Huntingford noticed that whenever an old site had the prefix Aw in its name (such as the ruins of Awbare and Awbube),[3] it denoted the final resting place of a local saint.

[9] Awbare is one of the oldest inhabited cities in Ethiopia, also known as Teferi Ber[2] which in Amharic denotes the name of Ras Tafari Makonnen's (Ge'ez ልጅ፡ ተፈሪ፡ መኮንን) Gate of Fear, a threat for the Abyssinian Empire during the peak of power for the Muslim State of Adal.

[10] According to historical accounts, both the celebrated patron saints Awbare and Awbube hail from the Nabidur branch of the Gurgura, a subclan of the Dir clan family.

[11] Both the tombs of the celebrated patron saints Awbare and Awbube are much frequented and under the protection of the local Gadabuursi Dir clan who dominate the region in which they are buried.

[8][12] Richard Francis Burton (1856) describes the old ruined town upon visitation as he passed by, in his book First Footsteps in East Africa: "Without returning the salutations of the Bedouins, who loudly summoned us to stop and give them the news, we trotted forwards in search of a deserted sheep-fold.

At sunset we passed, upon an eminence on our left, the ruins of an ancient settlement, called after its patron Saint, Ao Barhe: and both sides of the mountain road were flanked by tracts of prairie-land, beautifully purpling in the evening air.

"[19]Filipo Ambrosio (1994) describes the Awbare district as being predominantly Gadabuursi whilst highlighting the neutral role that they played in mediating peace between the Geri and Jarso: "The Gadabursi, who dominate the adjacent Awbare district north of Jijiga and bordering with the Awdal Region of Somaliland, have opened the already existing camps of Derwanache and Teferi Ber to these two communities.