Meleket Ethiopian Restaurant is named for a traditional instrument played in Eritrea and Ethiopia. [It] is “similar to trumpet usually made from bamboo tree but also made from iron and is played during different celebrations.” http://www.shabait.com

“Meleket has its origin dating back to the Old Testament (Genesis 4:21, 10:1 and Psalms 60:30). People used Meleket to announce both good and bad news, meaning happiness and sadness. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church relates this with the Day of Judgement (i.e. the second coming of Jesus Christ for the last Judgement). According to this interpretation, the good news is the call for those who fulfilled His orders to be saved in the heaven forever while the bad news is for the sinners to be thrown to the everlasting hell. Meleket is also used to declare war. Likewise, the believers relate this with the declaration of the closeness of the Day of the Last Judgement for the Christians to prepare themselves for the heaven fulfilling Christ’s orders. In other words, it awakens them to fulfill Christ’s orders and be ready for the heavenly life .” https://zagolethiopia.com/

Resources

Carman, Tim.”Meleket in Silver Spring is a sweet taste of Eritrean cooking.” Washington Post. http://washingtonpost.com November 28, 2017. Accessed 9/15/2020.

“Eritrean Traditional Musical Instruments.” Ministry of Information Eritrea. 2/18/2011. https://shabait.com/
Accessed 5/6/2020.

“Traditional Music in Ethiopia.”  Music in Africa. https://www.musicinafrica.net/ Accessed 9/15/2020   (This article does not include information on the meleket but discusses other musical instruments used in Ethiopia.)