Axum - home of the Ark of the Covenant

South Stelae Field Axum

off to church - Axum

Axum - or Aksum - is at the very heart of Ethiopian history. Home to the Aksumite empire with a ruling dynasty allegedly descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - spiritual home of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and home, it is said, of the Ark of the Covenant  - kept closely guarded in the Chapel of the Tablet in the compound of Maryam Tsion (St Mary of Zion church - the Old Cathedral - site of Ethiopia's first church - built on site of a former pagan shrine- and access denied to women - see also below).
Axum is therefore a very old and a very holy city, not immediately apparent as we approached last night in the dark wanting only our hotel, a meal, a drink and a rest.

Street scene Axum

In the mausoleum South Stelae Field

Detail of Remhae's Obelisk

For a start it has the tallest stelae or obelisks dating back to the third and fourth centuries, made of sandstone out of single blocks and curiously carved. What were they for? Probably they marked royal graves. Unique multi storey tower constructions with realistic carved doors and windows could represent their royal palaces or their "symbolic stairway to heaven."? How on earth were they erected into position? Probably by elephants, it is usually thought nowadays. In the South Stelae Park we saw:

Remhai's obelisk - the largest at 33 metres - shattered into five blocks across the ground - some say as it was erected. In total it weighs 520 tonnes. Who knows what skeletons may lie beneath?! Note the carved windows and door at the base.

Tomb of the False Door

Ezana's Stele is 23 metres tall with nine storeys of windows with a door at the base.

Inside the new cathedral Axum

The Roman Stele was taken in bits to Rome in the Italian occupation and was returned back to Axum in 2005. It has to be supported by a very ugly contraption.

Then there was the Tomb of the False Door - where we see blocks held together with metal clamps - and can appreciate the advanced skills of the original engineers.

And the ten funerary chambers off each side of a dark corridor in the underground Mausoleum

Chapel of the Tablet

First we had been to the Mai Shum reservoir - Bath of the Queen of Sheba - a water storage cistern of unknown age - but probably dating back at least to the seventeenth century - used still as a main water supply for the city -

Women going down to collect water at the Bath of
the Queen of Sheba

Funerary chamber within the Mausoleum

and a free swimming pool for all the local children - but of especial significance at the celebration of the Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany or Timquat - when the replica Arks of the Covenant from all the local churches are taken in procession to Abuna Aregawi church south of the reservoir. The day after, at the Baptism of Christ, the spring water nearby is sprinkled over the people. Some of these nearby springs are said to have healing properties and have been visited for this purpose by Christians and Muslims alike for a very long time.

Then there is the Ark of the Covenant itself said to be in the Chapel of the Tablet in the cathedral compound across the road from the stelae field. In the same compound are two cathedrals - women are not allowed in the first so we all visit the second more modern one, built in the 1960s by the emperor Haile Selassie who opened it jointly with HM Queen Elizabeth.

We also went in the small Museum in the church compound near the Chapel of the Tablet - we have to leave all belongings in lockers outside the door and really didn't have enough time to examine all the artefacts, including ancient crowns, crosses and other church relics. I could have stayed a little longer than the allocated half hour. But don't confuse this with the Axum Museum near the South Stelae Park which it would seem is a must visit to really fully explain the stelae, but sadly we had no time for it. I did however buy a superb book on Axum - published by Arada Books -A Comprehensive Guide to Aksum and Yeha which I would suggest is a must for anyone who wishes to really make the most of their visit to this incredibly important historical city.

Panoramic view inside the New Cathedral Axum

Scene of Axum from south stelae Field towards 

There are many more sites to visit in Aksum but time presses on and we have to catch our flight to Lalibela - the first turbo-prop I have flown in for many years. Every day brings new and even more amazing experiences - the rock hewn churches of Lalibela we are soon to see are incredible…

Ethiopia - the road to Axum

We continue on our journey after lunch in Wukro - with a long trip in prospect as we head North towards Adigrat where we will turn West to Axum and our next overnight stop…

oxen threshing the grain

We climb even higher into the mountains. The landscape seems softer here, prettier somehow. There are many more cacti now, and farm compounds with families out in force harvesting grain, and threshing it with the help of their cattle. These animals are driven round and round in a small circle, tethered together, trampling the stalks, the women continually brushing the resulting separated grain back into the centre of the pile. There are also simple hand held ploughs drawn by oxen in the surrounding fields - a timat is the area of land that two oxen can plough in a day.

grain threshing with oxen

We drive through a patch of quite hard rain. The villagers in the small communities we pass through run for cover and seem disconsolate - although they clearly need rain - just not at harvest time! The rain season was too dry this last year which has seriously affected yields.

We approach Adigrat, standing at nearly 2500 metres. Small flocks of sheep and goats guarded by the roadside await sale and slaughter. The road ahead goes on to Eritrea - we turn left towards Axum.

We climb again - it is a dramatic hairpin road but of good quality. Many lorries on the road are carrying quarried rock presumably for more road improvements further ahead. There is much road building in process - much being undertaken by the Chinese, we are told. Some of the quarrying in the small quarries we pass looks manual and extremely hard work but the lads always have time to give us a cheery wave as we drive by. Later along the road we see donkeys with metal buckets strapped across their backs, weighed down with some of these heavy rocks. 

Debre Damo Monastery in the distance

We reach the summit, stopping soon for a stunning view - amazing terraced slopes and sheer drops. We drive for some while along the top of this valley, looking down for many miles on this amazing scenery to our right - the sun coming out from behind the clouds in time for us to fully enjoy the panorama. Many children, some very young, are walking back from school - in this sparsely populated countryside some of them clearly have quite a journey each day. The little ones wave cheerfully as we drive by. We cross a very wide river - the river bed largely dried up - but still a large group of women are finding enough pools of water in which to do their washing - before spreading it all over the nearby bushes to dry in the sun.

stunning scenery

the Adwa mountains

Just past Bizet we spy 

in the far distance Debre Damo Monastery, perched on its 3000 metre high amba, or flat- topped mountain. Founded in the sixth century by one of the monks collectively known as the Nine Saints, (who brought Christianity to Ethiopia from Syria and beyond), it is pretty impregnable. Even after a very long drive by hired vehicle or an arduous hot walk from the main road, the final hurdle is to be hauled up the last 15m high cliff via two leather ropes, one around your waist which is hauled up by the priest at the top, the other you use yourself to assist with the climb. Women are strictly not allowed. Can't say I'm sorry!

Most of the villages seem to have a circular stone wall enclosure within which there is a water pump - children pump water while women gather around no doubt to exchange the local gossip.

sun set behind Adwa mountains near Axum

We are now in the stark granite Adwa mountains - jutting into the sky like teeth - and at Inticho, with just over an hour still to drive, we stop for a panoramic view and for a much needed leg stretch.

early morning hotel view of the renowned Stelae Park

Finally after four tiring but immensely fascinating hours of drive we thankfully arrive at our hotel for the night set high on the outskirts of Axum overlooking the Stelae Field and its famous obelisks. Tomorrow we will explore this further as well as visit the reputed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant in the Cathedral Church of St Mary of Zion. 

Ethiopia - Abraha we Atsbeha rock hewn church

locals gathered after worship in traditional
white robes as we approached Abraha we Atsbeha

You have to remember with these rock hewn churches that they are quite literally carved out of the sandstone rock in the cliff faces where they nestle - and it is difficult to imagine the extraordinary skills required of the craftsmen. Why did they do it? Where did they start? How did they choose the sites? What happened to all the rock literally chiselled and hacked out from the inside of the rocks, leaving just the arches and columns and cupolas and sometimes beautifully detailed crosses and other carvings on walls and ceilings?

Abraha we Atsbeha entrance to the courtyard

 And these are not dead and boring artefacts of a bygone age. They are living spiritual homes for hundreds and hundreds of devout worshippers who walk, often many miles, to attend services, as their forefathers have done since the churches were built, most at least by the 16th century, many much earlier even than that. And that is just for an ordinary day - for special feast and other holy days the crowds will be huge - as we experience a little later into our pilgrimage.

the last few steps up to Abraha we Atsbeha
courtyard entrance

once within the courtyard - the more recent white
Italian portico over the original church
porch - note the original church is part of the rock face itself

Adam and Eve

one example of beautiful church murals

the devil in chains - wall mural
note the angels looking in all directions - God looks
at us all wherever we are

 We leave Wukro Chirkos and after a coffee break in Wakru (amazing - the locals seem to quite willingly give up all their seats on the street side patio outside the restaurant to accommodate our group!) we make our way in the coach for 45km along what the guide book describes as a well-maintained and scenic dirt road. Scenic it certainly is - the views are stunning all the way along - but it is very twisty and bumpy and almost more than some of our group can stomach. But wow the destination is worth it.

Mary suckling the baby Jesus

This church is regarded by many to be the finest in Tigrai, simply for its wonderfully exotic and colourful wall and ceiling murals, depicting the complete history of the Ethiopian Christian Church. The church itself is much older than its murals, tradition saying that it was excavated in AD335-40 by the 4th century twin emperors Abraha and Atsbeha to whom the church is dedicated. Their mummified bodies are said to be in a box in the Holy of Holies within the church. Who knows? A priest tried to check the contents of the box and was so severely burnt on his hands that no-one has dared to further investigate!

more wall murals within church

One could study these murals for a very long time but sadly we do not have this luxury - we have to find lunch back in Wakru before a very long drive ahead of us - albeit a fabulously scenic and fascinating one - to reach Axum and our hotel for the night ... to explore Ethiopia's most historically and archaeologically important town - site of its earliest church and spiritual home of its unique Christian tradition.

outside the church a priest studies in the shade
with fabulous view beyond

Ethiopia pilgrimage - in search of the Ark of the Covenant

mountains and patchwork of fields

The legend of the Ark of the Covenant plays a hugely significant role in Ethiopian Christianity. 

So what is the Ark of theCovenant and why are we searching for it in Ethiopia?

It is the wooden chest which was built by the Children of Israel according to God's very precise instructions, to hold the two stone tablets brought down by Moses from Mount Sinai, inscribed with the Ten Commandments. When the Jews settled in Jerusalem, it was placed in the Temple from where it disappeared when the Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Where did it go? And is it in Ethiopia? The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claim so, that it was brought to Ethiopia by Menelik I with divine assistance and that it is kept in Axum, under tight guard in a treasury near the Church of our Lady of Zion. (Menelik I, the first Solomonic Emperor of Ethiopia, (around 950BC) is traditionally believed to be the son of King Solomon of ancient Israel and Makeda, ancient Queen of Sheba).

arriving in Mekele

After our day exploring Addis Ababa we are in bed early - some of us by 8pm - ready for the 4.30am wake up call and a full day ahead tomorrow - our flight to Mekele and the eagerly anticipated rock hewn churches of North East Tigrai.

along the road to Wukro Chirkos

stunning scenery

I set my smart phone and the hotel alarm clock - not content to rely solely on the hotel's own telephone call. I wake up with a jolt convinced I have enjoyed a good night's sleep - only to see it is only 11pm - and I sleep fitfully for the rest of the night. Others in the group describe a similar experience - body clock adjusting? Malaria tablets having weird side effects? Who knows? But somehow or other we are all in the coach by 5.20 am as required and on our way to the airport. Even at this early hour there are scores of people on the streets - walking - always walking - sometimes we wonder where they are all walking to?

I have found Addis Ababa troubling. It is a pulsing throbbing sea of humanity in all its rich tapestry, suffering and comfort in close juxtaposition, medium rise office and hotel blocks jostling for space with far simpler mud homes and shanty town slums, neon lit bars and cafes and hotels, dust roads and modern highways and a brand new metro - a city of huge contrasts - and throughout all of this a kind of tacit acceptance of each other, of each others' place in the scheme of things. There are a few stray dogs and we pass the City Refuge Church on the corner of a roundabout under a flyover - seemingly a garden shelter and sanctuary in the wider hustle and bustle.

I am so happy to be heading out of the city to the tranquility and beauty of the Ethiopian countryside and all that it has to offer.

Typical pastoral scene along the road from Mekele

There is a faint pall of pollution hanging over the high rise part of the city as the plane takes off, incongruous below the cloudless pale blue sky still faintly pink tinged at 7.15am. A mist covers the outskirts of the town, the fields beyond quite green after the recently finished rainy season. As we gain height the mountainous terrain casts deep shadows across the alleys far below. A dry river bed cuts deep between curious flat-topped hills, with multi coloured patchworks of fields on their plateaus. We are soon above 37,000 feet and for a short while a thick fluffy white cloud cover obscures the earth from view.

As we approach Mekele the terrain changes, the rocks below seem pinker, with signs of terracing and two large dams.

Wukro Chirkos sandstone rock hewn church

Soon we are landed, reunited with our luggage and setting off in our coach for the fairly long journey to our first destination of the day, Wukro Chirkos, just one of the 150 odd amazing churches literally hewn out of the sandstone rocks in this Tigrai area of Ethiopia. This one is probably one of the most accessible to the tourist - others can be quite challenging to reach. Amazingly these churches were only brought to the attention of the outside world in the early 1900s, and who knows how many are still to be discovered? They are distinctly less touristy than those we will visit later in the week in Lalibela, and it is probably for this reason that they still hold an aura of spirituality and mood that can be lost when the crowds arrive. 

inside the church

drum used in the religious ceremony

Oh how we can destroy those treasures simply by wanting to go and see them for ourselves! I am thankful that our McCabe group is small and we do not dominate our surroundings.   

Ethiopia - a pilgrimage - we prepare to leave Addis Ababa

modern Addis Ababa

It is beginning to rain as we come out of the Trinity (Selassie) Cathedral in Addis Ababa to head back to our hotel - but it is short lived and the sun is soon out again. Beggars surround us watching for any of us to become separated from the group, when they close in to appeal to our Christian natures. It is so difficult to know what to do and we ask our guide for advice. We cannot after all give money to everyone who appears needy, much as we may like to. There are about 32 Ethiopian Birr to the British pound at the moment. Apparently a 1 or 5 Birr note is an acceptable response to genuine requests - the problem is knowing who is genuine! I get into the habit of always having my small notes handy when we come out of churches and monasteries or when reward for a photo shot is in order.

outside Holy Trinity Cathedral

And that's another thing. It is so tempting sometimes to take photos because everything to us about this amazing country is new and colourful and fascinating. But these people deserve our respect, and permission should always be sought for photos of them in close up. 

building work Addis Ababa

Back at the hotel we meet for a service of evening prayer - we are allocated the poolside bar - quite surreal as we are surrounded by unsuspecting couples there for just a quiet drink - so prayers are abandoned and we just have a chat about the day's experiences. The Revd. Canon Adrian Slade, our leader,  talks about the filters we all use in understanding our faith. In Europe, influenced by the Roman Catholic church, our faith is based on the word, the worship book and liturgy being very important to us. In the Eastern European Orthodox church, there is a very different mindset, where sound and sight are crucial - the visual and the aural. In Ethiopia the form of worship of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is quite primitive compared with what we are used to, founded very early in the history of Christianity, c. 340AD by Emperor Ezana of Aksum following his conversion by Syrian monks, and before the influence of Rome and Europe. I will revisit this, and we will experience some of this at first hand in the days to come - especially on Sunday when our own perceptions of worship will be seriously challenged…

contrasting living conditions Addis Ababa

We head off for supper and an early night - we will be having a wake up call at 4.30, breakfast at 5am, leaving the hotel at 5.20am for our domestic flight to the North of the country, to Mekele and Axum…Exciting days ahead. 

Ethiopia - a pilgrimage - in Addis Ababa Holy Trinity Cathedral

Interior of the Cathedral

From the National Museum in Addis Ababa we moved on to the Trinity (Selassie) Cathedral, where Emperor Haile Selassie is buried, along with his wife Menen, in enormous granite tombs. They were moved here in November 2000, back to the cathedral which he founded in 1931, to commemorate liberation from Italian occupation. The great and colourful reburial ceremony and procession, a full 25 years after the Emperor's death, was attended by a large Rastafarian community which included Bob Marley's wife Rita. 

Exterior of the Cathedral

Moses and his tablets of stone with Ge'ez numbers
just one of many very beautiful windows

After removing our shoes outside (something we have to do throughout the country when visiting any of its churches and monasteries - along with respecting the demarcation of males keeping to the left, females to the right of each church), we enter the cathedral, suffused with the heady scent of incense. I certainly feel at home here! We were immediately struck by the most beautiful stained glass windows illustrating Ethiopian interpretations of the New Testament and Old Testament stories - to the right and left hand side of the cathedral respectively. The stained glass window of Moses with the tablets brought down from Mount Sinai uses the numbers of the Ge'ez language, the language unique to Ethiopian Orthodoxy and used in its liturgy and other spoken or chanted texts. The windows are truly beautiful and each one merits detailed examination. 

Holy of Holies containing Ark of Covenant
replica 

detail of cathedral exterior

The cathedral also has the most beautiful wall and ceiling paintings and uniquely, it actually displays its copy of the Ark of the Covenant - usually hidden from public gaze behind the curtains shielding the Holy of Holies Sanctuary in other churches. But what struck me most was the devotion of the local populace - mothers bringing their young children into the building after school to pray and display their faith very publicly. A little girl in her blue school uniform was prostrated before the Ark of the Covenant, and there was a constant stream of people coming in to venerate, to pray, to sit…

Sylvia Pankhurst grave

the granite tomb of Haile selassie

Outside the cathedral we find the grave for Sylvia Pankhurst, the famous UK suffragette and an active supporter of Ethiopian culture and independence since the Italian invasion in 1935, friend of Haile Selassie and whose son Richard still lives here.

Ethiopia - a pilgrimage - Addis Ababa National Museum

giant tortoises at the museum

 Addis Ababa has so very much to offer the tourist and we can only scratch its surface. Do go if you can and discover more of this great destination for yourself.

National Museum interior

Pushkin

We are on a pilgrimage to Ethiopia in search of the Ark of the Covenant - and we spend our first day on arrival in Addis Ababa exploring that city before we set off North to Tigrai and the first of the rock- hewn churches on our itinerary.

If you are in Addis Ababa the National Museum of Ethiopia is a must to visit. It is set in pleasant gardens with giant tortoises crawling among beautiful hibiscus bushes and flowering cannas, and with plenty of inspiring statues and sculptures, (including a statue of the great Russian poet Pushkin) Once inside it is organised over four floors.

Lucy

naughty English!

Ethiopia hosts the most complete and richest source of human ancestry evidence - the Rift Valley has been a giant fossil trap for the last ten million years - and here is to be found the earliest record of stone tool making. This is admirably displayed in the paleoanthropology and prehistoric artefacts exhibition in the basement, where there is an excellently informative display of the famous Lucy, our earliest known human ancestor. This 3.5 million year old discovery has made us totally rethink the evolution of mankind. Basically our ancestors were walking 2.5 million years earlier than we had previously supposed. Lucy is so called because "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" was played in the archaeologists' camp when the discovery was made. She is known as Dinquinesh to Ethiopians - meaning "thou art wonderful".

but it came back to Addis!

Ethnographic collection in need of labelling

Moving up from the basement to the ground floor we find a pre-Axumite to 20th century archaeological and historical heritage exhibit, including 2600 year old pre-Aksumite fertility statues; there is a traditional and modern display of Ethiopian works of art on the first floor, which I thoroughly enjoyed; and on the top floor we found a fascinating ethnographic collection, suffering sadly from a lack of decent labelling but interesting none-the-less. Don't expect the usual razzmatazz of Western museums - café, shop and decent toilets - but be fascinated by artefacts of a totally different culture, one which we shall have the pleasure of exploring further over the next ten days.