The History of the word 'Massawa'



Even though the exact time when Massawa was first populated is not known, 

traces of Ottoman Empire, the Turkish Empire, can still be found in Massawa 

now by what they had left beautiful architectural buildings in the 8th century.  

Massawa is located near the cost of the Red Sea in Eritrea.  Poems, singers 

and writers have always prased it for its mesmerizing beauty.    



First, allow me to tell you the meaning of the word Massawa.  The word 

Massawa means Mitswa in Tigrinia, that is, 'to call.'  



Ever since we can remember history, there has always been slavery.  

Because of the location of Massawa with its neighbors, namely, the 

Arabs, they used to cross the Red Sea by boats and take slaves by 

force from Massawa.  Then, the slaves would scream for help, that is, 

'to call' for help.  Thus, the word Mitswa (to call) came to word, as 

we know it today.



With this momentous coincidence, please allow me to share with you one 

piece of history out side of this topic, but inside of whe word 'to call'. This time, 

it is the origin of the Islamic way of 'to call' for a prayer.  



On the 6th Century, there used to be one Habesha slave whose name was 

Bilal Ibn Rabah in the Arabian Peninsula.  During the prophet Mohamed and the 

course of Islam, he was the first black to accept Islam while he was a slave.  His 

master asked him to recant his Faith.  After, he refused to do so, his master used 

to torture him by tying him against the ground and putting a heavy stone on his 

stomach on extremely hot sunny days.  Even after all the tortures he suffered, he 

refused to recant his Faith.  Then, the uncle of Mohammed, Abas, bought him 

and freed him.  



As you all may already know, just as the Christians ring the bell to call 

for a prayer, Muslims chant: 'Allah wa Akber' very loudly to call for a 

prayer.  It means in Arabic 'God is the Most Great.'  Mohamed chose Bilal, the 

Habesha freed slave, to call for the first prayer.  The other Arabs got very jealous 

of that high rank position of Bilal.  Then, they asked Mohammed to choose from one 

of the Arabs instead.  The excuse was due to the extreme tortures he suffered, Bilal 

was not able to say the word 'sh' in the Arabic word 'Ashadu Ana,' that is, 'I bear witness'.  

Instead of 'sh', he mispronounced that as 's'.  However, Mohammed told 

the Arabs "Bilal's 's' is better that your 'sh' because he says it deep 

from his heart." 



Any questions are welcome.



Your brother,

Barnabas Yohannes.