Awbere
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Aw-Barre Teferi Ber |
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|---|---|
| Town | |
 Aw-Barre
|
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| Coordinates: 9°47′N 43°13′E / 9.783°N 43.217°ECoordinates: 9°47′N 43°13′E / 9.783°N 43.217°E | |
| Country | Ethiopia |
| Region | Somali |
| Zone | Jijiga |
| 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, 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. 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".
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.
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. 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.
Aw-Barre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Ethiopia, officially known as Teferi Ber 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. 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.
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Wikipedia