Ethiopia, the Land of Sheba

By Linus Wamanya

Ethiopia never ceases to amaze and enchant guests. While there I was enmeshed in its wealth of history. I was never braced for the contrasts and surprises in the remote and wild places. These sandy brown hosts are such a friendly people who are descendants from some of the world's oldest civilizations.

You have perhaps heard of the fabled Queen of Sheba, the Biblical home of the Ark of the Covenant, the birthplace of coffee. As if that was not enough, “Lucy” the world's oldest known almost-complete hominid skeleton, more than three million years old, was discovered in this part of the Horn Of Africa had its roots there.

Covenant Church

To any visitor, the Ethiopia menu of attractions is lengthy and diverse. There is the Historic Route which includes the ancient town of Axum. Then there is the amazing piece of art obelisks. This is crowned by Christian festivals and relics, including the Ark of the Covenant; Gondar. I am yet to find out how ancient Ethiopians built these magnificient castles and palaces. There is Lalibela, with its remarkable rock-hewn Churches. This is contrasted with, Negash, one of the earliest holy Muslim centers dating to the Prophet Muhammad Era. To lend it legitimacy, in Islam, is the Negash Amedin Mesgid, the walled Muslim city of Harar and Lega Oda, near Dire Dawa where you can see vibrant cave paintings considered to be thousands of years old.

“This place was declared free from Jihad by prophet Mohamed,” Methenik, a guide told me. “Here a day has twelve hours. A day begins with the sun coming out and ends with it going down.”

I gasped for breath on seeing Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile. It is the largest lake there boasting with 37 islands. The Monasteries like Kibran Gebriel and Kidanemhiret boasting settlements dating far back to 14th century are also of interest

Axum Obliques: The broken old oblique 

 Legend has it that Emperor Menelik I, the son of the Queen of Sheba and king Solomon, brought the Ark of the Covenant from Jerusalem to Axum, where he settled and established one of the world’s longest known, uninterrupted monarchical dynasties.

This is only one example of Ethiopia’s magnificent history, which encompasses legend and tradition, mystery and fact, from a powerful and religious ancient civilization. The well -trodden path through Ethiopia’s famous and fascinating historic places takes you through a scenically magnificent world of fairy -tale names, such as Lalibela, Gondar and Bahar Dar.

2. The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela (North Wollo Zone) this is called the african petro with credible rock carved churches made in the 13th century by king Lalibela

 Lalibela, a 45 minutes flight with Ethiopian airlines from Addis Ababa, is internationally-renowned for its rock-hewn churches which are sometimes called the "Eighth Wonder of the World". Physically prised from the rock in which they stand, these monolithic churches were originally thought to have been built in the 12th century during the reign of King Lalibela. It took me maximum of four hours to tour all the eleven churches assembled in three groupings

For sure Lalibela stands out to be the a must visit destination while in Ethiopia.

Njera and wot; Ethiopia's traditional dish

Lake Tana is the source of the Blue Nile and the biggest lake in Ethiopia having 30 islands.  There are monasteries constructed on 27 of them in the 13th – 17th century AC containing unique old paintings which depict the churches and biblical history.

The churches were used as treasure houses by the emperors of that period. There are still some collections of this antique treasure to be admired.

The rock-hewn churches of Lalibela - Jerusalem of Africa

Gonder: the Camelot of Africa

Gondar was the capital of Ethiopia in the 17th century with its notable medieval castles and churches.

The city’s unique imperial compound contains a number of castles built between 1632 – 1855 by different emperors who reigned during that period. These amazing castles, unlike the others in Africa, display richness in architecture which reveals the Axumite architecture and the influence of the Portuguese, the Arabian and the Indian.

Like Uganda, Ethiopia is home to a wealth of birds and animals. There are also the high, rugged, Simien Mountains in the north and the Bale Mountains in the southeast. They are endowed with unique wildlife, rich flora and ideal for nature walks.

This part of Africa has eleven national parks and four sanctuaries, where 277 species of wildlife and more than 850 species of birds fly. The Simien Mountains National Park is registered by UNESCO as a world heritage site and is home to three of the endemic mammals, Walia Ibex, Gelada Baboon and Abyssinian Wolf. Ras Dashen, the fourth highest peak in Africa with an altitude of 4,620 meters, is also located within the National Park.

Other National Parks include Bale Mountains and Abijatta-Shalla in Oromia, Nech Sar, Mago and Omo National Parks in the south and Yangudi Rasa in Afar, Gambella National park in Gambella, as well as Awash in both Oromia and Afar Regions.

Comparably, Addis Ababa is a friendly and safe capital city. There are first-class hotels and restaurants, museums and palaces, and good shopping malls Mercato - Africa's largest open-air market. Ethiopia is a mosaic of people with more than 80 languages, different lifestyles, costumes and cultural dances.

Ethiopia has been called 'the land of a thousand smiles'. By the way if you are destined to Ethiopia go ready to eat Njera and wot and to drink strong coffee brews.

Ethiopian Fests

New Year’s Day September 11

To the religious calendar it is also the Feast of St John the Baptist. Here it is called Enkutatash, meaning the ‘gift of jewels’. When the famous Queen of sheba returned from her visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem, her chiefs welcomed her back by replenishing her treasury with jewels. The festival is marked by dancing and singing. The night before, people light fires outside their houses, and run around with flaming torches to welcome the New Year. Traditionally young girls would pick a special kind of grass, called engicha or enqwutatash, and would go round signing goodwill messages for the new-year. They present the grass to whomever they meet and would be given a modest gift in return.

MESKAL 27 September.

Celebrated in the country for over 1,600 years, this important feast commemorates the discovery of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified, by the Empress Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great.

The day before tall branches are tied together and yellow daisies, popularly called Meskal flowers, are placed at the top. During the night these branch are set ablaze to symbolise Empress Helena lighting incense and praying for help to find the Holy Sepulchre was after nobody would show her. Following the direction of the smoke, she dug and found three crosses, including the True cross. A part of the True Cross is said to be in the mountain monastery of Gishen Mariame located in the South Wollo administrative zone. The priests of Gishen safeguard a gold box containing a fragment of this cross.

During this time of year flowers bloom on mountains and plains and the meadows are yellow with the Meskal daisy. Dancing, feasting, merrymaking, bonfires and in the past even gun salutes mark the occasion.

The writer.

GENNA (ETHIOPIAN CHRISTMAS) 7th January

The Ethiopian Christmas, also called Lidet, is celebrated by all-night church services, with people moving from one church to another. Traditionally, young men played a game that is similar to hokey, called genna, on this day, giving the feast day the name. This celebration is unique to Lalibela and attracts many visitors.

Timket, Feast of Epiphany, is the greatest festival of the year. It is a three-day fest, beginning on the eve of Timket with colourful processions. The following morning, the great day itself, marks Christ’s baptism in the Feast of St Michael, the archangel, one of Ethiopia’s most popular saints. There are religious rites performed by the priests from the eve of the day.

The ordinary people prepare special beers, Tej and tella, bake special bread and slaughter sheep that have been fattened for the occasion. Children receive gifts and everyone turns out in new clothes. Visitors can observe the ceremonies in most parts of the country.

Source: New Vision: Uganda's Leading Daily

Research uncovers lost African school of painting

 

By Martin  Bailey – 22/12/13
Analysis of illuminated gospels suggests that first Christian manuscript art may have come from Ethiopia.

Evidence has emerged for a previously unknown school of painting in sub-Saharan Africa that may have been responsible for the earliest Christian paintings in manuscripts. New research suggests that illuminations in two Ethiopian gospels dating back 1,500 years were painted in the ancient kingdom of Aksum, and not in the Middle East, as previously believed.

These illustrations, which include a set of the Evangelists, are evidence of an Aksumite School of painting, says Jacques Mercier, a specialist in Ethiopian art at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique in Paris. Aksum lies in present-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. If Mercier’s theory is correct, it sheds new light on the development of early Christian art.

An early dating for these texts (known as the Garima Gospels, after the monastery that houses them) was first brought to international attention by The Art Newspaper, when we reported the existence of two bound Gospels with parchment leaves carbon-dated to between 330 and 650 (The Art Newspaper, June 2010, p46). They had been assumed to date to around 1100, since no earlier manuscript was believed to have survived in Ethiopia. A second set of small samples of parchment was recently dated by the University of Oxford’s Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art.

The results were announced last month at a conference in Oxford on the Garima Gospels, organised by the Ethiopian Heritage Fund. They confirm the previous results, with a date range of 390 to 570 for the first book of Gospels and 530 to 630 for the second. The middle dates from these two results average out at 530.

It has been assumed that the parchment was prepared and the illuminations created in the Middle East. The pages would then have been taken to Ethiopia, where the text was added in Ge’ez (the local language) by Ethiopian scribes. But Mercier has noticed that scored lines, added to help the scribes writing the text, were also used for the layout of the illuminations. Some of the 28 horizontal lines are visible behind the pink background of the Evangelist Luke, and the upper and lower decorated frames have been painted directly on top of the lines. Mercier argues that if the Ge’ez text was written in Ethiopia, as seems highly likely, then the illuminations must have been made there too. Theoretically, the images could have been painted by a Middle Eastern artist who had travelled 3,000km south, but Mercier argues that it is much more likely that they are the work of an Aksumite artist, copying earlier (lost) images made in the Middle East or Aksum.

Among the earliest works

As to the dating, 530 gives only a rough indication, but it does suggest that the Garima Gospels include some of the earliest Christian paintings (other than wall paintings). The earliest dated illuminated manuscript is the Rabbula Gospels, which was created in 586 in Beth Zagba, in modern-day Syria, and is now in the collection of the Laurentian Library in Florence. The Cotton Genesis (British Library), Vienna Genesis (Austrian National Library) and Rossano Gospels (Rossano cathedral, Italy) are likely to be slightly earlier. The oldest icons, now in St Catherine’s monastery in Sinai, date from the mid-sixth century.

The first volume of the Garima Gospels was conserved and rebound in 2006. Similar work, organised by the Ethiopian Heritage Fund, was carried out on the second volume this year.

The Orthodox monastery of Garima lies in northern Ethiopia, at an altitude of 7,000ft and hemmed in by rugged cliffs. It is a relatively humble complex of buildings, with 50 monks living in a few simple houses. There is a small treasury building, where the Gospels have been kept. Last year, a museum was set up in a converted building, with greater security and armed guards.

The monastery was founded in the sixth century by Abba Garima, but the area was occupied by Muslims from the ninth to the 14th centuries and the monastery would have been abandoned. It remains a mystery how the Garima Gospels were preserved, but they may have been hidden in a cave before being rediscovered centuries later.

Source: theorthodoxchurch.info blog