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A Journey to Ethiopia/Tigrai after 14 years (December 2, 2007 – January 4, 2008)
It was my first time back in Ethiopia after leaving Ethiopia on 12 January 1994. It was a great opportunities to visit relatives, friends whom I haven’t seen for the last 14 years. Returning to Ethiopia for the first-time was a pretty special and unforgettable memory. More ...

Tigrai: - is the northernmost region of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. At the heart of the Horn of Africa, it is bounded to the north by Eritrea, to the west by the Sudan and to the east and south by the Afar and Amhara Regions of Ethiopia. Tigrai covers a little more than 80,000 square kilometers, most of which are highlands between 1500 and 2000 meters above sea level. In eastern, southern and northeastern areas, mountains reach above 3500 meters. Toward the west and northwest, the land slopes downwards to the dry lowlands of Sudan's Savannah belt.

A June 1999 forecast puts the population of Tigrai at 3,532,546. The ratio of males to females is approximately 50:50. Most of the population is concentrated in the highlands. The lowlands are more sparsely populated due to the prevalence of endemic and epidemic diseases such as malaria. With a population of 125,000, the capital of the Emperor Yohannes IV (1871-1889), Mekelle is the Capital and the main town of Tigray. The Emperor's palace has been turned into a particularly interesting museum, with many exhibits of his time and subsequent history. The town is also well known as a transit point for the camel caravans bringing salt up from the arid lands of the Dankal Depression. This makes the market place a particularly interesting place to visit. Interpid visitors can also make excursions into the Danakil to visit some of the Afar nomads that treck across the region.

Historically, Tigrai was where Ethiopian civilization had its origins. The Axumite Kingdom, one of the powerful civilizations of the ancient world, was centered there from at least 400BC to the 10th century AD. Spreading far beyond modern Tigrai, it molded the earliest culture of Ethiopia and left many historical treasures: towering finely carved stelae, the remains of extensive palaces, and the ancient places of worship still vibrant with culture and pageantry.

It is believed that through Axum, Judaism, Christianity and Islam all were first came peacefully to Ethiopia. In the early years, Christianity spread from Axum through hidden monasteries; over 200 beautifully carved churches in secluded rock cliffs are found in Tigria alone, and more can be visited outside of Tigrai, including those Lalibela. The Prophet Mohammed sent early Muslims to Axum for refuge. And in an Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Axum, the original Ark of the Covenant is believed to rest safely even today.

Tigrai's geographical position also gave it a unique place in history. Italy, Egypt and the Sudanese Dervish all tried to colonize the land, but each was soundly defeated. At Dogaali, Quatit and Metema, Emperor Yohannes and his great general (Ras),Alula Abba Negga, repulsed the invaders and held the country together. The famous battle of Adwa, where in 1896 the Ethiopian people under the leadership of Emperor Menelik II defeated the Italians, was dramatically influenced by its location in the rugged highlands of Tigrai.

Culture and Tourism in Tigrai - Ethiopia

Axum, the site of Ethiopia's most ancient city, today slumbers on blissfully unaware of its glorious past. The small town's 16th-century Cathedral of St. Mary of Zion is built on the site of a much older church dating from the 4th century AD. Only a platform and the wide stone steps remain from the earlier structure.

The cathedral is a repository for crowns belonging to some of Ethiopia's former emperors. According to legend, it also houses the original Ark of the Covenant - thus making St. Mary's the holiest sanctuary in Ethiopia. The most striking relics of Axum, however, are its obelisks or steles. They are made from single blocks of granite carved to represent multistorey buildings.

The tallest, now fallen, once stood more than 33 meters high and numbered 13 storeys. The highest obelisk still standing is 10 storeys and 23 meters tall. The carving is deep and precise, showing the beams for each floor and windows. Other local historical sites include the graves of King Kaleb and King Gabre Meskel, the Bath of the Queen of Sheba, and the ruins of the vast Royal Palace over which, unfortunately, the road to Gonder now passes. The marketplace has a variety of interesting curios and ancient coins.

The past also comes alive in Ethiopia in the form of strange and beautiful monuments and ruins, built long centuries ago, which have been preserved intact into modern times. At Axum you will see 2000 year old stele carved out of single pieces of granite, weighing hundreds of tons and standing more than 70 feet tall. They are part of a tradition of monolithic art that is also represented elsewhere in Ethiopia - Lalibela, for Example, where 11 complete churches were Kewn out of solid bedrock almost eight hundred years ago. These incredible edifices, redolent of the lost wisdom of the ancients, remain places of living worship to this day. In Gonder you will see fairytale castles dating back to the 17th century that seem to belong in an Arthurian romance. And in Harar you will lose yourself in an Arabian-nights fantasy of narrow alleyways, and towering minarets, of incense and intrigue. 
But an ancient history and rich traditions are only a few of the many blessings that have been heaped on Ethiopia. This, too, is a land of astonishing natural beauty offering an almost unbelievable varies of landscapes: Afro-Alpine highlands soaring to around 14,000 feet; below sea-level deserts sprinkled with salt flats and yellow sulphur; astonishing lake lands where rare and beautiful bird species brighten the sky; moors and mountains; the splendour of the Great Rift Valley; white water rivers; savannahs teeming with game; giant waterfalls; dense and luxurious jungle --- the list is endless.

Tigrai the open-air Museum

The Denakil Depression is one of the most unpleasant environments on the planet. The scorching sun makes any journey to the depression, more than 100m below sea level, very difficult, if not impossible. Many Tigrean highlanders along their camel, mule and donkey caravans, however, travel for weeks to the depression (locally known as "Arho or Regged") in the off-farm season to mine bars of salt to sell for extra earnings. Traditionally, the "Arhottai" (the one who makes journey to Arho) feeds himself by baking special bread known as "Bircutta".

En route to Arho the Arhottai can have a look at the spectacular rock-kewn churches of Mikael Barka, Mikeal Debre Selam or Mikael Haikimesahle without much difficulty. But unfortunately, the Arhottai, like many Ethiopians, is not aware of the very existence of these great relics. Nonetheless, Tigrai is now refashioning itself to take you out to the churches on the edge of the Denakil Depression in Arhottai style, if you wish.

Mikael Imba

Mikael Imba can be reached either from Agulae, 35 kms from Mekelle, via the small town of Haikmesahle or from Wukro, 47kms from Mekelle, via Atsibi. Agulae and Wukro are north of Mekelle along the Mekelle-Adigrat highway. The church dedicated to St. Mikael lies on a flat-topped hill, 7640ft (2339m) above sea level. It is not visible until one reaches the top of the hill.

The track from Atsbi leads to within a few meters of the foot of the hill and the combined view of the scattered trees arrayed of both sides of the track, the grazing fields and the mountains of far-off Womberta is spectacular. "I don't know of any trip in Ethiopia of greater attraction with regard to the country side. The amba is question offers a view of paradise" reports George Gerster; the Swiss photographer in his book entitled churches in Rock.

The church is almost a monolith and three of its walls are completely free of the cliff out of which it is carved. It resembles the rock-hewn churches of Wukro Cherkos and Abraha Atsbaha. The exterior of the church in about 17m wide. The central entrance leads into the anteroom beyond which the beautifully decorated wooden door that leads to the sanctuary comes into view.

The interior decoration of the church is impressive. "Internally one is astonished, as at Abraha Atsebaha, by the complexities of the design and the skill displayed in achieving such a layout by the difficult and laborious process of excavation," comments David Buxton, the entomologist who studied the rock-hewn churches of Tigrai. Dr. Tewelde Medhin Yosuf the first to list the rock-hewn churches of Tigrai, described it as" an artistically finished church".

The church's ceiling, like that of Wukro Cherkos, is geometrically patterned. Stepped capitals and a large Greek cross hewn in relief on the ceiling can also be seen. The walls have many carvings and the wooden doors are beautifully decorated. Dale Otto, a member of the Pearces pilgrimage to the rock-hewn churches of Tigrai, remarks, "This church is magnificent inside, a masterpiece of stone hewing." she added, "Throughout this church the workmanship and symmetry are of the highest standard."

The church of Mikael Imba is spacious, 16.6m wide and 9m deep (excluding the Holy of Holies area and the anteroom). There are nine freestanding and sixteen pillars in relief. The pillars and 3.2m tall and 2.5m apart. The ceiling is 6m high. Mikael Imba is one of the painstakingly carved and complex churches of Tigrai.

Mikael Imba is also one of the wealthiest churches in terms of church treasures and manuscripts. The 1.5m tall black iron cross which, according to Pearce, was made "at a time when iron was much more precious than gold and silver," is one of the valuable possessions of the church. Many manuscripts (some partially damaged by accidental fire) can be seen in the treasure house of the church. Pearce, after her pilgrimage to the rock churches of Tigrai, wrote about one of the manuscripts, "The entire manuscript was decorated page by page in its letters very like The Book of the Kells and Lindisfarne Gospels."

No academic authority has established with certainty the exact date of construction of this splendid edifice. Tradition has it that it was built in the 10th century AD. Devid Buxton is of the opinion that Wukro Cherkos, Mikael Imba and Abraha Atsebaha are "posterior to Debre Damo" but "before Lalibela" (late 11th or early 12th century). The existance of Mikael Imba was first reported in 1948 by Beatrice playne, the pioneer in the study of Ethiopian paintings.

On either side of the church there are large water catchment basins, very like those of Debre Damo monastery. According to the priests of the church, the water is always at the same level.

The annual festival takes place on the 12th day of Hidar (21st of November on most years).

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