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Welcome
to my Ethiopian Picture Gallery
 During
my travels in Ethiopia I have visited some remarkable sites, learned of
the rich history, and met some remarkable people. I will share with you
some pictures from my personal memory books. I will focus mainly on the
historical sites, and give a brief explanation of the history. The history
of these sites spans centuries, so I can only give you a small sample
of whatever I've been fortunate enough to learn. Hopefully you'll find
this an intriguing place, worthy of further investigation. The above picture
was taken in my living room.
This
webpage's background image is actually a picture found on the ceiling
in a church in Gondar. I think the impression is to convey the thought
that angels are always watching you from above. If you're interested in
view it closer, click here.
Although it
may take a few minutes,please allow the entire page to load. If a picture
fails to load, right click on the image location and select "show
picture" with the left click.
For a full-view please
click on the images to open a new browser window.
Axum--Home
to Queen of Sheba
 Home
to the Queen of Sheba (aka Makeda), this Empire precedes the Common Era,
and is estimated to be some 3,000 years old. The most prominent feature
of the Axum landscape are the remarkable Obelisks, or Stellae. Also in
Axum you will find the ruins of Queen Makeda's Palace, also called Taakha
Maryam. Inside the Palace you will still see a kitchen, bathing areas,
throne room, and an intact stone floor. I have some pictures, but I'll
not display them at this time just because you would really be more impressed
from the personal visit. The Queen Makeda also built what is believed
to be the world's first public bath in Axum, as she was known to have
an affinity for bathing. The Axumites were remarkably skilled in stone-crafting,
as these large monuments are carved from a single granite stone. The methods
are still a mystery, but they are believed to still be the tallest single-stone
free-standing momuments in the world. This stellae to the left is one
of  the
most ancient symbols of the Axumite Empire. This particular stellae stands
23 meters (about 74 feet) tall. You can observe the scale in the second
picture with standing directly in front of the monument. A taller stellae
taken from Ethiopia in the 1930's stands in Rome, I think standing 34
meters in height, and is due to be returned to Ethiopia in the near future.
Notice the elaborate carvings along the outer surface called "false-doors,"
and the pattern changes for each monolith. These are truly remarkable
monuments. The tallest of all stellae is lying in 4 pieces after a collapse
during an earthquake. That stellae measures a remarkable 106 feet tall,
and all from a single granite stone.
 Also
in Axum you will find St. Mary of Zion Church, which is believed to house
the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is believed to have been brought from
King Solomon's Palace by his son Menelik I, son to King Solomon and Queen
of Sheba. The Ark is accompanied day and night by a single priest, who's
life mission is to guard it for the rest of his life. Only he is allowed
to see the Ark, and when near death only he can choose his successor.
Behind the walls of this beautiful church lies one of life's biggest riddles.
If the Ark is truly inside, then Indiana Jones was really confused. The
current structure was built in 1965, but the Ark is believed to be housed
underground beneath the Church.
Lalibela--Home
to the Rock-Hewn Churches
Lalibela is also located in the northern part of Ethiopia.
The city is famous for 12 rock-hewn churches built in the 12th century.
Most churches were excavated from volcanic rock, and serve as places of
worship to this very day. The Ethiopian Christmas is Jan. 7, and one of
the holiest days of the year, tens of thousands of Christians make the
pilgrimage to these churches. The church to the left is called the Church
of St. George. It has a very pronounced cross shape, which goes from top
to bottom. The church was dug out of the ground some 43 feet down, and
is one of the most remarkable sites you will ever witness. I think the
Churches are one of the Wonders of theWorld, but I'm not exactly
sure of the exact designation. From my picture you can judge the scale
of these massive churches. It is still a mystery how they were able to
excavate the earth into such intricate designs. 
Inside the churches
are the most remarkable wall paintings. They are 5 or 6 centuries old,
but they are still vibrant. In the older days, most art was usually restricted
to Christianity. Therefore you will find the very oldest artwork (i.e.,
paintings, sculpture, crosses, etc..)
from this time period in Ethiopia depicting religious themes. 
To the left you will
see a Lalibela Priest, displaying one of the crosses in the Lalibela-style.
Oh and the priests are very cool.
Gondar--Home
of the Castles of Ethiopia
Gondar is home of the famous castles, built in Europe's
style. Inspired by Spanish and Portugese architecture, King Fasil began
construction of these magnificent structures originating from the 17th
century. These Castles are clusted onto a campus-style area of the city,
called Fasilidas, and serves as home to a dozen castles. Other castles
were built on the campus by each of the successive kings.
Another prominent
site you will find in Gondar is this famous church built
by King Fasil. As you can see, the church can be surrounded by water creating
a "bath" used once per year. The bath can be filled and filled
by a sophisticated system to quickly add and remove the water. During
Timkat, one of
the holiest days of the Ethiopian calendar, the
water is blessed, and people make the pilgrimage from all over the world
to bath and receive blessings for the coming year. I'm hoping to be able
to attend this festival soon, as it is truly remarkable.
On a personal note,
my hotel in Gondar boasts one of the most
spectacular views
of the city, and is known to have the most beautiful sunsets. The picture
to the left was taken from the hotel, an illustrates my point perfectly.
It wasn't easy to get this shot.
Bahir Dar--Birthplace
of the Nile River
 The
Nile River is made up from two rivers downstream, the White Nile River
in the Sudan, and the Blue Nile River in Ethiopia. The Blue Nile River
originates in spectacular fashion leaving NW Ethiopia's Lake Tana, and
falling some 145 feet over the Tississat Falls. Lake
Tana is also home to some of the countries most sacred monasteries accessible
only by boat. Each island is filled with centuries old churches, adorned
with priceless Christian artifacts. It is rumored that even the Ark of
the Covenant was moved to them as protection from religious upheaval of
one ruler. Empress Yodit is said to have been vigorously destroying Chrisitianity
in the country in favor of Judaism. For this reason some of these monasteries
are still off limits to women.
Tississat literally
means 'smoke of fire' and it is one of the remarkable natural wonders
you will ever see.  The
Blue Nile flows north and joins the White Nile to form the famous Nile
River in Egypt.
There are also
children entrepreneurs who make their living selling soft drinks to visitors.
They were shrewd  business
people, who finally prevailed upon me to buy some of their offerings.
These kids followed me from the top of the Falls down the path to the
bottom, and that's where they made their sales pitch. I am pleased to
say I bought them something to reward them for their persistence. The
picture of my companions is to the left.
Simien Mountains--The
Rooftop of Africa
The Simien Mountains are located in the northwestern section
of Ethiopia. Home to some of the world's most endangered species, several
species can be found only here. I was able to see some of them, the Gelada
Baboon (aka Bleeding Heart Baboon), and the Wahlia Ibex. I was not able
to see the illusive Simien Fox, which is also only found here.  The
left is a picture of a herd of Gelada Baboons. They are completely at
home on the cliffs of the mountains and use them as protection at night,
but move to grazing pastures during the day. You could walk right up to
them, but then they'd walk away. They are one of the few species of herbivorous
baboons, but they still had some pretty big teeth. So even though they
came to the camp, it was best to keep a distance.
I climbed the mountain
to the tallest point called Ras Dashen, standing 4620 meters (~15,500
feet) above sea level. Ras Dashen is the tallest point in Ethiopia, and
the 4th tallest peak in all of Africa. Hiking for 8 days, I could see
the most remarkable natural beauty. My trip there was just after the rainy
season ( Winter), and everything was so lush and colorful. Words cannot
describe the spectacular the views of the green mountains, flower-colored
valleys, and blue sky.
While the trekking was hard, the views more than made up for any inconvience
caused by the thin air. Oh, did I mention it was just after Winter? So
it was also pretty cold there, both day and especially night. The guide
was excellent, and we could see some incredible views of the mountain
range.
Langano, Awasa,
and Points South
The landscape south of Addis Ababa is very different from
the north. Found in the famous Rift Valley, traveling south means also
traveling closer to sea level. Addis Ababa is located in the center of
the country. More than 9,600 feet above sea level, the Addis air is thin
and almost no humidity. Traveling through the Rift Valley, you can immediately
feel the humidity gradually increasing as you move further from Addis.
Each ethnic group in Ethiopia has it's own unique design of house, and
most generally have the shape of the one seen to the left. Some are bigger
and others smaller, some made of the same type of material and others
different, but a basic design feature is the shape. In fact, this shape
is seen in all parts of the country, not just the south. You can also
see the very first image at the top and pay particular attention to the
houses. It's a village scene that I've seen all over the country as well.
 Let
me introduce you to the Bonnie and Baby Team. Look closely at her chest
and you will see the little one clinging to mother. They were photographed
just outside my hotel room in Awasa. Bonnie is there begging for food,
and is bold enough to come all the way to the door of the room. You can
see she's playing on your sympathies by using the Baby. This proves that
animals are more than capable of using tools, as she's very effectively
lobbying for food.
This
concludes my pictoral of Ethiopian sites. This is by no means all of the
country that I've seen and not my only pictures. I have dozens of very
nice pictures, but the Internet is only so big. *smile* I mainly tried
to focus on the sites and not people, so most of the attention was paid
to the northern attractions. When you go south, you're mainly looking
at people and not sites. Hope you enjoyed sharing my experience.
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