Awbare

Article summary

Awbare ( , Amharic: አውበሬ), officially known as Teferi Ber and called after its patron Saint Awbare, is a town in eastern Ethiopia located in the Fafan Zone of the Somali Region, near the border with Somaliland on the main trade route between Jijiga and the sea. It is the administrative centre of the Awbare district. 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 Awbare; an ancient route to Zeila almost always went through Awbare. 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 region in 1935 prior to the outbreak of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War, Haile Selassie made a secret two-day excursion to Awbare. The Italian Giuda described Awbare 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 the patron Saint Awbare. During his research in the ancient town of Amud, the historian G.W.B.…

Key claims

1. date of death: 1938 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
2. date of death: 1941 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
3. date of death: 1977 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
4. population: 1,000 inhabitants — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
2. The record states that the date of death is "1938". What evidence would count against this claim?
3. The record states that the date of death is "1941". What evidence would count against this claim?
4. The record states that the date of death is "1977". What evidence would count against this claim?
5. The record states that the population is "1,000 inhabitants". What evidence would count against this claim?
6. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
7. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1378481664