Begena

Ethiopian Harp - "Begena"

The box lyre bägäna (also bagana, begana, begena, begenna, bägänna, በገና) is an ancient semi-sacred music instrument found among Ethiopian Christian Orthodox worshippers of central highland Ethiopia. It is today the only music instrument of its type, which is most probably only found here.

The harp of king David

Based on oral tradition, the bägäna that exists only in Ethiopia today, symbolizes King David’s harp
Ethiopian Ten-stringed Box Lyre

"Praise the LORD with harp: sing unto him with the psaltery and instrument of ten strings." (Psalms 33:2)
Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahədo Church

The Ethiopian Orthodox Täwahədo Church regards the bägäna as the first music instrument in history.
The remedy Begena

"And it came to pass, when the [evil] spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him." (1Samuel 16:23)

King David — ልበ አምላክ ቅዱስ ዳዊት(king David)

የኢትዮጵያ የሃይማኖት አባቶች ስለ በገና መለኮታዊ ትርጓሜ...

Ethiopian clerics are convinced about the divine interpretation of the bägäna for the following facts

Spiritual Significance

The ten bägäna strings resemble God’s ten commandments that is again related to the fact that King David promised God to sing his psalms accompanied by a 10-stringed instrument, i.e. the bägäna.
Timeless Harmonies

Biblical music instruments, i.e. the masinqo, tsənatsəl, mäläkät, nägarit and the käbäro (according to the Amharic Bible) never changed their originality. Ethiopians, still today use them in the same spiritual and cultural contexts.
Harmonies Before the Ark

The bägäna was played in front of the Arc of the Covenant even before it was brought to Ethiopia along with Menelik I, offspring of queen of Sheba and the Israelite King Solomon, c. 970 – 930 BCE.
Sacred Strings

Ethiopians respected the monarchic system, the king and the palace. They also respected everything and anything related with the Orthodox Täwahədo Church. Hence, due to its deep use in religious context, the bägäna is considered as a holy music instrument for Ethiopian Christians.
Emotional Impact

The bägäna creates intense emotions for both players and listeners during religious and meditative performances. These emotional reactions arise from its sonorous properties and contextual significance.
Historical Origins

History additionally narrates that past Ethiopian emperors played bägäna or they had court musicians who among others, also entertained them with this musical instrument.

Begena master's

ጥንት የበገና ደርዳርያን እና መምህራን

አለቃ ተሰማ ወልደ አማኑኤል(አባ በገና) እና ልጃቸው አባ ወርቅነህ ተሰማ መጋቤ ስብሐት አለሙ አጋን፣ጋሽ ደምሴ ደስታን እነዚህን እና ሌሎች ብዙ የበገና ደርዳሪያንን በገና ያስተማሩት መምህር
Aleqa Tessema Wolde Amanuel, a renowned bägäna player from Wällo, was appointed to teach traditional Ethiopian instruments in Addis Ababa by Emperor Haile Selassie I. One of his students, Alemu Aga, began learning bägäna at the age of 12 and is now a master player with over 50 years of experience.
ጋሽ ደምሴ ደስታ እና የእሳቸውን ፈለግ የተከተሉት በገነኛ ልጃቸው አቶ ዘርፉ ደምሴ ጥንታዊ እና ልዩ የበገና ድርደራ ጥበብን፣ ትውልድ ተሻጋሪ የበገና መዝሙራትን፣ቅኔያዊ እና ትምህርታዊ የበገና ድርሰቶችን ያበረከቱልን ታዋቂው የበገና ደርዳሪ
Demissie Desta used to provide the traditional music department of the Yared Music School with self-constructed bägänas for years91. His son, Zerfu Demissie has followed his father’s footsteps and contributed his part to the dissemination of the bägäna music.
መልአከ ብርሃን አድማሱ ጀምበሬ እና ልጃቸው ምኅርካ ክርስቶስ አድማሱ በ፲፱፻፳፯ ዓ.ም “የበገና መዝሙር ምሥጢረ ሃይማኖት ዘይነግር” የተሰኘውን የበገና መዝሙራት ግጥሞችን የያዘ መጽሐፍ ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ያዘጋጁት
The famous Ethiopian author Melake-Tsehay Admassu Jembere, contributed a great work entitled "Yäbägäna Mäzmur Mistire Haymanot zäyinägir [Bägäna songs and religious secrets]" around 1940 (Ethiopian calendar).

መጋቤ ስብሐት አለሙ አጋ

Megabi Sebhat Alemu Aga

Death is inevitable no matter how scared we are
We thought death would learn the alphabet (fidel) soon---
On the contrary, it is still lagging behind
Hidden meaning: Death will yet haul more people into the grave

Food became ill, let me go quickly and visit him
It will be too late to wait for a a mule

Hidden meaning: I might not be able to service until the harvest is ready

የበገና ድርደራ