Saturday, January 28, 2006
The Birthplace of Christianity at Axum
Allegedly Axum (or Aksum) is the birthplace of Christianity and the Ark of the Covenant is held there in the inner sanctum of one of the churches. We did not go to Axum (very close to one of the borders we were advised to keep well away from). We did however experience the Ethiopian Orthodox or Coptic Christianity throughout our trip. We visited churches at Lake Tana, Gondar and Lalibela (see below), and sighted them in almost every village we passed through. Many of the churches are circular buildings built of reeds with a thatched roof. There are generally 3 areas within the church, the innermost sanctum only being open to the orthodox priests. The walls inside many of the churches are painted with murals depicting the Ethiopian version of the gospels. My favourite picture was one at Azwa Mariam monastery on Lake Tana which depicted a cannibal (along with pictures of decapitated feet and heads) who went to heaven because he helped a stranger who asked for his help “in the name of Mary”. Because he had done something in the name of Mary, he was forgiven. Also St George defeating the dragon was depicted in almost every church we visited.
// posted by rachelle @ 4:16 PM 
