Some Ethiopian History

While I have been posting some about the needs in Ethiopia, I wanted to also post about the incredible richness in the country as well. Ethiopia has a history and a richness about it that goes practically unrivaled. Here is some of that richness that Ethiopia has to offer:

Imagine living somewhere that the history dates back over 3000 years. The Kingdom of Axum is where it is thought that the Queen of Sheba came from who visited King Solomon.
Along with that history comes a rich Judeo-Christian heritage, too. There are Jews living in Ethiopia whom it is thought can trace their lineage back to the Tribe of Dan. At some point in time they chose to move south into Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church traces its beginnings back to the 10th Century BC when The Queen of Sheba met Solomon. There are even claims that the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in a rock Ethiopian Orthodox church in Northern Ethiopia.

Along the way there also has been incredible architecture. There are the Axum obelisks which were constructed in the 4th Century AD. There is a lot of speculation as to what they were for, however the design, architecture and sheer number of them is astounding. The largest obelisk which is still standing 1700 years later is almost 80 feet tall.

There also are the Churches of Lalibela that were cut out of rock in the 13th Century. They look absolutely amazing. I can't imagine taking a huge hill of rock and carving out both the outside and the inside of

a church. History says that they were constructed during Lalibela's reign. He wanted to build a new Jerusalem, since Jerusalem was under Muslim rule by this point in time.

And, there are the castles of Gondar. While they sound almost Tolkeinesque, they also look that way. These castles were built in the 17th century. At one point in time the rulers within Ethiopia lived in tents and were fairly mobile, however as time went on they started to set

tle into towns. In the 1600s, Emperor Fasilides established Gondar as a market town. It would eventually become the capital of Ethiopia. What is most notable are the beautiful castles that were built in Gondar.

This richness gets mixed in with the simplicity of the rural agricultural areas and the more westernized Addis Ababa to show a very rich and diverse Ethiopia.