To see Ethiopia is a privilege and a fast track lesson in the history of humanity and the world. Do you know about the Axumite Empire; well it turns out not many people do. I will do my best to explain, this is all new to me.
So the Axumites were at their peak between the 1st and 7th century AD, apparently they were trading with the Indians, the Persians and Rome using the Red Sea as their trade route. They were quite a sophisticated bunch, I saw with my very own eyes, the minted gold, silver and bronze coins they used as their currency. Through trade, they were exposed to Christianity and lo and behold they decided to give it a chance. They liked it so much that the King converted to Orthodox Christianity and made it his mission to learn the word.
The nobles liked to differentiate themselves from the masses; and how else can you show your greatness but in death. They had the most elaborate and imposing obelisk carved out of a single mountain rock to mark their tombs. In keeping with protocol, the peasants had pretty rough little ones.
As beautiful as the obelisk were, their new found religion demanded that all Christians get buried on church grounds and so the work began. Ethiopia has mountains abound and why bother starting from scratch when you can just carve your church from the mountain. These rock hewn churches are truly remarkable and show what a sophisticated place Ethiopia was and still is.
To today, Orthodox Christianity thrives; it is impossible to visit Tigrary or Lalibella and not be moved. My clubbing days are long gone so going to an all night mass seemed like the right thing to do; obviously after a bit of traditional folk music and tej (honey wine).
At weekends, all the bishops and high priests and priestesses get together to pray, chant and just show their devotion. All are welcome, it really is about love.
I leave feeling quite intoxicated and wondering why the world does not know more about this great nation.
We really do live in a one dimensional world.