas usually frequented by
surrounding villagers. In 1520, a barter was a medium of transaction. Down
the hill-top village, now a prospering city, there is a river named Mereb
symbolizing the running water Merib located in South Arabia. Our freed
ancestors who first landed at Debarwa called this water-bed after the name of
South Arabian river. In ancient times, Merib was a chief source of
irrigation used to produce
seeds and spices that were highly in demand in the Orient.
Alvarez book that was reprinted in the Diaspora including in Eritrea, will
be published this year with additional rare pictures and maps. Both the
English and Tigrigna versions will be available for all to read. This book
describes
the customs and manners of our people about five hundred years ago. Also,
it explains in detail the landscape and natural habitat of the animals
whose number decreased following the advent of Italian Imperialism. It was sad
that the hunting almost disturbed the quite and secured life of the
animals that once used to enjoy in this earthly paradise.
-Haile
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