Historical and Religious Ethiopia

Life’s, and Africa’s, distractions have kept me away from this blog for the past month. I’m about to wrap up my time here in Africa, in a few weeks actually, but cannot do so without sharing a little more with you – starting with my trip to Ethiopia.

I spent the last two weeks of October traveling in Ethiopia, the only country on the continent of Africa that was not subjected to colonial rule (after defeating the Italians, who tried to colonize it, in 1896). It is a fascinating country, with beautiful and kind people. It is an old country with its culture and traditions dating back more than 3000 years – actually, even earlier than that lived “Lucy”, one of the earliest hominid fossils ever discovered, in Ethiopia. And, it is a land of extremes – of wild and remote places – and contrasts – with some of the highest points in Africa in the jagged Simian Mountains and some of the lowest in the Danakil Depression.

I began my trip in the capital of Addis Ababa, and spent almost the entire time on the “historical route” from Addis, in the center of the country, north to Axum, near the border with Eritrea. For most of the trip I flew from place to place in the government-owned Ethiopian Airlines (which has an excellent safety record!) and stayed in the government-owned hotel chain of the Ghion Hotels (which does not have an excellent upkeep record!).

Before leaving, I knew very little of Ethiopia’s history and grew amazed at discovering how much history there is, and how that history is so deeply rooted in Christianity. Ethiopia’s history spans several thousand years – no other region in Africa has seen such continuity of existence. Ethiopia has a favorable climate, largely as a result of the large amount of high ground to be found there (80% of Africa’s land above 3000 meters is in Ethiopia) and several rainy seasons in most of the country, both which contribute to favorable agricultural conditions. Its rugged escarpments form natural barriers which have protected the country from outside invasion. It is largely for these reasons that Ethiopia then fostered a literate civilization and rich culture for many thousands of years, with a trading empire that at times extended from the African hinterland across the Red Sea to southern Arabia. These factors, and the domination of the population to traditional Christian beliefs, have contributed to such a unique and long lasting civilization.

While in Ethiopia, I was constantly moved by the deep religious convictions of everyone I met, from my tour guides to the man on the street always eager to engage a tourist in conversation. Traveling in the cities of the northern historical route – first to Bahir Dar, then to Gondar, on to Lalibela and finally to Axum – felt like stepping back into the Jerusalem of Biblical times. Everyone I met loved their history, their churches, and their religious stories. The women wear long white robes, as a symbol of their Christian beliefs. Priests, monks and religious students can be seen praying or reading the Bible at all times. Life in most of the northern cities seems to revolve around religion, and most of the touring there involved visiting churches and monasteries. All of these were beautiful, but none compared to the magnificence of the 11 monolithic churches in Lalibela, carved out of the pink granite rock in the 12th C A.D. by King Lalibela – Lalibela is truly an entire city dedicated to the glory of God by the King, and still seems as it must have been 1000 years ago.
The final stop on my historical route north was in Axum, a city that stood at the height of Ethiopian civilization in the 4-5th centuries A.D. Axum was a trading empire where Africa’s only indigenous script (Ge’ez) developed. It also was in Axum that Ethiopians adopted Christianity in the 4th century A.D. However, belief in Ethiopia dates its connection to the Bible back to the 9th century B.C., when the Queen of Sheba traveled from Axum to meet King Solomon in Jerusalem. According to Ethiopian tradition, Queen Sheba gave birth to the son of Solomon, David, later to become King Menelik I of Ethiopia. Legend has it that as a young man, David went to visit his father, Solomon, in Jerusalem and while there stole the Ark of the Covenant (a wooden box, lined with gold, in which the 2 stone tablets with the Ten Commandments were placed) and brought it back to Axum, where it is believed to still reside to this day, in a sanctuary guarded by monks. There are many historical inaccuracies in this story, but for Ethiopians, it is history, not legend, and a replica of the Ark is enshrined in each of Ethiopia’s thousands and thousands of churches.

After spending almost a week and a half in northern Ethiopia, I headed back to Addis for a day, then west to Harare, a much different type of place, being mostly Muslim. Harare is a labyrinth of small streets surrounded by old city walls – reminding me a lot of Lamu or Mombasa in Kenya or Stone Town in Zanzibar. It largely dates to the 16th century and its 80 or so mosques make it a pilgrimage destination for many Muslims, regarded as one of the most holy cities in the Horn of Africa. It was interesting to see the contrasts, from the northern cities and Christianity, to western Harare and Islam, however, the same theme predominated every single location - Ethiopia and its people are steeped in history and religion, which make it such a rich tourist destination in Eastern Africa I think!

(Pictured: Church of Bet Giyorgis in Lalibela; observing a Sunday outdoor church service in Lalibela; priest with Lalibela crosses; Sanctuary where the Ark of the Covenant supposedly rests, in Axum)