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“A city that is set on a hill”, a verse in the gospel of Matthew says, “cannot be hidden.” That was an ethical reference, but about 2,500 miles westwards from where Jesus presumably said those words, is literally a village on a mountaintop in Ethiopia, wrote Nii Ntreh, Face2Face Africa Journalist and an Associate Editor after visiting the place, one of the oldest villages in Ethiopia.
Shonke Village, stone-built homes, is a village located some 23 km away from Kemise Town, in Jirota kebele, in the current administrative district of Dawa Chefe, Oromia Zone of Amhara State, Ethiopia. The village was part of former Chefe Golana Dewerahmedo Wereda of the same Zone and was also part of southeast Wollo Province, in the Pre-1992’s administrative division.
Shonke, the 900-and-something-year-old settlement (according to the Islamic calendar) is in the Amhara State. It is situated on one of the highest areas in a country with a significant number of high points. This means the people of Shonke live in an area farther in the skies than the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in the UAE.
The people of Shonke are called the Argobba, which translates into “The Arabs came in”.
The community is entirely Muslim community tracing their ancestry to Arabs who run away from wars in the Gulf region to hide in Abyssinia, Ethiopia’s ancient name.
When Prophet Muhammad started Islam, there were clashes. So, He picked some of those under attack and sent them to Ethiopia.
As refugees, these Arabs were protected at that time by the village’s only two gates which were always guarded. The gates still stand to this day.
As dwellers uttered, Shonke’s Islamic culture is well-known. In the 19th century, it became an Islamic education and sufi-order center that was home to notable sufi saint-scholars. One of them was Shaykh Jawhar bin Haydar bin Ali, a famous sufi mystic who is known as the Sheikh of Shonke.
According to the villagers, about 20 generations have lived in the village, but now say half of the village’s estimated households have left in search of farmlands down the hill.
In an interview he held with BBC, Sheikh, Hadji Mohammed, religious father and dweller of the village, said that there have been 20 generations since the first settlers. But in recent years, people have been migrating downhill to settle on the mountain farms.
According to him, the village has lost nearly half of its residents in recent years. “There used to be 500 households. Now, there are some 250 households remaining. Many villagers have moved to farms on the mountainside.
The village has only two gates for security reasons. Just like cities have security guards these days; the villages had guards at the two entry points.
The people are still proud of their heritage and current Shonke Mosque sheikh, Hadji Mohammed, boasts that there is “no better place” than Shonke with original teachings from the Koran.
“There is no better place with this quality and originality of Koran teaching. The teaching here is the old way of Islam.”
“This is our ancestors’ village. That is why we cherish it and it is difficult for us to go to other places. We prefer our homes which are built with local stone. We do not fancy those shinning cities. This is where we love to live.”
Life in Shonke is not easy. The people are far removed from centers of popular attraction and it is particularly difficult climbing up and down the mountain.
Shonke’s small community is made up of subsistence farmers who also keep livestock.
But Mohammed says the people prefer their homes made of rocks and “do not fancy those shining cities”.
He wants the uniqueness of Shonke kept for the sake of generations to come. It was his home and has to be for his descendants. “My wish is for this ancient place to be kept for future generations,” he extended his aspiration.
Unsurprisingly, Shonke garners tourists’ interest from all over the world yearly. There is however no official numbers of mountain trekkers who visit the village at the mountaintop.
The Ethiopian Herald February 25/2021
