Lalibela, Ethiopia's 8th wonder
Written by Robert WilsonLast updated 2005-05-29 04:04:30
The last leg of my trip took me to Lalibela, which can not be considered anything but the 8th wonder of the world, a place which forces you to think that one of the seven will have to be dropped from the list to make way it. It?s heyday came after the fall of Axum, so despite the fact that it was the last leg of my trip, I?m posting it just after my travel log about Axum.
Like Axum, the town of Lalibela gives no hint that it has ever been anything but a small rural town. Ah, but all around the town are great cathedrals that were never built and tower exactly zero feet above the ground. No, they were never built, they were mined. Lalibela rests on a high plateau where the bedrock is over 100 meters thick. The churches of Lalibela were hewn out of solid bedrock and are freestanding, only the base touches the surrounding rock. They are connected by tunnels also carved from solid rock. So, how recently did humans possess the technology to carve huge buildings (one is 60 feet from the roof to the base) out of solid rock? Ten years ago? Twenty? Try 800. They were all built during the Zagwe dynasty which ruled from 1150 to 1270. How you ask? No one knows. The Zagwe dynasty did not keep historical records and no visitors were ever known to leave any notes behind. All we have are a few legends, some of which may have been created after the Zagwe dynasty to explain these inexplicable wonders.
Legend has it that Emperor Lalibela was born in the town, then called Roha, at a time when there was conflict over succession to the throne. After he was born a swarm of bees surrounded him but did not sting. Seeing this, his mother named him "Lalibela," meaning "The bees recognize his sovrenity." When he was a young prince, the emperor, who was a pretender, poisoned him. But the poison only killed him for three days (sound familiar?) During that three day period he was taken to Heaven by the angels where God told him to build churches the like of which had never been seen before. When he returned the miracle of his resurrection was taken as an omen and he became emperor without struggle. He then hired masons and carpenters, and gave them the detailed instructions that God had given him. As they worked they were joined by Angles who continued the work at night.
The Solomonic dynasty, that is to say the kings who were believed to be descendents of king Soloman of Jueda, was ousted by a pretender to the throne who founded the Zagwe dynasty. The Zagwe dynasty is seen as something of an embarrassment by Ethiopians, a break in their proud tradition of kings descended from Solomon. Yet the Zagwe kings were able to reunite and strengthen the kingdom. They also left behind the great rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray. Regrettably, they left behind no recorded history. What we do know is that the Zagwe dynasty brought about unity, prosperity and stability to Ethiopia. How they did that is a mystery.
The Ethiopians believe that the descendents of the Solomonic kings had been living in hiding in the far west and made several attempts to regain the throne. Whether or not this is true, the last kings of the Zagwe dynasty were said to be very pious and ignored the military in favor of religious activities. In 1270 the last Zagwe king was defeated and the Solomonic dynasty was restored.
After hiring a guide, we went off to visit the churches. The first was Bet Medhane Alem. It measures 111 feet by 78 feet, all carved out of solid rock. There is also a large area carved around it for people to gather. Around the outside were carved 36 columns with 36 inside (most have been restored) which makes it feel like a Greek temple. It's about 20 feet high and has an impressive 
vaulted roof. At this church, as in all the others, the priest would go to the Holy of Holies and bring out various treasures. One was an 800-year old cross that Emperor Lalibela is said to have held himself. It is very sacred to the Ethiopians who were horrified when it was stolen in 1997. Miraculously, a customs agent in Belgium spotted it is someone's luggage a couple of years later and it was returned. The Ethiopians consider it a miracle. The church is very impressive for it's size and the amount of space inside. Have you ever stood in a cathedral or a huge building with a high roof and vast amounts of space? Okay, try to imagine it, then try to imagine that all that space was carved out of solid rock! Then try to imagine dozens of such buildings and you'll understand why it belongs on the list of man-made wonders.
The next church we went to was the most famous, the church of St. George. It is shaped like a cross and is 60 feet deep (not tall, deep.) It is reached by walking through a tunnel. Once inside I smelled something that was more intoxicating than anything the Rastafarians smoke. There was a religious service going on inside and large amounts of Ethiopian frankincense were burning. Given the size of the building, though, it wasn't overwhelming. At the service there were several lay people and a couple of priests holding wooden crosses, reading from a bible placed on a stand several feet off the ground and breaking into chants. I could try to describe the other churches but there would really be no point. If I haven't given an idea of the splendor of the place by now, and an idea is all I can hope to give, then more words would not help any. In addition to Lalibela, there are over 120 churches carved into cliff faces in Tigray provence.
The day I left Lalibela there was a service for St. George. It was held at a rock-hewn church just outside the town. The lay people always dress in their whitest clothing for a saint's day. In the early morning light they looked like ghosts making their way to the church. When they reached the church they bowed to the ground. I went with some Americans and a Brit I had met the previous day. We stayed a while, listening to the rhythmic chants of Ethiopian church music. Every so often, at regular intervals, the people would hum for a moment and bow slightly. At one point the crowd began singing and over the course of the next few minutes became more and more energetic. Eventually the priests took over with their chants again.
That morning I was reminded of why I don't mind traveling in some of the poorest places on Earth. Ethiopia at the time was one of the 10 poorest countrys in the world, and Laos and Cambodia (which I?d visited earlier that year) were also among the 10 poorest. It's easy, and often startling, to see what people don't have in such places. But it's just as surprising to see what makes people happy under such conditions as well. I'm not romanticizing and I wouldn't dream of saying that life for Ethiopians is no more difficult than life for us. That would be insane. But neither are their lives necessarily as hard nor without reward as one might expect if yearly income, GDP, or any other simple measure of wealth determined the level of happiness enjoyed by the people. On that morning the people of Lalibela were filled with something money can't buy. They held their arms out as they absorbed the chants, they sang with amazing enthusiasm, and by the end of the service they some were brought to tears. They can also look at that rock-hewn church and wonder, undoubtly with utmost pride, how their ancestors built such a marvel, and they can beam with pride as they show their deep and lovely culture to wide-eyed tourists. Life in one of the world's poorest countrys is not easy, and harder for some that others, but it has rewards that strike a deeper cord in the heart's of it people that any cell phone or sports car ever could.
