PICTURES AND STORIES ON THE IMPERIAL FUNERAL EVENTS
The Emperor Lies in State, November 5th, 2000
02Nov2000 ETHIOPIA: Requiem mass for Ethiopia's Haile Selassie. By Tsegaye Tadesse ADDIS ABABA, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Orthodox priests in richly embroidered cloaks said a solemn requiem mass for Ethiopia's late emperor Haile Selassie on Thursday, the 70th anniversary of his coronation and three days before his reburial. Prayer services were held in all 70 Orthodox churches in the capital Addis Ababa and hundreds of people attended the mass in the imposing St Mary's Church where Selassie's remains lie. His coffin rested on a podium in a glass case, next to an underground chamber housing the carved marble tombs of four other members of Ethiopia's imperial family, including the 19th Century Emperor Menelik II. Princess Tenangne Work, Selassie's daughter, and scores of his grandchildren and hundreds of royal supporters and friends attended the requiem mass. Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia on November 2, 1930, and ruled with almost absolute power until he was overthrown by Marxist military officers in 1974. He died the following year, either killed by his captors or simply denied the medical treatment that could have saved him. His followers believe he was murdered. "He was killed brutally because he was good man, as all good men are killed," said the head priest celebrating the mass. An Ethiopian flag fluttered alongside the crown-topped spire of St. Mary's Church as hundreds more people braved the biting cold on the streets outside, including elderly aristocrats with only memories left of the days under Selassie's rule when they lived in plush villas. The service was also attended by a Rastafarian delegation from Trinidad and Tobago. Rastafarians believe Haile Selassie to be a god. Those who attended the mass were invited by his relatives, who are still known as Ethiopia's royal family. "We do not believe that he is dead. We communicate with him in spirit daily," said Bernard David Rooks, leader of the Rastafarian delegation. "Haile Selassie is very much alive." Selassie's remains will be reburied in a private tomb in Addis Ababa's Trinity Cathedral on Sunday. The government, which toppled the Marxist government of Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991, attacked Selassie this week as a tyrant who enslaved the peasants by imposing a feudal system. "Selassie's reign was marked by its brutality and extreme oppression of the Ethiopian peasants," the government said in a statement on Tuesday. (C) Reuters Limited 2000.
03Nov2000 ETHIOPIA: Lion of Judah controversial to the last. By Tigist Belay in Addis Ababa and James Astill. Over the last couple of weeks almost every aeroplane arriving in Addis Ababa has carried either royalty, Rastafarians or reporters. The sudden influx of interest in the city has little to do with politics, economics or even a simple desire to visit Ethiopia's capital. For this Sunday, the Rastafarian religion's greatest symbol - Emperor Haile Selassie - will finally be buried in his family's tomb in Holy Trinity Church in Addis Ababa, and the great and good are falling over themselves in their hurry to pay their respects to the man considered by some to be the Messiah. Yet not everyone buys into the myth. Amid all the preparations for a glorious state funeral, the Ethiopian government this week denounced Haile Selassie as `a despotic tyrant'. The prime minister, Meles Zenawi, argued that the emperor presided over a feudal oligarchy that reduced farmers to `tenants and serfs on their own lands'. Mr Meles accuses the emperor of upholding a system which allowed the feudal class to lead a life of luxury at the expense of the `toiling masses', while he amassed a huge personal fortune and deposited it in foreign banks. The government is taking all possible steps to retrieve these assets, he said. The denunciation is the latest in a long-running feud between the current Ethiopian government and Haile Selassie's family, a feud which shows little sign of dissipating, even after the burial. It is 70 years since Haile Selassie was crowned `Emperor of Ethiopia, King of Kings, Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Elect of God and Defender of the Faith', and 25 years since he died in mysterious circumstances after a military coup. His body was buried beneath a lavatory in the royal palace at Addis Ababa and only discovered eight years ago, after the collapse of Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam's regime. Since then the last emperor of Ethiopia's bones have remained in a box marked `Do Not Touch' while the current government argued with his descendants over what to do. After two aborted attempts at a state burial, the remains have been transferred to a narrow casket draped in a silver-threaded shroud. From there, if all goes to plan, they will be moved to a larger casket and Haile Selassie will be buried beside his wife in the crypt of Holy Trinity church. Yet controversy still rages over a man who, to many Ethiopians, is not merely a symbol of long-gone royal power but part of the oldest dynasty in the world, a ruler who claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Lionised by Rastafarians, who took his name - he was originally called Ras Tafari - as the basis for their religion, Haile Selassie was hailed by them as the Messiah and Ethiopia as the promised land. Nor was this worship confined to Africa. Haile Selassie's charisma made him an early symbol of black pride. He was recognised as the Messiah by the Jamaican-born US civil rights leader Marcus Garvey and named Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1935. His reputation grew from inauspicious beginnings. Crowned in 1930, he had been Emperor for only six years when Benito Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia, then called Abyssinia, forced him into exile in Bath. In June 1936 he captured the world's imagination, eloquently pleading his cause, and unsuccessfully for aid, at the League of Nations. After Italy entered the second world war, help from the allies enabled him to regain his throne, ruling Ethiopia until 1974. Yet, behind the image of an independent African ruler lurked a dirtier picture. For while Haile Selassie liked to think of himself as an enlightened ruler - the benevolent father of his nation - the reality was that the Lion of Judah lived in autocratic splendour, ignoring both the crucial need for land reform and the poverty of his people. In 1974 he was deposed by the Marxist Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, his immediate family were placed under arrest and 11 months later Haile Selassie was said to have died of natural causes. Rumours persisted that he had been murdered and in February 1992, not long after Col Mengistu was himself overthrown by the current leader of Ethiopia, previously silent eye witnesses led digging crews to the ground under the Mengistu offices where a set of bones, claimed to be the emperor's, were discovered. Yet even this has been disputed. The remains have never been DNA tested and doubts about their authenticity remain; meanwhile strict Rastafarians, who believe Haile Selassie did not die but ascended into heaven, have denounced the forthcoming burial as a fake.Source: GUARDIAN 03/11/2000 P18
Thursday, November 2 9:50 PM SGT Ethiopia pays tribute to HaileSelassieADDIS ABABA, Nov 2 (AFP) - Members of Ethiopia's royal family,Christians and people who were close to the late emperor Haile Selassieflocked Thursday to churches here to pray for his soul, 70 years afterhe was crowned.Hundreds of people gathered before daybreak at the Saint George andTrinity churches of the Ethiopian Orthodox faith in the capital AddisAbaba to pay tribute to the "King of Kings", who was overthrown in a1974 military coup.A group of 60 members of the royal family and more than 100 dignitariesand former aides went to the Taeka Negest Baata Mariam Geda churchwhere the relics of the monarch have been kept since 1992, witnessessaid.Haile Selassie's eldest daughter, the octogenarian PrincessTenagnework, and his granddaughters, the princesses Aida, Seble andSofia, and grandsons Haile Selassie and princes Zara Yacob AsfawWossen, Ermias Sahle Selassie, Beide Mariam Mekonen and Teferi wereamong those to attend the private Fethate Tselot mass of prayers forthe soul and the forgiveness of sins.Members of the family, who had arrived during the past fortnight fromthe United States, Canada and Europe, went into the imperial cryptduring a ceremony that lasted for more than three hours, witnessessaid."People were weeping, it was solemn but very emotional," a participanttold AFP.On Sunday, the remains of the former monarch, who was born on July 23,1882, in the eastern Harar region, are to be transferred to the Trinitychurch in a state funeral ceremony starting at noon (0900 GMT).The memorial events were sought by the royal family, who had asked thecoalition government of the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary DemocraticFront (EPRDF) to be allowed to proceed, and met with some opposition,according to local press reports.Haile Selassie's foes reproach his 44-year reign of absolute power anda failure to change land policy or to make the government of his Hornof Africa country truly representative of the people, which is apatchwork of many different ethnic and religious groups.Opponents also say Haile Selassie I, a name which means "power of theTrinity", refused to respond to protests by students and minoritygroups and did not act quickly to end the 1974 famine in Wollo innortheastern Ethiopia that killed 200,000 people.However, the emperor, held to be the 225th descendant in the royal lineof Menelik, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba, also placedAddis Ababa on the map as an international capital, headquarters to theOrganization of African Unity and the UN Economic Commission forAfrica.Seventy years ago, on November 2, 1930, the former Ras (Duke) TeferiMekonen, was crowned emperor in full pomp and circumstance in AddisAbaba after he had already served as regent of the Abyssinian empirefor 14 years.The crowned heads of Belgium, Egypt, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands andthe United Kingdom and the presidents of Germany and the United Stateswere invited to the ceremony, where Haile Selassie, who had alreadybeen proclaimed Negus or king, was made the Negus Negast, seven monthsafter the death of the Empress Zewditu.Former French ambassador to Ethiopia Gontran de Juniac, author of LeDernier Roi des Rois (The Last King of Kings), recalled that Britainand Italy respectively sent the Duke of Gloucester and Princess Udine,while France sent Marshal Franchet d'Esperey.That coronation ceremony, which began during the night at the Cathedralof Saint George, saw his imperial majesty take the crown, sceptre andsword of Abyssinia and impressed the world.Haile Selassie died, according to the official version, of a "failureof his blood circulation system" on the night of August 26, 1975, atthe age of 82.The belief persists, however, that he was murdered by the militaryregime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, who overthrew him the previous year,to be ousted in turn by rebel armies whose leaders are now EthiopianPrime Minister Meles Zenawi and the president of independent Eritrea,formerly a province of Ethiopia.
SCENES FROM THE FUNERAL
Veterans of the Ethio-Italian War (1936-1941) in Traditionalwarrior garb, with lion mane headdresses carry the coffin from theBa'ita Mariam Monastery. The coffin is draped with the Emperor'spersonal standard, the Ethiopian tricolor with St. George Slaying thedragon on one side and the Lion of Judah on the other side.
The Coffin lies in state infront of Ba'eta Le Mariam MonasteryChurch where ceremonies are conducted in the presence of the Patriarchof the Orthodox Church and the Imperial Family.
Clergy, and choir members begin the funeral procession out of the grounds of the Ba'eta Monastery as the public looks on.
Thecoffin, on the bed of a draped flatbed truck, and a large portrait ofHis Late Majesty,winds it's way through the streets of Addis Ababa.Orthodox preists in glittering vestments, gold and silver sensers,processional crosses, drums, systrums and gold embroydered umbrellasmingle with the crowds.
Aveteran of the War against the Facist Italian invasion cries out hisloyalty and devotion to the man who led him in war and peace, as thecoffin passes in procession behind him.
Many in the crowd of thousands of his former subjects werequite overcome when his coffin came into view. The funeral processionof the last Niguse Negest (King of Kings) was greeted everywhere withwailing and tears.
The coffin arrives at Holy Trinity Cathedral and is carried upthe steps by war veterans amid a huge crowd of weeping and wailingformer subjects.
Abune Paulos, Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Churchpresides in the background surrounded by bishops and priests, as aclergyman holds a portrait of the Emperor over the coffin as a finalservice is conducted before the remains were carried into the Cathedralby the Emperor's grandsons, and laid in their final resting place.
Abune Paulos, Patriarch of Ethiopia, presides over the Funeral.To his right, seated, is His Imperial Highness Prince Zera Yacob AmhaSelassie, son of the late Emperor in Exile Amha Selassie, and grandsonof Emperor Haile Selassie.
His Imperial Highness, Prince Beide Mariam Makonnen, son of the late Duke of Harrar, and grandson of Emperor Haile Selassie.
Clergy of the Orthodox Church sing and sway to the chants ofSt. Yared, acompanied by booming eclesiastic drums and silver cystrums,in a final service over the remains of the Emperor in front of HolyTrinity Cathedral
Aged War Veterans in Warrior Dress stand at attention at the funeral.
His Eminence, Archbishop Abune Gerima gives a speech in thename of the Holy Synod on the debt owed by the Ethiopian OrthodoxTewahido Church to His Late Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie I, King ofKings of Ethiopia.
Princes of the Imperial House lift the coffin containing theearthly remains of the last Emperor of Ethiopia to carry them to theirfinal rest.
The coffin approaches the doors of Holy Trinity Cathedral
Emperor Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of the Tribe ofJudah, Elect of God, King of Kings of Ethiopia finally goes into hisplace of eternal rest as church bells across Ethiopia toll a final andlong overdue farewell.
TheEmperor was entered in this granite sarcophagus in the north tranceptof the cathedral, next to one containing the remans of his late wife,Empress Menen. This final internment was the only portion of the day'sevents that was personally witnessed by his aged only survivingdaughter, Princess Tenagnework.
May God Grant Him Eternal RestAnd Seat Him on His Right HandWith Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Davidand all Others of Blessed Memory who HaveGone to Their Creator.