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Medieval monasteries on Lake Tana, Ethiopia
The Christian communities of Ethiopia have an eye for dramatic settings. From the sweeping views of Debre Libanos to the many monasteries perched atop sheer cliffs, the surroundings of a holy place are often as beautiful as the place itself.It makes sense from a religious point of view. If you're going to spend your life celebrating Creation, where better to do it than a place where Creation is at its most awesome or serene?
This is certainly true of the monasteries and nunneries on the islands of Lake Tana. These religious communities are set in a placid lake surrounded by green hills and fields. At 65 km (40 miles) in diameter it's the largest lake in Ethiopia and has been a center of worship for more than 500 years.
Hiring a boat is pretty straightforward at the lakeside town of Bahir Dar, and our first stop is a peninsula a few miles along the coast where stands the 16th century church of Ura Kidane Mihret. The boat docks at a little pier and my wife and I take a narrow path through a dense forest. Coffee grows everywhere under the shade of the forest canopy. I've never seen coffee growing before. Splitting open one of the red berries I find the bean inside, a pale yellow, sticky thing that bears little resemblance to the roasted beans I'm used to. We drink Ethiopian coffee every morning at home so it's nice to see where it comes from.
We climb a hill and pass though a simple stone gate. In the yard the monks are busy laying the foundation for a new building. All the monks have to work hard, either at farms on the mainland or helping out around the church and monastery. The church itself is deceptively simple on the outside--a large, round building topped by an elaborate cross--but when we pass through the tall wooden doors we're stopped short by brilliantly colorful paintings reaching from floor to ceiling.
Gallery: Medieval monasteries of Ethiopia
The outer wall of the church shelters an inner wall that encloses the worship area and holy of holies. Every inch of this wall is covered in paintings. Some scenes are familiar, like the Crucifixion and St. George defeating the dragon. Others are strange to us, coming from holy books that have been discarded by or lost to the Western tradition, like the Miracle of Mary and the Kebre Negast. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church includes many such books in their canon. The books of Enoch and Jubilees were translated into Ge'ez, the ancient Ethiopian language still used in church services, but were lost to the West and survive in the New Testament only in a few quotations. If it wasn't for ancient Ethiopian translators, these books would be almost entirely unknown.
The paintings are vivid, showing scenes of miracles and worship. Mary is a popular figure and every phase of her flight to Egypt is shown in detail. There's also a brilliant painting of all the souls in Hell being freed after the Crucifixion.
The paintings sometimes take interesting twists to familiar themes. For example, the common image of St. George killing the dragon has a unique legend attached to it in Ethiopia. There once was a village that worshiped the dragon and made human sacrifices to it every day. A maiden named Brutawit was going to be sacrificed and St. George told her that if she believed in God that she would be saved. She was, thanks to George's skill with a lance, and she took the dead beast back to the village to show that God was more powerful than the dragon. The entire village then converted to Christianity.
A short boat ride away is the island monastery of Kibran Gabrael. Like many monasteries, it's off-limits to women so my wife hung out in a shady grove while I went to see the monastery's famous library of medieval manuscripts. The monastery is quiet, most of the monks being on the mainland tending crops, but the librarian is in and he leads me to a little building stuffed with books. As a dedicated bibliophile I've been to some of the great libraries of the world and looked through many rare illuminated manuscripts, but I was very impressed with what I saw on this peaceful little island. The level of artistry in the books is equal to any of the great works of medieval France or Italy, yet completely different in style. The librarian opens up book after book of sturdy goatskin, showing me richly colored paintings of Bible scenes. Each of the Gospels has its own book, and there's a hefty New and Old Testament that weighs in at 17 kilos (38 pounds)! Also in the library are a selection of icons. When a monk goes off on his own to pray in solitude for a few days, the abbot gives him a book to read and an icon to meditate on. Thus the monks get some fine art to admire and think about while they are cut off from the rest of humanity.
Lake Tana has several other monasteries and churches other than the ones I mention here. Some take an entire day trip by boat to visit. Someone seriously interested in seeing them all would need about a week to do it properly. Hopefully some day I'll go back and write about them all here.
Next stop: Gondar--Ethiopia's Camelot!
You can read the rest of the Ethiopia series here.
The paintings are vivid, showing scenes of miracles and worship. Mary is a popular figure and every phase of her flight to Egypt is shown in detail. There's also a brilliant painting of all the souls in Hell being freed after the Crucifixion.
The paintings sometimes take interesting twists to familiar themes. For example, the common image of St. George killing the dragon has a unique legend attached to it in Ethiopia. There once was a village that worshiped the dragon and made human sacrifices to it every day. A maiden named Brutawit was going to be sacrificed and St. George told her that if she believed in God that she would be saved. She was, thanks to George's skill with a lance, and she took the dead beast back to the village to show that God was more powerful than the dragon. The entire village then converted to Christianity.
A short boat ride away is the island monastery of Kibran Gabrael. Like many monasteries, it's off-limits to women so my wife hung out in a shady grove while I went to see the monastery's famous library of medieval manuscripts. The monastery is quiet, most of the monks being on the mainland tending crops, but the librarian is in and he leads me to a little building stuffed with books. As a dedicated bibliophile I've been to some of the great libraries of the world and looked through many rare illuminated manuscripts, but I was very impressed with what I saw on this peaceful little island. The level of artistry in the books is equal to any of the great works of medieval France or Italy, yet completely different in style. The librarian opens up book after book of sturdy goatskin, showing me richly colored paintings of Bible scenes. Each of the Gospels has its own book, and there's a hefty New and Old Testament that weighs in at 17 kilos (38 pounds)! Also in the library are a selection of icons. When a monk goes off on his own to pray in solitude for a few days, the abbot gives him a book to read and an icon to meditate on. Thus the monks get some fine art to admire and think about while they are cut off from the rest of humanity.
Lake Tana has several other monasteries and churches other than the ones I mention here. Some take an entire day trip by boat to visit. Someone seriously interested in seeing them all would need about a week to do it properly. Hopefully some day I'll go back and write about them all here.
Next stop: Gondar--Ethiopia's Camelot!
You can read the rest of the Ethiopia series here.
Filed under: Arts and Culture, History, Learning, Africa, Ethiopia, Budget Travel
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Get Eth Mar 29th 2010 10:22AM
I am from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and I appreciate your narration about the monasteries in Lake Tana.
We sense very well how a bad image we have in the Western world and what others sense when they hear the name Ethiopia. Even if it is a naked reality that Ethiopia is one of the economically scrambling countries for several factors, we have many untold and undiscovered potentials; we have many priceless wealth that the rest of the world is very poor with. Of course one big disease that affects us is the belief ‘modernization is westernization’ especially in the youth and the so called literate. Consequently many such ‘modern and literate generation’ many consider ours as worthless. The other weakness is that of the Ethiopian tourism commission which always promote (even if not enough as others do) on the same already popular heritages. Believe me Sean, there are many sites who can attract millions had we done our assignments. In fact most of our treasures are religious as it is very difficult to separate Ethiopia from Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. I guess that authorities in power feel they are biased and intervening in faith issues to advertise about Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo heritages. If not there should be done a lot as there are plenty which we have been a focus of such issues.
Let me add some of my feelings what you posted. “Others are strange to us, coming from holy books that have been discarded by or lost to the Western tradition, like the Miracle of Mary and the Kebre Negast.” Of course Sean! There are many mysterious books besides the faith that you discover in Ethiopian monasteries. The church has kept many histories of even its enemies. Hope you have heard about Ahmed Geragn and what he has done on the church but his cloth (better say it in ‘kaba’ in Amharic) is still kept as it is the history of the church. There are many books with several fields of area that our fore fathers have left for us. Please Sean why do you think that many famous Western scholars and Universities are that much interested in Geez? (You can check famous USA universities). Why do you think that many Germany scholars are very much sensitive on Geez? Do you think that because they love us? No! Simply that is because they know what it holds with and in fact some tasted it! Many books have been looted and being looted (check ancient Ethiopian books being sold online at eBay). Sadly almost all are the property of the church which are written in Geez. Anyway it is a long stuff but let me tell you something. I am just worried about this issue after I read some literatures and I have talked about this with my friends. The first thing that we argued is to open a face book group called “Ethiopian Treasures” simply to say please return ours and stop looting. I am not sure though how far that will take us.
Sean, I have a mixed emotion read the following quote from you. It says “As a dedicated bibliophile I've been to some of the great libraries of the world and looked through many rare illuminated manuscripts, but I was very impressed with what I saw on this peaceful little island. The level of artistry in the books is equal to any of the great works of medieval France or Italy, yet completely different in style.”
First I am delighted with your appreciation and weighting of a class for manuscripts but then I am a bit lowered and disappointed how many museums should have to be built to keep such kind of priceless items. What do you feel if I confirm you that there are many such items which are kept still in the hands of innocent individuals for long? But these days some have changed their typical Ethiopian character and identity and that is why they have been sold in day light.
I fear this not too long (probably more than your article) and boring but I have one hope: you are a dedicated bibliophile.
Take care.