Āwuberē

Aw-Barre Teferi Ber
Town
Aw-Barre Location within Ethiopia
Coordinates: 9°47′N 43°13′E / 9.783°N 43.217°E / 9.783; 43.217Coordinates: 9°47′N 43°13′E / 9.783°N 43.217°E / 9.783; 43.217
Country	Ethiopia
Region	Somali
Zone	Awbere (woreda), Faafan Zone
Elevation	1,551 m (5,089 ft)
Population (2005)
• Total	35,977
Time zone	EAT (UTC+3)

Aw-Barre, (Somali: Awbarre ) (Amharic: ተፈሪ አሞሌ), officially known as Teferi Ber,^[1] is a town in eastern Ethiopia. Located in the Fafan Zone of the Somali Region, near the border with Northern Somalia on the main trade route between Jijiga and the sea. It is the administrative center or the capital of Awubere woreda.

It was one of the biggest towns of the Adal Empire.^[2] According to Ethiopian Christian folklore, this town was the only gateway that has caused fear for the Ethiopian Christian Kingdom, hence the name Teferi Ber, meaning "The Gate of Fear".^[3]

The main trade route between Jijiga and the sea passes through Āwuberē; an ancient route to Zeila almost always went through Aw-Barre. In 1962 it was described as a dry weather road. The Ethiopian News Agency reported in early 1998 that much khat was illegally smuggled out of Ethiopia by this route.^[4]

When emperor Haile Selassie inspected the Western Somalia in 1935 prior to the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Haile Selassie made a secret two-day excursion to Āwuberē.^[4] The Italian Giuda described Āw-Barrē in 1938 as a Somali village with about 1,000 inhabitants, whose houses were partly built of masonry, and possessing a mosque; a little to the west of the village was the tomb of Shek Barek.^[5]

History

Aw-Barre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Ethiopia, officially known as Teferi Ber ^[1] which in Amharic denotes the name of Ras Tafari Makonnen's (Ge'ez ልጅ፡ ተፈሪ፡ መኮንን) Gate of Fear, the only threat for the Abyssinian Christian Empire during the peak of power for the Muslim State of Adal.^[3] Aw-Barre was one of the biggest cities of the former Adal Empire. It is the final resting place of Sheikh Aw-Barre whose tomb is located west of the town.^[5]

Demographics

The town is inhabited by the Gadabuursi subclan of the Dir clan family. With the town being inhabited by the Farah Nuur, one of the two sub divisions of Reer Nuur, a clan of the Makahiil Gadabuursi.^[6] This town is also inhabited by the Reer Ugaas subclan of the Makayldheere branch of the Makahiil Gadabuursi.^[7] Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Āw-Barrē of 35,977 inhabitants 18,978 are men and 16,999 are women.^[8] The 1997 census reported this town had a total population of 24,125 of whom 12,538 were men and 11,587 women. 1994 Population and Housing Census of Ethiopia: Results for Somali Region, Vol. 1 Tables 2.4, 2.13 (accessed 10 January 2009). The results of the 1994 census in the Somali Region were not satisfactory, so the census was repeated in 1997.

Old Town of Aw-Barre

Aw-Barre is situated over 1,000 m above sea level. The old town contained over 200 houses, each built with stone walls and mason ranging from single room to multi-roomed courtyard houses. Niches were cut in the walls for storage, and they were roofed with brushwood laid over wooden rafters. The mosques were built much more ambitiously.^[9]

Notes