Event Report

Talk by Mr. Daniels

Ethiopia

1st Deceber 2011

A second visit by Mr. Daniels to give an illustrated talk about Ethiopia was well attended. No doubt many members remembered his last excellent talk on Mongolia.

His trip took him by air to Addis Ababa but his case did not arrive with him, & when it eventually caught up with him it was minus valuable camera equipment. He warned potential air travellers that as the case was delivered from the airport by a third party (taxi) the small print in the insurance conditions absolved them of any liability, Travellers beware.

Addis Ababa is the capital & largest city in Ethiopia, it has a population of over 3 million. Mr Daniels trip took him north from Addis Ababa by road to Lalibela, an area famous for World Heritage Site Rock Hewn Churches. Roads are poor & recent rains made the going difficult. He showed pictures of transport bogged down in mud; in contrast he also showed shots of a splendid new highway constructed by the Chinese, but his trip was of more native interest & used local roads.

During the journey north he photographed a church built by the Italians on the site of an old monastery which they had destroyed during their first war of occupation in the late eighteen hundreds. They were thrown out some years later. But Mussolini invaded again in 1936 & had the church which Mr. Daniels visited built. Mr. Daniels related a legend which has it that in the days of the old monastery a monk lived in a cave in a local mountain. He was said to be fed by a bird which brought him one seed each year, which was apparently sufficient to maintain him. The legend also claims that he stood in his hermitage on one leg all his life; the other leg is said to eventually have fallen off. The second Italian occupation lasted until the allies of WW2 threw them out in 1941.

Haille Selassie came into prominence in 1918 & became Emperor in late 1930. The Italian occupation referred to above from 1936 to 1941 meant that he had to leave the country & he came to live in England. He returned to Ethiopia but was subsequently deposed by a Derg (communist) takeover in 1974.

During the journey north Mr. Daniels visited local villages & photographed living conditions which appeared to be very basic. The main crop is coffee, & coffee beans were seen laid out to dry. Pencils & paper were distributed to a local school & a calendar hanging on the wall was photographed showing that Ethiopia follows a different year & daily time than us.

Whilst in the north he saw the source of the Blue Nile in Lake Tana.

Mr Daniels visited the stone Church of St. George, one of several stone churches in the area. These unique churches are carved out of solid rock by excavating a deep & wide trench all round the rock to be formed into the church in the centre. Thus the top of the finished church is level with the top of the rest of the rock. The inside of the central rock is further excavated to form the interior of the church. Window aperture surrounds & beams are carved to simulate wood. These churches are in regular & frequent use & the congregation & visitors gain access to the entrance door at the bottom by means of a series of narrow sloping passageways.

The legend of St. George & the dragon, giving the name of this church, goes back in Ethiopian religious & folk law to early history involving the slaying of a dragon living in an oasis, to prevent a young girl being sacrificed.

Christianity is the largest religion, with Muslim following, & there is also a Jewish presence. The Christian faith is of the Eastern Orthodox type. Photos that Mr. Daniels took of several churches showed colourfully decorated interiors, often with well made stained glass windows. A repeated theme was of three richly robed men & Mr Daniels wondered if they represented the three wise men. Some churches had a sacred area or room in the centre, guarded by a priest, in which the Tora was kept. There is some debate about whether a Tora kept somewhere in Ethiopia is the original or whether the original is kept in Jerusalem.

The geology of Ethiopia is volcanic & much of the land is desert. Archaeological finds in the desert include recently, one of the oldest human skeletons (given the name of Lucy). Craters left by the volcanoes have sometimes formed lakes. In one such lake the water is salt & this allows local villagers to produce useable salt commercially.

The journey back to Addis was by air & the rest of the trip towards Kenya was by road. This involved the Rift valley. Many animals & birds were seen including Zebra from the north & south, Antelope, Lions, Leopards, Monkeys, Baboons, Weaver birds, Vultures, Busturds, & Eagles.

Mr. Daniels has kindly sent the photos he used in his talk so that they could be used in this report this report.