Climbing to Salvation

Saturday was my one day off, so myself and two other consultants (an Irishman, a Brit and an American – I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere) rented a car, a driver, and a guide and headed off into the middle of nowhere to go explore some ancient churches that were carved directly out of the sides of mountains. The scenery on the drive was spectacular and I was amazed to find myself in an area that looked just like the Arizona desert. If it weren’t for the small cottages constructed of stone, I might have forgotten where I was.

We opted to go to two churches that were considered to be less difficult to get to. Now keep in mind that Mekele is 2,000 meters above sea level and the two churches we visited were at the top of (at least) a 1000 ft high pinnacle, which we had to scale up. I definitely got my exercise for the day. In some places, we were literally climbing up sheer cliff faces using toe holds. The Brit panicked at the sheer drop and went back down, but two of us made it to the top and it was well worth the climb. Not only were the views out of this world, but the churches themselves were spectacular.

It is believed that the churches were built in the 9th to the 15th centuries (up to 1200 hundred years ago) and that they were built in such remote locations to preserve their existence. Ethiopia went through a period of Christian-Muslim wars that resulted in the burning of many churches. Other than that, there is not a lot known about their history, but some historians believe that the Templars were involved in their construction. The religious history of Ethiopia is truly fascinating as this all ties into the Ethiopian claim that they have the original arc of the covenant (the box that housed the original tablets inscribed with the ten commandments that Moses brought down from the mount – see Raiders of the Lost Arc if you want more info!) They believe that the Arc is kept in a specific church in Axum and there is only priest who is allowed to see it and touch it. On his death bed, he names the priest who is to take over his role. If you ever tell an Ethiopian that you heard they believe that they have the arc, they will be completely offended and dumbfounded and simply tell you it is true (and wander why you question it).