During the Ethiopian Orthodox festival of Timkat, tabots symbolising the Ark of the Covenant are carried from churches toward water, followed by overnight prayer and the priests' blessing of the water. In 2026, thousands entered Lake Dambal at Batu after the blessing, while many in Addis Ababa waited for the tabots.
This is not a single-file service queue. It is collective ordered waiting for the ritual moment: procession on the eve, prayer through the night, blessing, then entry into the water. Participants are not merely gathered in a crowd; they wait together for the point at which ordinary water becomes part of the sacred observance.