Bilen

Teferi Abate Adem

Belen, Bilin, Boas gor, Bogos

The Bilen are one of Eritrea’s nine officially recognized culturally- and linguistically-distinct ethnic groups. Their traditional homeland centers on the town of Keren and surrounding communities located in the mountainous Anseba region of central Eritrea.

In 1859, the Bilen numbered about 8,400. A 2009 government publication reports that the Bilen numbered about 65,518, or about 2.1 percent of country’s 3,119,920 total population. A 2022 estimate puts the Bilen at 186,278, about 3 percent of the country’s population of 6,209,262.

The Bilen speak a Central Cushitic language (often called Bilen or Belen) closely related to the Xamtanga (also called Xamir or Xamta) speaking sub-group of the Agaw people living in the Amhara state of northern Ethiopia.

The Bilen consider themselves descendants of a small migrant group that left the Lasta area of Ethiopia sometime in the 1530s. Prior to their incorporation into the Italian colony of Eritrea, the Bilen were governed by a hereditary chief who commanded the loyalty of lineage heads and community elders.

When studied by Munzinger from 1855-1858, Bilen represented Ethiopia’s northernmost frontier territory. Bilen community leaders and family heads interacted with nomadic herder communities living in surrounding lowland areas, many of whom of Tigre origin labored for well-off Bilen families as indebted laborers or captive servants.

Formerly, when the Bilen were primarily transhumance pastoralists, the most common type of dwelling at the main village was a flat-roofed stone house. When in seasonal camps the Bilen used palm-mat tents.

When studied by Munzinger in the late 1850s, the Bilen were primarily transhumant pastoralists with permanent villages in relatively cool locations, such as in and around Keren, and seasonal camps near good pasturage. Cattle were the principal domestic animal, but herds also included goats, donkeys and some horses. Munzinger deemed agriculture “relatively unimportant” to the Bilen, while acknowledging that they grew barley, maize, beans, and cabbage.

Town-dwelling Bilen are small shop owners or traders. The latter primarily sell produce, grain and livestock to both local consumers and middlemen from other areas.

Bilen women weave artistic palm-mats and grass baskets. Other crafts include leather sandals (medas), iron tools and silver ornaments.

Long-distance trade—generally involving cattle and to a lesser extent, slaves—was mostly with communities along the Red Sea coast.

Herding cattle and goats was exclusively a male activity. Boys provided assisted in tending calves and goats. In most households, male Tigre servants milked cows and assisted in related masculine tasks. Women and girls fetched water and wood, prepared food, and performed other domestic chores. Able-bodied girls helped their mothers by grinding grain. Elders engaged in community affairs, including presiding over ceremonies, resolving disputes, and negotiating inter-community relations.

Members of each patrilineage collectively held their main settlement and designated seasonal pastures. As the Bilen became increasingly sedentary, individual household heads came to own agricultural land by being the first to bring that land under cultivation. The Bilen had customary mechanisms for the transfer of privately-owned farmland and livestock through sale, inheritance and gift.

The Bilen were patrilineal and patrilocal. Localized, exogamous patrilineages displayed strong cooperation during a number of situations. For example, lineage members avenged the murder of fellow members, contributed money for communal rituals, and mutually supported each other during funerals and weddings. In addition to exogamous marriage ties, members of different patrilineages were related through a web of mutually-beneficial social ties.

Bilen kinship terms appear very descriptive and often ambiguous. Outside the nuclear family, terms used to refer to a specific person can be used to refer to other relatives both on the father’s and mother’s line.

The most common mode of marriage was parent-arranged. Most children were betrothed when infants, in some cases while still in the mother’s womb. The primary goal of marriage was the establishment of bonds between families; the parents did not bother to consult the children, much less ask for their consent.

The groom’s father paid a bride-price of three cows, three calves, some grain and unspecified amount of cash. Although permitted, polygyny was rare. Bilen custom also allowed both remarriage and widow inheritance by the deceased’s brother or, in some cases, son.

The most common residential unit was the nuclear family. In the rare case when a man had more than one wife, each had her own house.

The eldest son inherited all his father’s private property, including his cultivated plots, livestock, house, and tools. As guardian of the household, the heir was responsible for helping younger brothers and other dependent members.

According to Munzinger (1859), Bilen children enjoyed great leniency and impunity. They were encouraged to be courageous and irrepressible. There was no formal schooling system. Children learned by helping their parents perform gender-specific tasks.

Traditional Bilen society consisted of three major social classes: ruling elites (descendants of chiefly families and influential elders), commoners (members of local Bilen lineages), and non-Bilen outsiders (mostly enslaved persons and indebted Tigre laborers).

The Bilen governance system consisted of a hereditary chief, a council of elders, and local lineage heads. Bilen chiefs used to pay tribute to the Emperors of Ethiopia, who considered Bilen their northernmost frontier district.

Bilen customary law provided effective mechanisms for settling conflicts, including blood feuds, marital disputes and competing property claims. Conflicts between closely-related parties usually were resolved very quickly, while those involving strangers and neighboring ethnic groups often grew into violent confrontations.

Internal warfare was rare, as the Bilen were closely related to one another in multiple ways, including through webs of kinship ties and generations of reciprocal marriages.

For much of their past, the dominant religion in Bilen society was the Kabat sect of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. By the second half of the nineteenth century, almost half of the population had converted to Islam, mainly because of increased contact with Ottoman Turks and Arab merchants. Roman Catholic Missionaries have converted many Bilen, especially in Keren and other towns.

The Bilen have their own prominent religious guides, including Muslim sheiks, Orthodox Christian priests, and mission-educated Catholic priests.

Major life-cycle events were marked by ceremonies, such as the birth of first child, marriage, and the death of a family member. While these ceremonies varied in size and details, they all provided opportunities for displaying mutual aid and cooperation among closely-related families and lineage members.

In addition to a rich tradition of music, dance, and storytelling, Bilen arts include distinctively colored adornments, ornaments and hairstyles. Women also use eye makeup (kohl) and adorn their hands and legs with homemade henna.

Bilen women take smoke baths by putting sprigs of medicinal and fragrant plants on a fire. Smoke bathing supposedly heals minor illnesses while also providing hygienic and aesthetic benefits.

In common with other Muslims and Christians, the Bilen believe in an afterlife where the faithful followers of Allah or God shall be rewarded with eternal life in paradise. The corpse is ceremonially washed, perfumed, clothed, prayed over, and finally buried in a designated site. Graves of individuals are marked with stones. Family members commonly memorialized the deceased with annual commemorative feasts and periodic visits to the grave.

Teferi Abate Adem wrote the culture summary in March, 2021. Population figures were updated by Leon G. Doyon in July, 2022.

Central Intelligence Agency (2022). “Eritrea.” In The World Factbook. Last updated June 17, 2022. https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/eritrea/.

Eritrea Ministry of Information (2009). “Customs and Traditions of the Bilen Ethnic Group.” Accessed March 11, 2021. https://shabait.com/2009/10/01/customes-and-traditions-of-the-bilen-ethinic-group/.

junzinger, Werner (1859). About the Customs and Laws of the Bogos. Translated from the German by Paul Anthony Moore for HRAF in 2019. Winterthur: J. Wurster & comp. https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=mn06-003.