Tues, 28 Jan 2014 (20 Tir 2006) Axum, the Land of the Lost

Tues, 28 Jan 2014 (20 Tir 2006) Axum, the Land of the Lost We get up at 7 or so. Mike is starting to feel better. Carol looks for her blue shoulder bag. It is nowhere in the room. The contents of greatest value are Carol's eyeglasses, Emory ID, and some family photos. No cash. We shower and get breakfast of bread and honey in hotel, and ask every English-speaking hotel staffer we see if a blue shoulder bag has been turned in. Remember, the night before, we had scavenged three plastic chairs from the salon and requested extra hangers. Our balcony was southern facing. What we had washed the night before and arranged on the chairs and hangars on the balcony is now totally dry, so we wash some more dirty clothes. Mike had almost exhausted his supply of clean clothing. Cotton may be the fabric of our lives, but it takes time and sunshine or dry air to dry properly. Eventually Carol has the idea of asking the maids directly. So we pull out the Lonely Planet Ethiopian phrase guide, and show the maids the Amharic word for "bag," then the word for "to lose," then the word for "blue." At that point, one of the maids beckons us, goes to a room we had briefly considered the night before (but rejected), opens the door, and "Lo and behold!" We are so happy that we give her a tip of 50 birr (2.60 US), which may possibly equal or exceed her daily salary. It is now about 10:30 AM. We walk along Denver Street (Denver is a sister city of Axum) toward the Axum stelae field, the chief historic site in town. Axum is the center of the earliest Abyssinian kingdoms, a region known in its time by the Greeks and Persians alike. It was a great trade center. The stelae were tall, triumphal rock pillars. Some are still upright. Some have fallen and broken. They were real feats of engineering at the time they were erected. As we approached the stelae we spot a large crowd at the Cathedral of Tsion Maryam,the church across the street. They are listening intently to speaker after speaker. This church is where the "Ark of the Covenant" is stored. In effect, it is the Aron Kodesh of the Abyssinian Orthodox Church. UNESCO has funded the renovation of the church's museum. This ceremony marked the moving of this sacred object, which almost no one is allowed to see, from an outbuilding to the new museum itself. Lots of velvet umbrellas, ceremonial robes, resplendent hats, important people in the Orthodox church. We also spot a group of western tourists, and learn that they are Poles who flew here via Istanbul. They say they came here because, "it's exotic." While speakers drone on, we head toward the side entrance of the church, remove our shoes, and go in. It turns out that this is a fortuitous time to enter and see the church. There are several deacons(?) eager to show us the church itself and its riches. The whole inner facade of the church is covered with wonderful artwork and paintings. These paintings include the Trinity, Jesus being crucified, Mary and child, David accompanying the Ark being carried to Jerusalem, David and his harp, Azariah the high priest who came to Ethiopia, the last supper, St. George slaying the dragon, and much more. We are beckoned to an altar on which stands a brocade wrapped volume. The covers are unfolded and there is a large book written in Ge'ez with vivid, full page illustrations. The colors are as fresh as if they had been drawn yesterday. Yet the books were perhaps a thousand years old. Before they are unwrapped, we are asked to venerate the book. We do a pretty passable enough non-denominational show of veneration. Or maybe not. While we were looking at the book, the battery of Mike's camera began to fail. (The backup battery was also uncharged.) Lost opportunity. At this point, the sounds outside change. We head to the doorway. We are standing on the steps as the clergy and the crowd head for the museum. We have a bird's eye view of the crowd marching to the new museum. There were horns and people were ululating. It was the "running of the bishops" toward the gate. Only a select few were allowed to pass through. It was time to walk back to the hotel. On the way back, we stopped for some juice. We didn't observe Carol's rule of asking the price before ordering. We were charged 20 birr, rather than the 14-15 we had become accustomed to paying. Back in the hotel, as we charged the battery, it was time for the next round of laundry. It was also necessary to check e-mails and arrange for the Paypal payment of the moneys ($800 US) for the visit to Dallol. We also spent many minutes at the Ethiopian Airlines office buying airplane tickets from Lalibela to Addis for 4 February. This process was very time consuming because (1) an older woman jumped the line ahead of us, and (2) apparently the agent rewrote our departure ticket to get us a better fare. By 4:30 PM we had one freshly charged camera battery, and another being charged. We headed back to the stelae field, paid our fees (50 per) and quickly saw the stelae, several underground mausolea, and a fine museum. In the museum were two paintings of Menelik in an elephant-drawn chariot. He certainly must have made an imposing figure to his foreign visitors. Items on display were made of ivory, gold, and precious jewels. As opposed to the National Museum in Addis, here we were treated to well labeled exhibits, explanatory panels, and a docent eager to explain the exhibit. Time was running short to view the outdoor exhibits before the 6 PM closing time. As 6 PM approached, we noticed growing crowds of well dressed people entering the grounds along with musicians and costumed singers. These people were there for wedding celebrations. It is apparently de rigeur to go the stelae fields, and celebrate, where you can have your own Queen of Sheba experience. Horse drawn decorated carriages are lined up for later to carry away the couples. Eventually we counted 5 weddings, and there may have been more. We were not asked to leave, so we hung around in the background. As we are waiting, we fall into conversation with a most unusual couple. The husband is a British bloke, the wife a local Tigre native, and their little baby girl in a carrier on the husband's back is a blend of the best of two worlds. It turns out that the couple met in Saudi Arabia, near Bahrain, where both were working. The wife, who spoke excellent English, was surrounded by her Tigre relatives who clearly doted on the couple and their child. As they wait for whatever relative is celebrating a wedding, they have lots of amusing stories to tell. He can't really get used to some of the raw meat dishes beloved by his Ethiopian relatives. He is of the firm belief that the best way to deal with assorted tummy troubles is to develop a good case of worms (which he says will prevent tummy troubles). Worms can be easily cured with available medicine. They point uphill to a church, where another part of the complicated multi-day wedding process is taking place. Their daughter's christening had recently taken place here in Axum. They had wanted the christening to take place on "Jesus' birthday," but were only able to book it a day later. They both had love for the complicated role of the Orthodox church. We walk back together toward town. The wife mentions that the eyes turning to watch father and daughter are not as much due to this interesting and unusual baby, but because the father is carrying the baby. They take us into the dress shop owned by her mother. Lots of wonderful handmade items, all sporting variations of the Axumite cross design and thus not tempting to Carol. They invite us the family house for coffee and a meal, but it is time to demur and depart. We bid them a fond farewell. By now it is 7 PM and dark. We walk back to the hotel, and eat the chicken dish, doro wat, for dinner. Another soccer game is playing on the dining room TV - don't people ever get enough? Back to the room. Do a final set of wash. Change the batteries in the camera. Put the camera in Mike's pants pocket. Axum wasn't built in a day, but we have achieved something far greater - a full complement of clean clothes and charged batteries. We have also had our first taste of the people in this region, the Tigre people, who suffered mightily under the Derg (1974-1991).