THE LAND OF THE QUEEN OF SHEBA

If Lucy and the Queen of Sheba appeal to our imagination, archaeology has also unearthed impressive monuments that bear witness to ancient civilizations, such as the Kingdom of Aksum Aksum is located in northern Ethiopia and was the capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. It is acknowledged as one of the four greatest civilizations of the world and yet surprisingly little is really known about it. Aksum is rich in its archaeological site that covers the remains of an influential city of ancient Ethiopia; ruins include stelae, tombs, castles, and obelisks. The kingdom had its own written language called Ge’ez, currently the working language of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. Aksum is a place of great mystery and wonder. It is the place of the Queen of Sheba, the site of the famous stelae and true Ark of the Covenant, and houses of treasure to be discovered.

Aksum was a center of trade and the early Aksumite rulers worshiped local gods, but around AD 360 the reigning king converted to Christianity and it becomes where Christianity was first introduced to sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia has a diverse mix of ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. This kingdom was at its height under king Ezana, baptized as Abreha, in the 4th century AD (which was also when it officially embraced Christianity). The Kingdom of Aksum existed from around AD 100–850, is also noted for its extraordinary works of art and architecture, ranging from palaces to enormous obelisks. Axum was very advanced for their time period; they were able to create 33 meters tall obelisk.

One of the best examples of art from Ethiopia’s past is its works of stone monuments; the obelisk was carved with windows and doors and is thought, like Stonehenge, to have some solar or astronomical measuring role. The Kingdom of Axum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was an important trading nation in north-eastern Africa, existing from approximately 100–940 AD. The Aksumite Empire was an important trading nation in north-eastern Africa, trading frankincense, myrrh, ivory, and tortoiseshell while receiving imports of copper, bronze, silver, gold, and wine. However, unlike the relations between the Islamic powers and Christian Europe, Aksum was on good terms with its Islamic neighbours and provided shelter to Muhammad’s early followers around 615. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lie the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed.

This same church was the site Ethiopian emperors were crowned for centuries until the reign of Fasilides, then again beginning with Yohannes IV until the end of the empire. Axum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. At its height, the Aksumite Empire covered parts of modern-day Egypt, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. The Kingdom of Aksum, also known as the Aksumite Empire, was an important trading nation in north-eastern Africa, trading frankincense, myrrh, ivory, and tortoise shell while receiving imports of copper, bronze, silver, gold, and wine. Aksumite coins and their inscriptions can help us to understand the history of this African empire and to date the reigns of Aksumite kings. Aksum began a long slow decline after the 7th century due partly to Islamic groups contesting trade routes.

Lalibela, The African Jerusalem

At the time when Westerners were building their cathedrals, Ethiopians were building colossal churches carved into the rock… The site of Lalibela is one of Ethiopia’s archaeological gems. Twelve churches, entirely cut in the rock, emerge on the surface of the ground. The monuments are nested in a network of galleries and underground passages, which provide access to open-air courtyards in the center of which rise the churches. Basilica, cruciform church or simple chapel: all have a particular architecture and decoration. The set is attributed to King Lalibela, who reigned at the turn of the 12th and 13th centuries.

The testimonies of the intervention of this sovereign on the site are numerous. But this existed before his reign. The very first excavations indeed consisted of galleries and underground cavities, located under the surface of the rocky dome. Monumental freestone structures works were erected between the 10th and 11th centuries, while vast underground rooms communicated with these constructed spaces. The functions of these arrangements are still largely unknown to us, but they prove to a long experience of working with stone, an essential prerequisite for the mastery necessary to clear entirely monolithic buildings.

It is only with the reign of Lalibela, one to two centuries later, those old rooms are transformed to arrange chapels, and that churches are cut in the rock. The debris from these new excavations is dumped on the previous constructions, to erase all traces. Lalibela illustrates Ethiopia’s participation in a fashion of the Christian world: to recreate a little Jerusalem in the kingdom as a symbol of his divine election. The topography of the site

THE CITY OF KINGS

France has Lourdes, whereas India has the Ganges. Ethiopia, meanwhile has Gondar. Often called the Camelot of Africa, Gonder is an ancient capital studded with royal places and castles bathed in blood and painted in gold. In 1636, Fasiladas centralized its power in the northwest of Ethiopia, Gondar which became a royal city for more than two hundred years, the capital of the Christian kingdom. Gondar is perched high at 2,133m above sea surrounded by precious natural resources. The creation of the Gondarian kingdom, named after its capital Gondar was preceded by intense religious conflicts within the Christian kingdom. Under the influence of the Portuguese Jesuits present at his court, King Susneyos converted to Catholicism in 1607 and tried to impose his new faith on his subjects. His attempt was bitterly opposed by the population and by the powerful Ethiopian Orthodox Church. He ends up abdicating in favor of his son, Fasiladas.

Fasiladas expelled the Jesuits in 1632 and restored Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity as the state religion. Western pilgrims are no longer welcome in Ethiopia, even if contacts continue in the Holy Land and in the Vatican with the Ethiopian convent of Santo Stefano dei Mori. The Lake Tana region, which for a long time remained in the kingdom’s, had become its heart since the installation of the Ethiopian sovereigns in the 16th century. Without breaking with the tradition of his ancestors, Fasiladas chose to set up his Court on a site located at the crossroads of the main trade routes, at an altitude that allowed him to be protected from malaria, and protected by the surrounding mountains, near fertile land and a permanent supply of water.

Thanks to masons and workers trained by Portuguese missionaries, Fasiladas and his successors built impressive palaces and churches, such as that of Debre Berhan Séllassié, founded by Yassou I (1682-1706), with its famous ceiling decorated with heads of winged cherubs. The Gondar market, where salt, spices, fabrics, weapons, and slaves are traded, is probably the most important in the Ethiopian highlands. Palaces and markets symbolize the centralization of political, economic, religious, and cultural resources of the kingdom, which

had not existed since the time of the Zagwé (1150-1270). One of the signs of this “centralization” of power is the gradual installation in the city of the most eminent religious prelates of the kingdom, including the Coptic metropolitan (the Abouna), the bishop sent by the Patriarch of Alexandria as head of the Ethiopian Church.

The patronage of the Court and the churches allowed a flowering of the arts, notably architectural and pictorial, known as the “Gondarian style” which is characterized in particular by the predominance of the colors blue, red and yellow. The Oromo, nomadic herders settled in Ethiopia since the 16th century, are gradually integrated into the kingdom’s political elite. Several Oromo soldiers acquire notable positions in the royal service. At the end of the 18th century, the Oromo even became such an important political force in Gondar that their language was spoken at court. At the same time, after decades of intense political conflict within the royal family itself and with the local authorities, the kingdom of Gondar is in decline. Power was then held by regional nobles who prepared what historians call the “era of princes” (1769-1855), which saw political authority increasingly fragmented before in 1855 Théodoros II acceded to the throne of Ethiopia and begins a process of strengthening the central power which will be continued by his successors Yohannes IV and Menelik II.

MYSTERIOUS MOUNTAINS 

Imagine a barren landscape, a high-altitude desert reminiscent of Utah in the Southwest United States. The main difference is that some of the country’s least seen rock-hewn Ethiopian Orthodox cave churches, some of which are over 1,000 years old, are perched high and tucked away into these mountain cliffs. Gheralta is one of Ethiopia’s most stunning sceneries. Its scenic surroundings, dazzling heights, and age-old rock-painting churches from the Middle Ages make it one of the premium destinations to be explored..

The iconic mountains of Ethiopia, the Gheralta Mountains are located in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. In this mountainous region, there are more than 120 churches. It is characterized as “the greatest of the Ethiopian people’s historical-cultural heritage,” hidden away in the highlands like old gems. Plains stretch as far as the eye can see, with sandstone rock clusters emerging from the dry desert every now and again. You’d be excused for thinking that the sandstone contains nothing but caverns, tombs, and other such structures. Although local legend claims that these churches were established during the fourth and sixth centuries, scholars believe they were most likely chiselled between the ninth and twelve centuries.

The Gheralta churches situated high and concealed served two purposes: they brought devotees closer to heaven and kept raiding troops out of sight as they passed through. The churches were hewn out of the mountainsides by hand, with just their thin granite pillars left in place to keep them from collapsing. Abune Yemata Guh, Maryam korkor, and Daniel korkor are three of the most noteworthy and often visited churches in Gheralta. Abune Yemata guh is a lovely painted church carved on a towering perpendicular sandstone pinnacle with a cliff wall approach. In order to experience these churches, visitors must hike through slot canyons, free climb sheer sandstone walls, and skirt cliff edges.