On to Adwa

The world according to Dennis:
Adwa marks the final battle that caused Italy to leave Ethiopia in 1896. Adwa is close to the border with Eritrea and at one point we were within 15 miles of it. We spent the night at the home of Rick and Elsa Stoner.  Cindy will elaborate, a wonderful, wonderful couple. In about a week and a half, we hope to meet Elsa and Rick again in Addis Ababa prior to leaving Ethiopia for Germany.

Cindy’s note:
Rick and Elsa welcomed us as though they had known us for years. Rick and I share a friendship with Carl Dean, Roger and Susan Whitaker. The four of them were all in the Peace Corps group that stated in 1968 so Carl, Susan, Roger, Lynne, and I taught together in Woldia. And now at this time, Carl put me in touch with Roger who put me in touch with Rick who recommended Cheru. Much like in the nursery rhyme, “This is the house that Jack built.”  And so this is the trip that friends built and I am very thankful.

We arrived at their home and were captivated by the beauty of the house and the design of the Cultural Center and the beautiful bridge that they built to help the community. What an amazing couple. I am always surprised by people who can focus and put one foot in front of the other to get a job done. Rick is originally from Columbus, Indiana and after the Peace Corps worked at Cumins until his retirement when he was involved with Save the Children in Africa. All along the way he worked on projects for the Peace Corps, especially in training. Elsa has worked on various projects both in the USA and in Ethiopia, the latest being the restoration of the family home and the plans for the Cultural Center. We were saved a lot of trouble by following thier advice.

The Cultural Center

Axsum, home town of the Queen of Sheba

The road to Axsum is through the Simien Highlands and is breathtaking.  On the way we had a picnic and stopped for coffee.  Driving through this land is definitely the way to go.

There are so many legends and stories originating from this astonishing place that I know I won’t be able to keep everything straight. Axsum was the center of one of the most powerful kingdoms from the 1st to the 7th centuries AD. Axsumites converted to Christianity in the 4th century.  The birth place of the Queen of Sheba who’s first son, Menelik was fathered by King Solomon. The story of the courtship (if you can call it that) is fascinating too. Menelik became the first in the Solomonic line of Emperors which ended with Haile Selassie.

The Sheba Scroll tells the story of Sheba’s visit to King Solomon in Jerusalem.  He was taken by her beauty and filled with desire. He told her she could have anything in his kingdom except for water. He held a huge banquet for her, mostly made up of very salty foods.  Get the picture? In her bedroom he had a servant place a pitcher of water and a goblet. If she drank from this, he could have his way with her, nasty bit of manipulation, right? Of course there were guards about to keep an eye on her and guess what happened nine months later? Menelik I!

We caught our first glimpse of the field of obelisks by walking from the center of town to the ruins of the ancient city. The stelae are giant tombstones. Some are believed to have been used in ancient forms of pagan sun worship.

The world According to Dennis:
The obelisks are over 1,700 years old. One was recently (2005) returned from Italy and re-erected in it’s original location. In 1937 Mussolini had one of the largest stelae cut into three pieces and shipped by boat back to Rome after conquering Eritrea and Ethiopia. Those damned Italians have been trying to conquer the world for thousands of years and were everywhere (sorry, Dominic?! ;-).

A note from Cindy: The obelisk was displayed near the Circus Maximus and Lynne and I went to see it in 1969. Our pensione landlady said she had never that request before.  We had to go to an office of tourism to find the location.

Back to Dennis’s World: Mussolini missed the Ark of The Covenant (original tablets given to Moses by God) though as they are kept safely in the St. Mary of Zion church compound in Axsum. No one can see them and they are guarded by a priest who can never leave the church. Benito snatched a 200 ton obelisk and missed two small tablets? How did the tablets get from Jerusalem to Axsum? Short history lesson— Menelik I visited his father in Jerusalem. Solomon gave the tablets to his son to promote the spread of Judaism in Africa.  This all happened around 900 BC.  Today, 3000 years later, Ethiopia is 75% Coptic Christian.   What would I have to do to affect civilization 3000 years from now?

The Camelot of Africa

In the 17th century, Gondar served as the capital of Ethiopia under the emperor Fasilades. Within this walled area there are crenallated castles, palaces, and churches. This royal city is credited to both an Ethiopian architect and to the influence of Portuguese architects.  The alliance between Portugal and Ethiopia is a study unto itself and as I am not a researcher, I leave it to you to discover more. (Nice cop out, right?) The remains of Fasilades’s city is both romantic and fascinating. Come and see for yourself!

I have tried to add captions and to switch the order of the photos so that the sunset is last but it is not possible, so please imagine.  The angels are my favorite of any that I have ever seen painted. The young lady with the coffee is making the coffee ceremony and the four of us sitting together are having barley tea after we visited the church. Gondar is a unique experience. The history here is so much older than anything we can imagine.

The Source of the Nile

Morning finds us on a boat pulling away from the dock in Lake Tana in order to visit an couple of island monasteries. . The Blue Nile begins in Lake Tana and flows for 875 miles to Khartoum where it joins the White NIle to form the Nile.  About 90% of the Nile water originates in Ethiopia.

The first island we visited was to a nunnery as in, “get thee to...” And it was here that we learned the basics of religious art in Ethiopia—big beautiful dark eyes in a full face equals a believer, a profile with one eye equals a nonbeliever; the holy trinity looks like (to us) three old men with white beards. St George can be found in many many churches through the country too. I love the art work, the details in the paintings, the simplicity of the stories.  The paintings are gorgeous and the older ones have been painted with true devotion. Over 50 years ago Dale Musolf recommended that I request Ethiopia for my Peace Corps experience becasue of the art work found here.

Next we motored into the junction of the White and Blue Nile and viola! Hippos, birds of all kinds and some kind of  a huge reptile very similar to a Gila Monster.  We ate it up! Oh’s and ah’s all over the place.

After another visit to another island monastery and we were off to Gondar, a drive that took the rest of the day. A day filled with gorgeous natural beauty and a slightly scary truck ride due to the steep drop-offs and to sharing the road with the usual suspects. The inclines were posted as 10% grades without any runaway truck ramps.  In the USA they are usually 4-6%. Yahoo!

On we go to Gondar...