Heritage of Keskese Milash (ከስከስ ምላሽ)

Our story begins in the highlands around Senafe—stone‑terraced hills, ancient roads and cliff edges that look out to the lowlands. Here, heritage lives in language and song, in the way neighbors work together, and in the traces of kingdoms that linked the plateau to the Red Sea.

ዛንታና ኣብ ከባቢ ሰንዓፈ ኣብ ዝርከብ ከበሳታት እዩ ዝጅምር። ግርማ ዝዓሰሎም ኩርባታት ጎቦታት፣ ጥንታውያን መንገዲታት ኣብ ወሰን ጫፍ ጎቦታት እምባሶይራ፣ ኣብ ገዛኢ ቦታ ኰንካ ንምብራቕን ንምዕራብን ዘለዉ ቆላታት ከተቋምት ዘኽእል ታሪኻዊ ቦታ።

ኣብዚ ኸኣ እዩ፣ እዚ ሃብታም ቅርሲ ዝብገስ። ቋንቋ፣ ደርፍታት፣ ዜማታት፣ ሰረት ቋንቋ ግዕዝ፣ መንበር ጥንታዊ መንግስትነት፣ ኣዱሊስ፣ ቖሓዮቶ፣ መትረብ ስልጣነ፣ ንግዲ ከበሳትት ንቀይሕ ባሕሪ ዘራኽብ ቦታ።

The Land: Highlands and Escarpments

Senafe sits on Eritrea’s southern highland plateau, where cool elevations meet dramatic escarpments that drop toward the coastal lowlands. The land is terraced for grain—teff, barley and wheat—and dotted with churches and village compounds. Ancient paths once linked the plateau to the Red Sea port of Adulis, carrying ideas and trade.

Deep Roots — Pre‑Aksumite to Aksumite

The Senafe highlands are ringed by major archaeological sites that speak to ancient statehood and long‑distance connections. The Obelisk in Matara (Metera) show inscriptions, stelae and monumental remains from the pre‑Aksumite and Aksumite eras; the lesser‑known Keskese site adds to this cultural landscape.

Sites around Senafe
Senafe: plateau city, ancient dam, rock art
Matara/Metera: stelae, inscriptions, urban mounds
Keskese (near Senafe): lesser‑documented site in the cultural landscape

Geography
Highland plateau climate with seasonal rains Stone terraces and dry‑stone architecture Escarpment views eastward to the lowlands. Emba-Soira the highest Mountain in Eritrea is located in this area.

History
The seat of Historic Christianity, the Monastry of Debre-Libanos of Ham.

Pre‑Aksumite (D’mt) & Aksumite period
Early state traditions (mid‑1st millennium BCE) linked plateau and coast, with South Arabian and local influences reflected in inscriptions and material culture.

People & lifeways
Spoken Languages: Tigrinya and Saho. Farming, herding and market networks across hills and plains. Festivals, saints’ days (mahber), and inter‑village bonds.

Me'adi: መኣዲ

Eating together from one plate represents far more than the act of sharing food it is a deep expression of unity, love, and shared humanity.

In our culture, this tradition reflects our values of togetherness, respect, and belonging. When we gather around a single plate, we strengthen our bonds, nurture understanding, and honor the spirit of community.

Eating alone, by contrast, distances us from these values and weakens the sense of connection that defines who we are. Sharing a meal from one plate reminds us that life is richer when lived and shared in unity with others.

Heritage of Cooperation

Heritage here is not only stones and sites—it is how people work together. Village assemblies, saints’‑day associations (mahber), rotating savings clubs (equb), and communal labor for harvest and building all express a culture of solidarity and mutual help that continues across the diaspora.

Local solidarity

Village councils and customary mediation
Mahber (associations) and feast traditions
Equb (rotating savings) for family resilience

Across the diaspora

Annual gatherings on Facebook & YouTube
Mentorship networks for youth & newcomers
Federation chapters that organize belonging

Inspiring Figures from Keskese Milash

Negash Sagla - (Oral tradition)

c. 1921–20XX • Village/Area ሳግላ መስሓል-ወደከለ

ኣቦና ነጋሽ ሳግላ፡ ኣብ ዕስራታት ዕድሚኦም ብ1947 ኣቢሎም ማሰ ክብሉ ጀመሩ። ኣብ ርእሲ'ቲ ልዑል ፈጠራዊ ክእለቶም ንማሰኦም ይኹን መልቀሶም ዘምዕዞ ተፈታዊ ድምጺ ኽም ዝነበሮም'ውን ብዙሓት ማሰ ኽብሉን ከልቅሱን ዝሰምዑዎም ነኣድቲ ይዛረቡሎም።

Source: Solomon Tsehaye -Tigrinja book(2012), pp. 199

Sheikh Siraj -(Public Speaker)

c. 19XX–20XX • Village/Area ሰንዓፈ

The way he frames the Senafe peoples’ dire needs vis-a-vis the aging roads replete of potholes is illustrative of the skill Aboy Siraj capably dispenses.

Source: Abdalla Yousuf: Blog Article

Ghebremedhin Bisrat -(Oral tradition)

c. 1922–20XX • Village/Area A'da'kha ዓዳኻ

ኣቶ ገብረመድህን ብስራት፡ጋእ ከይበሉ ነዋሕትን ዕምቈት ዘለዎም ግጥምታት ናይ ምፍልፋል ፍሉይ ተውህቦ ዘለዎም ውሩይ ማሰኛ ነበሩ።

Source: Solomon Tsehaye -Tigrinja book(2012), pp. 231-233

The Mahaffy's Senafe roots — remembering Dr Samuel Mahaffy ‘WediSenafe’ | ወዲ ሰንዓፈ

Dr. Samuel George Mahaffy, always happy when he introduced himself as ‘WediSenafe’.”

c. 1952–2016 • Born In Eritrea, Grew up in Senafe.

" For me the biggest lesson was embracing community from different backgrounds and cultures. We grew up having these big meals with twenty to thirty Eritrean friends in our home. My father considered every Eritrean as a part of his family and so I think that model is what I cherish the most. He showed me how to embrace cultures... "

Kamila Mahaffy
Daughter of Dr. Samuel Mahaffy

Source: shabait.com, Blog Article

Dr. Paul Mahaffy, Director of the Solar Exploration Division of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. - (Tribute to his brother and Memories In Senafe)

Born In Eritrea, Grew up in Senafe.

" I returned to Senafe in December 2018 with members of my family to honor the wishes of my deceased brother Samuel who especially in the latter part of his life had been in engaged both professionally and personally with many Eritrean individuals in the United States and wished his final resting place to be in Eritrea. But aside from this motivation for this travel it had been 52 years and thus far too long since I had returned to Eritrea and the beautiful city of Senafe."

Dr. Paul Mahaffy
Brother of Dr. Samuel Mahaffy

Source: Africa Talks, Blog Article

Dr. Peter Mahaffy, Professor of Chemistry at Kings University, Edmonton Canada - (Tribute to his brother and Memories In Senafe)