The Land of Queen of Sheba

The Land of Queen of Sheba

Long ago, as a little boy, I grew up with the story of Tarzan, and later on, as a young man, I read about Dr. Livingstone. In this age and time, like those who are interested in adventures, I often associate Africa with the “Big 5”, four of which (except the leopard) I had seen on safari in South Africa. But I also wanted to know and yearned to experience what this huge continent, three times the size of Canada, was all about if I strip away the “Big 5” and the wildlife-based images which isolate us from the rest of fellow humans and humanity. Enters “The Land of Queen of Sheba” – Ethiopia – a Christian land long before much of Europe and the rest of the world. Sheba was an ancient realm that existed many centuries before Christ. Some historians believe that it included what is now modern Ethiopia and Yemen. The realm traded in incense and prospered because of its links with Jerusalem and the Roman Empire. In Jewish legend, the Queen of Sheba was the Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia, and she was said to have brought the first balsam tree to Israel. Muslims refer to the Queen of Sheba as the “queen of the south” with the name of Bilkis. Queen of Sheba is well-known as a Biblical figure even though little is written about her origin.  “And she came to Jerusalem with a very great train, with camels that bare spices, and very much gold, and precious stones: and when she was come to Solomon, she communed with him of all that was in her heart.” I Kings 10:2 (KJV).

Making the past relevant to the present is what archaeologists have been doing. A team of British archaeologists has recently discovered an enormous gold mine in northern Ethiopia. The excavations have also discovered a temple and, most recently – a large palace. The site is located on the high Gheralta plateau. The archaeologists knew from the 20ft stone stele carved with the sun’s image and a crescent moon (the emblem of Sheba) that this was once part of the Queen’s realm. Archaeologist Louise Schofield told The Guardian shortly after the discovery by the British team: “One of the things I’ve always loved about archaeology is the way it can tie up with legends and myths. The fact that we might have the Queen of Sheba’s mines is extraordinary.”

Professor Brian Cox, on a visit to Ethiopia’s Rift Valley (2014), said: “It’s impossible to sit here and not catch a glimpse, out of your peripheral vision, of a line of ghosts stretching back 10,000 generations because we’re all related to someone from here.” …was he thinking of AL 288-1 “Lucy”?   

Ethiopians have good reason to take their history very seriously, and they do. It was one of only two African countries not colonized. It is commonly accepted that the first humans came from the Rift Valley. I was also thinking about AL288-1! Having previously read the article “Lucy Dethroned” by Bert Thompson and Brad Harrub (both Ph.D.) I was determined to see “Lucy” as I stepped into the National Museum of Addis Ababa. But I saw only a replica of Dinkinesh. The real “Lucy,” I was informed, is stored in a specially constructed safe in the Paleoanthropology Laboratories. In the years since “Lucy” was discovered in her 3.2-million-year-old grave, scientists have gone on to find older and even more complete fossil remains of Australopithecus afarensis. In Ethiopia, scientists have unearthed the remains of a 3.3-million-year-old baby dubbed “Selam.” This child was 100,000 years older than “Lucy,” but it’s now often known as “Lucy’s Baby.” Perhaps even more spectacular was a 4.4-million-year-old Ardipithecus ramidus “Ardi,” the earliest known skeleton of a HOMINID. News of “Ardi” first came to light in 1994. Since then, scientists have found evidence of hominids dating back as far as 7 million years ago… Two fossils of an ape-like creature named Graecopithecus Freyberg had human-like teeth that have been found in Bulgaria and Greece. The discovery of the creature proves that our “ancestors” were already starting to “evolve” in Europe 200,000 years before the earliest African hominid… these fascinating “evolution” stories continue…Notwithstanding this, Ethiopia is not a country for cynics even if one does not believe in The Kebra Nagast or even the Scripture.

Addis Ababa

Addis Ababa (Amharic for “the new flower”), founded only 150 years ago by Menelik II, is now a metropolis of more than 6 million people. It is the country’s sprawling capital in the Ethiopian highlands and the country’s commercial hub. At an altitude of 2355m, it is one of the highest capitals of the world. It also hosts the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) headquarters and of the African Union (AU).

Flying into Addis Ababa was exciting for me, but it was also slightly intimidating. I was completely unsure of what to expect as we walked out of the airport. Ethiopia was going to be unlike anywhere else I had seen – and I hadn’t seen anything yet. Having been a traveler and globetrotter for many years, I understand that sometimes things get lost in translation. Very often, words or phrases just cannot be converted exactly from one language to the other. It is also not so unusual for countries to have different calendars. But for clocks and time? We arrived in Addis Ababa early in the morning from Toronto, and I asked our driver from the hotel for the exact time… “It’s two o’clock,” He chuckled and added, “In Ethiopia.” It was actually 8:00 am. I soon discovered that there are two ways to tell the time in Ethiopia. They count time by the 12-hour cycles. It can be confusing for foreigners at first, but we all get it eventually. It’s just a matter of time 😊.

Africa is much more Christian than many people realize, and Ethiopia was actually an early cradle of Christianity. The Methane Alem “Saviour of the World” Cathedral (Ethiopian Orthodox) seen from our hotel window is the second-largest cathedral in the whole of Africa and the largest in Ethiopia.

Several years ago, we met someone by chance as we walked in one of the lovely parks in Ontario. The stranger asked us whether we knew Lalibela. The name had stuck in my mind ever since. People come into our lives for a reason. Since that encounter with the stranger, I had harboured the desire to visit this place called Lalibela. As we approached this Season in our liturgical calendar, I found an opportunity to go for a “retreat” on the foothill of Ethiopia’s mountainous region with Lalibela as the focal point for our “retreat.” We would be away for about 20 days at the beginning of Lent and hope to gradually make our way back to Vancouver from Lalibela and Aksum by Laetare Sunday.

Bahir Dar

On this journey, I discovered the “Blue Nile” source – Lake Tana, where even the hippos, pelicans, cormorants, and others came to say “hello” to us. Lake Tana is close to Bahir Dar, the third-largest city in Ethiopia, after Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. It is the Amhara region’s capital, inhabited by the Amhara people, the country’s ethnically second largest group. The Ethiopian official language is Amharic. Bahir Dar is popular with tourists because of its lake and comfortable climate. It has become the jumping-off point for the Blue Nile Falls and Gondar onwards to Lalibela for those interested in making the northern historical loop. The main reason for some coming here is to launch a boat excursion out onto Lake Tana to visit its monasteries. We berthed at the small jetty on the Zege Peninsula. We trekked up the hill on a winding path to visit the Azwa Maryam monastery, where a local tour guide demonstrated to us how a stone is struck to signal meal times at a monastery.

Gondar

From Bahir Dar, we traveled by road to Gondar, a city located in the Semien Gondar Zone of the Amhara Region. On the way between Bahir Dar and Gondar, we saw the Rocky outcrop or “God’s finger.” Most rural Ethiopians did not have the chance to go to school. During our 4-hour drive, we barely saw any private vehicles, motorcycles, or bicycles. Most walked, some barefooted, over long distances. Those fortunate cramped into a tuk Tuk (Bajaj), seven of them into one meant for three persons.

Gondar is north of Tana Lake on the Lesser Angereb River and southwest of the Simien Mountains. Gondar served as a strong Christian kingdom for many years. It previously served as the Ethiopian Empire’s capital and still holds the remains of several royal castles, including those in Fasil Ghebbi (the Royal Enclosure). Gondar has been called the “Camelot of Africa.” The Royal Enclosure or Fasil Ghebbi is the remains of a fortress-city founded in the 17th century by Emperor Fasilides (Fasil) and was the home of Ethiopia’s emperors. Its unique architecture shows diverse influences, including Nubian styles, and the site was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

Encapsulated by tall trees a couple of kilometers northwest of the piazza lies the Fasilides Bath. The large rectangular pool overlooked by a charming building was likely to have been constructed for religious celebrations, the likes of which still go on today. It is in a serene spot and peaceful spot where snakelike tree roots encircle sections of the stone walls similar to what I saw at Ta Prohm in Angkor Wat. Although there was no water in the Bath during our visit, I was told that the Bath is filled with water for the Timket celebration (the Orthodox Tewahedo celebration of Epiphany). During “Timket,” the city would be inundated with pilgrims who come to re-enact the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan and take a dip in the holy waters (after being blessed by the bishop) at the historical Fasilides Bath. The ceremony replicates Christ’s baptism in the Jordan River and is seen as an important renewal of faith.

I discovered that exploring Ethiopia is like stepping into the pages of the Old Testament. Ancient religious treasures are abundant. The medieval monuments here – many are UNESCO World Heritage Sites – including the island monasteries of Lake Tana and the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela are some of the world’s finest.

To Lalibela

From Gondar, we flew into the historic town of Lalibela. Early Christian architecture in Ethiopia is reflected in the 11 rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. The complete monolithic church being the Church of. George (Bet Giyorgis) looks like a cross when seen from above. The 11 rock-hewn churches were not constructed from the ground up but chiseled out of the red volcanic rock hills. The churches were built in the 13th century on King Lalibela’s orders as the “New Jerusalem” after Muslim forces overran the Holy City.

The churches were constructed around Ethiopia’s own stretch of the “Jordan River.” Legend has it that the thousands of labourers who toiled on Lalibela’s “New Jerusalem” by day were helped by angels who continued the work by night. Lalibela is understandably a place of pilgrimage.

We ventured further out into the countryside. We hiked up to an altitude of 2800m on the west side of Mount Abuna Yosef mountain to view the cave church of ” Yemrehanna Krestos.” Mural paintings high on the church’s nave walls are considered the oldest surviving mural paintings in Ethiopia.

Aksum or Axum

We arrived at Aksum, a city in northern Ethiopia known for its obelisks, the ancient Kingdom’s relics. Most are still standing in the Northern Stelae Park. The tallest of the monoliths, fallen and broken into six massive pieces, was 33.3 meters tall and weighed an estimated five tons. These obelisks (also called stelae) are known to be the tallest single pieces of stone ever quarried and erected in the ancient world. Their age and use remain a complete mystery. Some coins found at the base of these giant pillars suggest to some scholars that they may have been carved and erected around the beginning of the 4th century AD. The stelae were carved mainly from solid blocks of nepheline syenite, similar in appearance to granite believed to have come from Wuchate Golo’s quarries several miles to the west of Aksum. This group of seven stelae was erected around the same time of tremendous change in Aksumite culture when the Aksum’s court adopted Christianity. It has been suggested that the failure to erect the largest stelae (which evidently cracked and fell into pieces) while being installed might have accelerated the adoption of the new religion of Christianity. In any event case, these stelae were the last to have been dedicated to Aksum.

The Axumite king Ezana was converted to Christianity In 331 AD by the Syrian monk Frumentius. Consequently, the church of St. Mary (perhaps the earliest Christian church in sub-Saharan Africa) is believed to have been built during his reign.  The church was destroyed and has been rebuilt several times since…. Its first putative destruction occurred at the hands of Queen Gudit during the 10th century. Its second confirmed destruction occurred in the 16th century at the hands of Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi. The Emperor Gelawdewos rebuilt it, then further rebuilt and enlarged by Fasilides during the 17th century. The old church remains accessible only to men…

In the 1950s, Emperor Haile Selassie ordered the construction of a new modern Cathedral (Byzantine Revival Architecture -style) that was open to both men and women next to Our Lady Mary’s old Cathedral Zion. Today we saw women processing and entering the church. I believe and understand (as we seek God in our own way) that here, as they seek God with their whole hearts and souls, will find Him…

Nearby is the Chapel of the Tablet adjacent to the old church, which is believed to contain the Ark of The Covenant. According to tradition, the Ark came to Ethiopia with Menelik I (the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba) after he visited his father, King Solomon. It became clear to me that this veneration of the church was born from a belief that God has chosen this site as the Ark of the Covenant’s final resting place. The Ark of the Covenant still plays a central role in the Christians’ consciousness and belief that dominates the Ethiopian population. This is a society with profound Christian spirituality where worship is woven into nearly every aspect of life. Many of the Christians we came across were fasting…Fasting, prayers chanting, and daily celebrations (which we could hear from wherever we stayed) were vivid expressions of their spirituality that built these communities of faith. They have preserved a strong sense of history and tradition. Through their tradition, spirituality, rich liturgy, and mystical theology, I believe that they can make a unique contribution to Christianity as a whole.

Ethiopia was introduced to the Christian faith by the Ethiopian eunuch, who was baptized by the apostle Philip. He was the first Ethiopian converted in Jerusalem: “And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship.” – Acts 8:27-39 (KJV). Ethiopia was further Christianized in the 4 AD by two men, most likely brothers from Tyre (now in Lebanon). Frumentius and Christianity baptized the Aksumite King Ezana were then made the state religion.

To Tiya and Adadi Maryam

After returning to Addis Ababa from Aksum, we had a couple of days to spare before our flight home to Vancouver. Somehow, I had a feeling that our journey to this intriguing country would not be complete without a visit to the south. Tiya is located in the Soddo Region of Ethiopia, south of Addis Ababa. We had the opportunity to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site, remarkable for its stelae engraved with enigmatic symbols, notably swords. The archeological site was designated a World Heritage Site in 1980. Archaeologists appeared to have abandoned the research at Tiya as there are several difficulties in understanding these types of sites from an archaeological standpoint. I was informed that it is difficult to determine the megalith builders’ identity, and reconstructing ethnic histories through oral historical accounts are unavailable or uninformative. It makes me wonder whether this has anything to do with Queen Gudit, the non-Christian queen (Ref: Gudit Stelae Field, Axum) who laid waste to Axum and its countryside, destroyed churches and monuments, and attempted to exterminate the members of the ruling dynasty of the Kingdom of Aksum.

We proceeded to the Adadi Maryam Church, which King Lalibela had commissioned the construction during his visit to the southern region of Shewa. The church Adadi Mariam is a rock-hewn monolithic church (similar to those in Lalibela though less grand) located approximately 66 km southwest of Addis Ababa. This rock-hewn church is an old sanctuary in the building tradition of the northern part of Ethiopia and marked Christianity in the southern part of the country. Both man-made and natural causes have damaged the church over time. Restoration work to strengthen and restore the church has been done recently with the aid of Switzerland.

On our way back from Tiya to Addis Ababa, we came across hundreds of people near an orthodox church, and our guide indicated to us that they were probably attending a funeral. Funerals are a big affair in Ethiopia, which follow strict religious customs. I learned that after the funeral, there’s a procession and gathering at the burial location, usually near a church or cemetery. Rather than being a small ceremony for close family, an Ethiopian funeral is typically a large, community-wide event. As many as 1,000 people at the funeral probably accounted for the multitude of people we saw.

Peace and Hope

Ethiopia and Eritrea, two of the world’s poorest countries, spent hundreds of millions of dollars on the war between 1998-2000 and suffered tens of thousands of casualties as a direct consequence of the conflict. Eritrea broke international law and triggered the war by invading Ethiopia – a ruling by an international commission in The Hague. A Peace Agreement was finally signed on July 9, 2018, the year before our visit. Ethiopia (despite being one of the fastest-growing economies) in terms of GDP per capita still at the time of our visit scores among the lowest in the World. However, according to the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) Economic Outlook for Africa, Ethiopia’s economy is forecast to grow 8.5% this Ethiopian fiscal year, which ends on 7th July 2019. The International Monetary Fund has praised Ethiopia’s remarkable progress over more than a decade, which has led to a significant reduction in poverty and improved living standards for many Ethiopians.  Although we stay here in relative comfort, it’s humbling to realize how privileged we are as we witness such abject poverty. At the same time, it was pure joy to cross paths with some friendly Ethiopians who are actually interested in why we are here, what we do and our way of life in affluent Canada. Some obviously want to know more about life than the life they know!

Just a thought:

As we waded into the market chaos of the Merkato, west of Addis’ centre it dawned on me that despite the surrounding conditions and poverty, we did not come across any panhandlers or beggars; everyone seemingly was working very hard…God bless them! – “10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. 11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.”- 2 Thessalonians 3:10-12 (KJV). ^“3 But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: ⁴ That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” – Matthew 6:3-4 (KJV).