Holy Places

In the 14th century Ethiopian history became written down for the first time in the 'Kebra Naghast' (The glory of the kings). It's about the Solomonic dyanasty that starts with the birth of Melenik 1st, child of King Solomon and Queen Sheba. Sheba travelled to Palestine to meet Solomon, famous for his wisdom, and out of there short affair the first King of Ethiopia, Menelik 1st was born.

Axum is one of the holiest places in Ethiopia. Axum is located in Northern Ethiopia. The kingdom of Axum officially adopted Christianity in the 4th century. But it wasn't before the 12th century (and up until the 15th) that Christianity spread, along with the Christian state, to the highlands of central Ethiopia. A remarkable collection of rock-hewn churches dates from this era. They were associated with monks, who were considered on a level with saints and whose lives were often recorded in writing. These monuments and manuscripts are still very important today as the living memory of Ethiopia's Christians.

The picture above shows, some of the historic holy places in Ethiopia. The picture on the left is called Lalibela and the one on the right is Axum

Lalibela

Lalibela is a medieval settlement located in Northern Ethiopia, in the region of Welo. There are eleven rock-hewn churches in Lalibela. They are all differnet, completly carved inside and outside out of solid rock. The most famous one is the church of St. George. They are belived to have been built during the late 12th or early 13th century by King Lalibela of the Axumite empire, with its capital full of Castles, Gondar. The churches remain places of living worship eight hundred years after they were built. Lalibela remains the way it was hundereds of years ago, and the festivities and rituals held here are all very traditional. Its impact is overwhelming, for when walking through this village, one may fell transported back in time, just like it might have been hundreds of years ago, or even fell like Jesus could walk by you at any moment. The churches hold numerous legends, of their meaning and how they came to be. They are, on the whole, sacred and magnificent.

A great mystery of the Bible

In early Old Testament times the Ark of the Covenant was worshipped by the Israelites as the embodiment of God Himself, as the sign and the seal of His presence on earth, as the stronghold of His power, and as the instrument of His ineffable will built to contain the tablets of stone upon which the Ten Commandments had been written, it was a wooden chest measuring three feet nine inches long by two feet three inches high and wide. It was lined inside and out with pure gold and was surmounted by two winged figures of cherubim that faced each other across its heavy golden lid. Biblical and other archaic sources speak of the Ark blazing with fire and light, inflicting cancerous tumours and severe burns, levelling mount gains, stopping rivers, blasting whole armies and laying waste cities.

The Ark of the covenant is preserved in the ancient holy city of Axum. For many centuries, the great relic was kept in the church of Mary of Zion. Now, it is kept in a church where Emperor Haile Selassie built. No one can approch the relic except to the Monk who is assigned to guard it. Even the highest priest of Axum can not look at the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark in Axum is found in a medieval epic written in "Geez", The Glory of Kings.

There is no report that the Ark was carried away or destroyed or hidden. There is not even any comment such as 'And then the Ark disappeared and we do not know what happened to it' or 'And no one knows where it is to this day'. The most important object in the world, in the biblical view, simply ceases to be in the story.