Aksum

(1) Aksum, an important city in Ethiopian history for a very long time

There is actually not much to do in Axum. The sites are – how shall I put it? - impressive, if you think about it in historical context, but not very impressive to look at.

I already referred to the Aksumite empire, a highly civilized society which lasted from probably well before Christ to the 7^th or 8^th Century AD, and adopted Christianity in the process. The traces of this empire are, obviously, to be found around Aksum, and consist of field full of stelae, a few royal tombs and the remains of a palace. The stelae are impressive, once you realize that they may be some 1700 years old (one of the stelae is attributed to a 4^th Century king Ezana). The biggest ones are finely carved, with a false door and several false windows, and tombs have been found underneath them. Unfortunately, the largest, which must have measured some 33 meters, has come crashing down, probably quite soon after having been erected, but another one, 23 meters high, still stands after all these years. How they have been put upright is anybody’s guess.

(2) the stelae of King Ezana, I think, still standing 23m upright after 1700 years, quite an achievement, I would say

Many of the lesser stelae may have tombs below them, as well, but so far an estimated 95% has not yet been discovered (beats me how you can estimate that, but never mind, the message is that they have just started). What is likely is that any tomb treasures will have been robbed long ago by grave robbers, what, with such obvious landmarks indicating their locations. Nevertheless, a small museum displays some of the artefacts, pots, coins etc. that have been found in the area, and they have done a good job at it. Unfortunately, the one piece that should be added, a trilingual granite slab  (in Ge’ez – a language like Latin, the ecclesial language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church -, in Sabean and in Greek; something like a Rosetta stone, thus) which was discovered 30 years ago just outside town, hasn’t been moved since, because the inscription also says that he who moves it will die, or something like that. The slab is located inside a nondescript little hut, and we almost walked past it without noticing – so much for advocating your most important treasures.

(3) two Axumite pots, carefully put together, on display in the Aksum Museum.

Other archeological remains are Queen of Sheba’s palace, most likely post-dating Her Majesty by some 1300 years – which means a 7^th Century palace, still quite impressive given that much of the structure and the lower walls remain in tact; but visually not very attractive – and the Queen of Sheba’s pool, another rather dull site, and equally unlikely to have been used by Her Majesty.

(4) the palace of the Queen of Sheba, or so they say. The main message is that there was a highly civilised society here, with excellent building skills, in the 3rd Century, and well before

So why is Aksum so firmly established on the tourist circuit in Ethiopia? Well, I mentioned the Ark of the Covenant in an earlier contribution (remember? The holiest of holy Jewish artefacts, brought from Jerusalem to Ethiopia by the son of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon), and reputedly, the Ark is stored in a little chapel within the compound of the Cathedral of Tsion Maryam – Saint Mary of Zion. The problem is that nobody appears to have ever seen this Ark, nobody is allowed near it even (when I approached the fence around the chapel within 10 meters, or so, to take a better picture, the accompanying guard started screaming already). If I combine this paranoia with the fact that the oldest church in the compound is actually 17^th Century, and that earlier churches have been sacked and burned by enemies of the empire on at least two occasions – which is one of the reasons that there are no early churches at all, in Aksum -, I can only conclude that it is highly unlikely that there is anything like such artefact on site, if it has ever been there in the first place. But why undermine religious dogma’s, no?

At least I was allowed to visit the 17^th Century church, women are not permitted inside such a venerated building (they are still expected to pay the full entry ticket to the compound, of course; European prices), and I must say that the church was impressive; certainly a lot more tasteful than the monstrous new cathedral that has been built in the 1960s and which is accessible for women. Lucky women!

(5, 6) The old church of Tsion Maryam, men only, from the outside, and inside

 (7, 8) and this is it, the chapel containing the Ark of the Covenant - I couldn't come closer; an African Hornbill is protecting the Ark from the top

Prester John

It is quite amazing that we Europeans know so little about early Ethiopian history. After all, an Ethiopian – or Abyssinian, as it used to be called – empire has existed for a very, very long time. We have vaguely heard of the Queen of Sheba, to who I referred already, but nobody seems aware that, at the time the Romans ruled Europe and the Middle East, the Axumite empire, with a high level of civilization, controlled the trading routes through the Red Sea, and did this for a long time. Christianity came relatively early, with the conversion of King Ezana in the early 4^th Century, and was further boosted by the arrival of nine Syrian monks – in fact monks from across the Roman empire, who fled to Ethiopia -, who spread the word more effectively in the 5^th Century. Some missionaries they were! Only with the advent of Islam were the Ethiopians forced to give up their Arabian – Yemeni – possessions and retreat into their mountainous heartland, a plateau of well over 2000 m high that has always been the core of the Ethiopian empire. This plateau probably also added to Ethiopia’s subsequent isolation.

It was not until well in the 12th Century that the European interest in Ethiopia was whetted, through a letter from one Prester John, “by the Grace of God and the strength of Our Lord Jesus Christ, king of kings and lord of lords”, to the Byzantine emperor. The letter described a land that was close to paradise on earth, “with Centaurs and Amazons”, with rivers full of “emeralds and sapphires and other precious stones”, palaces with golden tables and crystal windows; there were no poor and no thieves, everybody had plenty. The land was ruled by Prester John, “who reigned supreme and exceeded in riches, virtue and power all other creatures who dwell under Heaven”, and what was even better, Prester John commanded 14 armies of 10,000 cavalry and 100,000 foot soldiers each. For European Christian rulers, who by then were reeling from defeat after defeat in the Holy War fought by the Crusaders, an alliance with Prester John could bring instant salvation.

The only problem was that nobody knew where this rich land of hope was; the location of Prester John’s kingdom remained elusive for another 350 years or so. It became one of the drivers of early Portuguese exploration, the hope to link up with a Christian ruler somewhere in Africa. When they finally did, in 1520, and Francisco Alvares reached the Ethiopian court from Goa, the disappointment was great. There was a Christian kingdom, allright, but in no position, and with no interest, to support a crusade. The Ethiopians were actually quite poor.

It has now been established that the letter from Prester John was in fact a fake, probably written by a German monk. But what a fake it was!

Lalibela

Being perhaps Ethiopia’s preeminent tourist spot, that is also Lalibela’s curse.

The good news is that it has indeed a couple of fabulous assets, in the form of 11 (or 10, or 13, depending who is writing the guide book) rock-hewn churches. But not just hewn into the rock, like in Petra, for instance, no, these have been excavated; I mean, many of these churches are free-standing, all the rock around it removed, then the inside of the remaining monolith opened up, hollowed out, and finally exquisitely finished, with door openings, windows, arches, pillars, sometimes decorated with reliefs and frescos. Like a real church, really, but then out of a single piece of rock. Quite an extraordinary sight, and certainly ranking amongst the great architectural achievements of the world. But more than a sight, unlike for instance the Pyramids, or Petra, which I mentioned already, or perhaps the Angkor Wat temple complex – all tourist attractions in their own right, testimony of ancient rituals of a bygone era -, the churches of Lalibela are alive, they are actively being used by the local people, and by pilgrims from around Ethiopia; they are a truly spiritual place. And that, I think, is quite unique in the world.

There is no point describing the different churches, there are plenty of books that have done this already, and much more scholarly than I can. Many are believed to date from the 12^th or 13^th Century, and were built by King Lalibela; well, not the king himself, but thousands and thousands of labourers must have been toiling here (if we discard the legend that the angels came and finished the job overnight, the story of at least one of the churches). Some may have been even earlier creations, perhaps 8th Century, and may have started off as a palace. I have added a few pictures, to give you an impression, but this is something you need to see for yourself. It is truly awesome.

 (1, 2) One of the largest churches, free-standing, and one of the the entrances. Just imagine the amount of rock that has been removed!

 (3) a bas-relief of Saint George fighting the Dragon below a window. 

 (4) just to illustrate that the church is indeed still a place of worship, very spiritual; and we weren't here on a Sunday, when this place is crawling.

(5, 6, 7) interior decoration of the church above, with arches and exquisitely carved pillars - a bit of the original rock remaining! - and frescos

What is interesting, too, is that the churches are all very close to each other. It appears that, within a sea of literally rock-hard basalt, there is a small patch of what is called scoriaceous basalt coming to the surface, a kind of volcanic tuff, apparently, and much softer to work with. And that explains it all, of course: hacking these churches out of true basalt would have been impossible; as it is, hacking them out of the softer stuff must have been quite an exercise already.

(8, 9, 10) I just cannot get enough of it! The last one, Bet Giyorgis (George), probably the most beautifully excavated church of all. Literally a hole in the ground.

The problem with something so unique as these churches is that it attracts not only a lot of tourists, but also the tourist entourage that comes with it. Lalibela itself is a small village high in the mountains, with an agrarian population. Unfortunately, the tourist invasion has gotten the worst out of people, everybody is out to make a buck, and wherever you go, you are being hassled by not only kids asking for pens, T-shirts, or just straightforward money, but also adults. Hotel touts, self-appointed tourist guides, tacky souvenir sellers. Or just people walking up to you and asking “give me money”. And they know they only have one chance – tourists do not linger around in Lalibela – so they don’t take no for an answer, at least not easily. Add that the place is infestated with flies – every time you say “no” you have to be careful not to swallow one – and walking through the village becomes so tiring!

 (11, 12) and some lay pictures to finish off: a tourist getting used to the local supermarket, and the late afternoon view from Lalibela across the mountains

James Bruce

One of the more interesting characters that have been to Gondar is James Bruce, a Scot who set out to discover the source of the Nile in 1768. He reached Gondar in 1770, where he managed to gain the confidence of the emperor and his general. As Alan Moorehead, who wrote a chronicle of the Blue Nile, says: “It is wonderful that Bruce should have survived (..) among these violent men whose first instinct was to kill a stranger and then rob him of his goods”. Bruce did get to travel on to Lake Tana, and to the Falls at Tis Abay (which he describes as ‘one sheet of water that fell down without interruption, with a force and noise that was truly terrible; a thick fume, or haze, hung over the course of the stream..’ – remember what I said about the trickle of water there today?). At a later stage he also managed to reach a little swampy area at the head of a small stream that flows into Lake Tana, the Little Abbai, which he – wrongly – proclaimed the source of the Nile.

His problem was multi-fold. Firstly, he maintained that he was the first European to reach the source of the Nile. He wasn’t, some 150 years earlier two Portuguese had been at the place he was standing, and at Lake Tana, and at the Falls. He dismissed their accounts as fabrication, which they clearly weren’t. Secondly, the Blue Nile is really a secondary Nile, the White Nile coming from Lake Victoria being the main stream. Bruce barely mentions the White Nile when he got to the confluence, on his way back to Europe. But his biggest problem was that nobody believed his description of the Ethiopian court. Altogether, he stayed for some two years in Gondar, and his observations – however accurate they later proved– were just too incredible to be taken at face value. No European would accept that the people here ate raw beefsteaks, cut out of cows that were still alive, subsequently submit to some heavy drinking, and then happily engaged in sex, uninhibited by the fact that all other dinner guests happened to be in the same one big room. As Bruce writes, “they sacrifice both to Bacchus and to Venus”.

From all I read about Bruce, he didn’t seem to be a nice and pleasant person, quite spiteful, jealous, single-minded. This may have added to the reasons that he was not believed, back in Europe, until more than 30 years later, and well after his death, others corroborated his observations. Nevertheless, his was a great achievement, there is no doubt about that.

Gorgora

Guide books suggest that it is an easy bus ride from Gondar to Gorgora. It is not. As so many buses in Ethiopia, this one leaves somewhere between 5.30 and 6 am. OK we can handle that. But from getting close to the bus station in Gondar to after being well away from the bus stop in Gorgora, it is a constant hassle. Everybody in Gondar wants to help you buy a ticket. Needless, because for Gorgora you buy a ticket in the bus, in fact you cannot buy it anywhere else, so any money handed over beforehand would be immediately lost. One guy even got into the bus to sell us a ticket, at vastly overpriced rates, and claim further money for the fact that he carried a suitcase to the back, and to the roof of the bus. Everybody already on board must have known this was a scam. Nobody said anything. Someone else claimed a service charge, also for carrying a suitcase to the roof of the bus, after he had taken it down first. When finally the real conductor appeared, we haggled for another 20 minutes, to get somewhere near the real ticket price – we still paid about twice as much, but anyhow. In Gorgora, two hours later, we were besieged by guys who carried our suitcases down from the roof again, and demanded further payment for the carrying, for the fact that the suitcases had been transported in the first place, and for whatever else they dreamt up. We were the only foreigners on the bus; they didn’t ask anybody else the same. Exhausting. But utterly in line with our experience so far that everybody tries to get a slice of the cake. I recall a newspaper headline in China, years ago, “to screw a foreigner is a patriotic deed”. It could have been written for Ethiopia.

But we didn’t regret coming to Gorgora, a small town on the other side of Lake Tana. There is yet another church, Debre Sina Maryam, older than any of the ones we have seen so far, and possibly even more beautifully decorated with frescos. (And I now got a picture of Emperor Fasilades, Queen Sheba and King Solomon!). This church still has a thatched roof, and nicely carved woodwork inside to support it. Obviously, it is still in use, with a wooden pulpit outside, reinforced with an amplifier and loudspeaker.

(1) papyrus canoe on the lake, note the ship yard in the back, on the island

(2) more papyrus boats, drying

(3) the church, Debre Sina Maryam, as authentic as they come

(4) and this is just an incredible chair, solid rock; somebody must have spent quite some time getting it in chair shape!

(5, 6, 7, 8) visualising history: we have the stoning of Saint Peter above (we haven't seen enough of horrible torture yet), then Emperor Fasilides, below him the Queen of Sheba, and at the bottom an unidentified group of men - but nice enough painting to include

A couple of hours walking around the lake reveals a wealth of spectacularly colourful birds, of which, with the help of our guide, we are now able to name a few, as well.

(9, 10, 11) and just a few of the birds we saw, top ones I don't know the name, second one is a pygmee kingfisher and at the bottom the, rare, Abyssinian roller - or so I have been told

The real gem in Gorgora, however, is the little lodge and campsite of Tim&Kim, a Dutch couple who have set up this place some time ago, partly to provide accommodation for tourists in one of the most peaceful settings you can imagine, and partly to support the village people, through small scale projects like school toilets, a water system, and straightforward employment.

Back to Gondar, Tim gave us a lift, which allowed us to avoid the bus trip, this time around.

Gondar (2)

(apologies, this is the second posting in one day, but I am behind, and we have good internet at the moment)

Another not to be missed landmark in town is the Debre Birham church, the only historic church in Gondar to have been spared the sacking of the Madhist army, a Muslim revolutionary band that sacked much of Sudan, and part of Ethiopia, in the late 19^th Century. History, or legend, has it that the church was saved by a swarm of bees, which drove off the vandals. (You see how difficult it is to take Ethiopian history, as promoted by Ethiopians, seriously? Bees seem to come back many times at critical moments in the past).

For whichever reason, the church still stands, and that is a good thing.

Gondar

(1) country side on the way to Gondar

This is not the forum to discuss the history of Ethiopia in great detail. Firstly, because others can do that much better than I, and have done so, too, and secondly, because the history is pretty complex, balancing between fact and Ethiopian legend. For instance, it is hard to believe that the last emperor, Haile Selassie, was a direct descendant from the offspring of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, who she visited 3000 years ago – given the often violent regime changes, that bloodline must have been broken not once, but many times, yet Ethiopian history insists on this unlikely dynasty.

Yet, Gondar has been an important part in this history, having been the capital for some 250 years.