The New and the Old Jerusalem - An Ethiopian Christian Perspective

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem Faculty of Humanities Department of Comparative Religion The New and the Old Jerusalem - An Ethiopian Christian Perspective By Mauricio Lapchik Minski Jerusalem 09.16 “And I John saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband” Revelation, 21:2 “And after he slept there appeared unto King Solomon [in a dream] a brilliant sun and it came down from heaven and shed exceedingly great splendor over Israel […] and it flew away to the country of Ethiopia, and it shone there with exceedingly great brightness forever…” Kebra Nagast, chapter 30 Introduction According to the ecclesiastical history, the Christian Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem dates back to the 4th century. The Italian scholar, Enrico Cerulli, stated that the formal Ethiopian presence in the Holy Land is found from the circle of Jerome‟s disciples. 1 Paula and her daughter, Estochium, have mentioned in some letters the arrival of Ethiopian Monks –among others groups of monks from India and Persia 2 – to Jerusalem at the very beginning of the 5th century.3 However, as claimed by K. Pedersen, “The text is strongly rhetorical in character, so what we should perhaps not understand it literally. The true meaning may just be that Christian pilgrims from all over the world every day streamed to the Holy Places.” 4 Furthermore, Cerulli noted a problematic use of the term Aethiopum, noting that this term maybe understood as a reference to the Kingdom of Axum, or to African people in general. 5 Nevertheless, as time goes by, the Ethiopian Christians came to form an organized and well-established community in Jerusalem. 1 Enrico Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia Della Comunitá Etiopica di Gerusalemme (Roma: La Libreria Dello Stato, 1943), p. 1. 2 Kirsten S. Pedersen, The Ethiopian Church and its Community in Jerusalem (Jerusalem, 1994), p.16. 3 Anthony O´Mahony, “Between Islam and Christendom: The Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem Before 1517,” Medieval Encounters, 2(2), 1996, p. 140. 4 Pedersen, The Ethiopian Church and its Community in Jerusalem, p. 17. 5 Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia Della Comunitá Etiopica di Gerusalemme, p. 2. 1 Parallel to these events, at the beginning of the 6 th century, the kingdom of Axum acquired a strong Christian identity. 6 The Ethiopian national epic, known as Kebra Negast, or The Glory of the Kings, apparently edited during the 14 th century, 7 relates the passage of the sanctity from the Old Jerusalem to the New Jerusalem. As King Salomon dreamed, the sun (namely, the Ark of the Covenant) flew away to the country of Ethiopia, to shine there for all eternity. 8 The object of the author of the text was to glorify Ethiopia by telling the history linked to the coming of the “spiritual and heavenly Zion”. In addition, like many other Christian nations, Ethiopia had its own local reproduction of Jerusalem. 9 Constructed, or rather carved into the mountains at Roha – Northern Ethiopia –, around the 12th century by the Zagwe King Lalibela, this complex of rock-hewn churches – described by the Portuguese Chaplain Francisco Alvarez as edifices “the like of which cannot be found in the world” 10 – is often understood as a New Jerusalem for Ethiopian Pilgrims. 11 In this paper, I will analyze how this particular passage of the sanctity described by the Kebra Nagast took place, by focusing and comparing the relationship and tensions between the Ethiopian Empire regarding the Ethiopian presence in the Old Jerusalem, and the continued efforts in order to build and establish a New Jerusalem – or a second Jerusalem – but this time in the African continent. In this context, the objective of the present paper is to study and analyze the historical facts that have contributed to the Abyssinian reproduction of Jerusalem, first in Axum and later in Lalibela. In addition, I will try to describe why and how the reproduction of a New Jerusalem, especially in Lalibela, changed the status of the Old Jerusalem under the perspective of the Ethiopian Christianity. Lastly, I will deeply analyze the political circumstances that led to the construction of this huge enterprise, namely the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela. Marilyn E. Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church,” Journal of Religion in Africa, 22(3), 1992, p. 225. 7 Irfan Shahid highlights the value of the last chapter of the Kebra Nagast, “when the work starts to deal with contemporary or recent events in the sixth century, that mythopoesis recedes into the background and historiography of some sort takes over.” The Nazarene Scholar has strongly argued that the Kebra Nagast was most probably edited during the sixth century, and not during the fourteenth century. See Irfan Shahid, “The Kebra Nagast in the Light of Recent Research,” Le Museón, 89, 1976, p. 137. 8 Sir Ernest Wallis Budge, The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek: Kebra Nagast (Ontario: Ethiopian Series Publications, 2000), p. 31. 9 Kristen Pedersen, “Jerusalem,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He- N, (Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007), pp. 273-277. 10 Sylvia Pankhurst, Ethiopia: a Cultural History (Essex: Lalibela House, 1955), p. 151. 11 Marie- Laure Derat, “Lalibela,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He- N, (Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 2007), p. 479. 6 2 The Kebra Nagast and the Passage of the Sanctity from Jerusalem to Ethiopia The Kebra Nagast or The Glory of the Kings is undoubtedly an essential and indispensable book for understanding the Ethiopian Christian tradition. According to the testimony of Sir Ernest Wallis Budge, King John of Ethiopia wrote to Lord Granville in 1872: "There is a book called "Kivera Negust" which contains the Law of the whole of Ethiopia, and the names of the Shums [i.e. Chiefs], and Churches, and Provinces are in this book. I pray you find out who got this book and send it to me, for in my country my people will not obey my orders without it."12 Such was the fame and the importance of this book, not only for the kings, but also for the Ethiopian people. This work consists on a great compilation of several legends and traditions, some of them historical and some of an exclusively folkloristic character, influenced by the Old Testament and Rabbinic writings but also by Egyptian, Syrian, Arabian and Ethiopian sources. 13 As stated by E. Wallis Budge, the earliest form of the Kebra Nagast was originally written in the Coptic language, and its compiler was probably a Coptic priest, since the books he used were writings accepted by the Coptic Church.14 Over the subsequent centuries, probably as a result of the expansion of Islam, the Coptic text was partially translated to Arabic; therefore many additions were made to it, mainly from Arab sources. 15 The literary reflection of the Jewish penetration to be found in the Kebra Nagast can be explicitly compared with the Qur‟an, as John Pawlikowski proposes, by pointing out “the Semitic potpourri that characterizes the Qur‟an, with its numerous Hebraic, Aramaic-Syriac and Ethiopic loan words, often in hybrid disguises, suggests that a complex process of religious syncretism was at work.”16 Apparently, there is a broad consensus among the scholars on who was in charge of the compilation and translation of the Kebra Nagast, as well as on the date of the Kebra Nagast‟s composition. 17 The author of the work is supposed to be Yeshak from Axum, a passionate and patriotic ecclesiastic who compiled this work between 1314 and 1322, during the first years of 12 Sir Ernest Wallis Budge, The Queen of Sheba and Her Only Son Menyelek: Kebra Nagast, p. vii. Ibid, p. viii. 14 Ibid, p. iii. 15 Ibid. 16 John T. Pawlikowski, “The Judaic Spirit of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church: A Case Study in Religion Acculturation,” Journal of Religion in Africa 4(3), 1971, p. 185. 17 Cerulli, Storia Della Letteratura Etiopica, pp. 45, 46; Isaac, The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido Church, pp. 244, 245. 13 3 Amda Seyon reign, namely Pillar of Sion,18 who came into power after the non-solomonic Zagwe rule. Yeshak of Axum supported the kingdom of the Endarta region – South eastern Tigray –. The governor of this region, Yakiba Egzí, attempted to rebel against Emperor Amda Seyon. This ruler is regarded by E. Ullendorff, as „one of the most outstanding Ethiopian kings of any age and a singular figure dominating the horn of Africa in the fourteenth century.‟ 19 Piovanelli admits that the powerful governor of the Endarta region was probably an extremely ambitious ruler,20 but such cynical considerations regarding the volatile political situation should not prevent us from recognizing the basic fact expressed by D. Hubard: „The Kebra Nagast was written to justify the claims of the so-called Solomonic dynasty founded by Yekunno Amlak over against those of the Zagwe family who had held sway for well over a century.‟ 21 This fact is supposedly supported by the Kebra Nagast itself, according to the following statement: „Those who reign, not being Israelites, are transgressors of the Law.‟ 22 In any case, there is no doubt that the Kebra Nagast played a central role in the establishment of a new religious, social and political order for Ethiopia during this turbulent period of history. 23 We can summarize the fundamental pillars upon which the Kebra Nagast was written in the following manner: 1. the kings of Ethiopia were descended from King Salomon of Israel and therefore from the House of David. 2. The Ark of the Covenant was taken by the son of the Queen of Sheba and King Salomon, i.e. Menelik I, and brought from Jerusalem to Axum. 3. The God of Israel transferred his house from Jerusalem to Axum, then the ecclesiastical and political capital of Ethiopia.24 Therefore, it can thus be stated that the Kebra Nagast is not only a literary work, but is the core of Ethiopian national and religious feelings and expressions and probably the most genuine expression of Ethiopian Christianity. 25 As E. Wallis Budge pointed out, 18 George W. B. Huntingford, The Glorious Victories of Amda Sion: King of Ethiopia (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1965), p. 5. 19 Edward Ullendorff, “The Glorious Victories of Amda Seyon, King of Ethiopia,” Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, 29(3), 1966, p. 600. 20 Pierluigi Piovanelli, “The Apocryphal Legitimation of a „Solomonic‟ Dynasty in the Kebra Nagast – A Reaprissal,” Aethiopica - International Journal of Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies. 16(1), 2013, p. 9. 21 David A. Hubbard, The Literary Sources of the Kebra Nagast: Another Look, Ph.D Thesis, (St Andrews: St. Andrews University, 1956), Available online at http://research-repository.st-andrews.ac.uk/handle/10023/544, p.360. 22 Budge, Kebra Nagast, p. 199. 23 Piovanelli, “The Apocryphal Legitimation of a „Solomonic‟ Dynasty in the Kebra Nagast,” pp. 20-21. 24 Budge, Kebra Nagast, p. vi. 25 Edward Ullendorff, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People (London: Oxford University Press, 1960), p. 144. 4 “Menelik [the son of Solomon and Sheba] was performing the Will of God in removing the tabernacle of Zion from Jerusalem. God, according to Yeshak [the author of the Kebra Nagast] was satisfied that the Jews were unworthy to be custodians of the Ark wherein His Presence was, and the Ark wished to depart.”26 We can therefore argue that this particular passage of the sanctity from Jerusalem to Ethiopia comes to fulfill the prophecy described in Psalms 68:31: “Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God.” Architectural Symbolism and Reproduction of Jerusalem: the Case of Axum According to traditional historical sources, both paganism and Judaism were simultaneously practiced side by side in Ethiopia, before the adoption of Christianity. The geographical position of this land permitted contact with other Middle Eastern cultures. However, the introduction of Christianity as the official religion of the state was not the result of evangelical activity from outside the country; rather, it was the desire of King Ezana, around 350 C.E. The story of the conversion of the Axumite King was written by Rufinus, the early Church historian. According to Rufinus, Frumentius, a relative of Meropius the philosopher, landed on the African coast of the Red Sea and was captured together with his young brother, Aedesius. Frumentius was considered a very intelligent person, so he earned the post of King‟s treasurer and secretary. Several years later, the Kingdom of Axum adopted Christianity as its official creed. However, “There was a fundamental difference between the way in which Christianity was introduced into Ethiopia and the way in which it was introduced into the Graeco-Roman world. There, Christianity began among the lower classes and gradually, after three centuries, succeeded in gaining converts among some members of the royal family. In Ethiopia it was the other way round: Christianity began among the upper classes and gradually spread down to the lower levels of society.”27 This fact, stressed by S. Selassie, is a primary criterion in analyzing the development of the Christian faith in Ethiopia. The difference between the way in which Christianity was introduced into the Roman world and the way in which Christianity was introduced into Ethiopia is a fundamental fact that must be considered. Despite efforts to eradicate all forms of paganism, 26 Budge, Kebra Nagast, p. ix. Sergew Hable Selassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 (Addis Ababa: Haile Selassie I University Press, 1972), p. 104. 27 5 Royal Christianity distinguished itself from the religion and traditions of the people. In general, we can speak of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but, nevertheless, we must differentiate between the characteristics of the customs and traditions of the country and its theological allegiance to the Christian faith. As stated by E. Ullendorff: “The doctrinal position of the Ethiopian National Church was always unenviable, caught as it was between the deeply rooted customs of the country and the necessity to maintain its theological prestige as a truly Christian body.” 28 In terms of the magnitude of the Axumite Kingdom, Taddesse Tamrat pointed out that Axum was at the height of it power in the middle of the fourth century, arguing that Axum military development had brought the former provinces of its old rivals under its own sphere of influence. Subsequently, the Kingdom of Axum adopted Christianity as its official creed, 29 during the reign of Emperor Kaleb. 30 We cannot ignore the fact that the sixth century was an exceptional period in the history of eastern Christianity. One of the most striking events during this period was the religious war that confronted the Christian Negus of Aksum, namely Kaleb, with the Jewish Himyar King, Yusuf. This confrontation between Judaism and Christianity as two state religions was unprecedented in the history of the Near East. It is important to mention that, as noted by Shahid: “The struggle for Arabia between Christianity and Judaism before the rise of Islam came to a climax in the sixth century, the first quarter of which witnessed two persecutions of Christians in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula.” 31 Both persecutions called for an Ethiopian intervention, but the latter was the more significant of the two, due to its unique consequences: the military intervention led by the Ethiopian Negus culminated in the decline and fall of the Jewish Kingdom of Himyar and the subsequent spread of Christianity in the Arabian Peninsula. Several years later after the victory over the Himyarites, according to the Ethiopian tradition, Emperor Kaleb gave up his throne and retired to a monastery. He sent his crown to Jerusalem, where it was suspended in front „of the door of the life giving tomb‟ at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. This gesture was evidence of Kaleb‟s spiritual attachment to the holy sites of 28 Edward Ullendorff, Ethiopia and the Bible (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997), p. 107. Selassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270, p. 104. 30 Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church,” p. 226. 31 Shahid, The Martyrs of Najran: New Documents (Wetteren: Imprimerie Cultura, 1971), p. 7. 29 6 Christian Jerusalem. 32 In addition, as claimed by Steven Kaplan, the Negus Kaleb was an active warrior defending his co-religionists both at home and abroad. In fact, the Axumite Emperor gained fame due to his major role in restoring the Ethiopian Kingdom to its ancient limits as they were established by Menelik. 33 Particular emphasis must be given to the role played by Kaleb, who is, in fact, one of only two Ethiopian kings with a central part within the Kebra Nagast. 34 There is no doubt that by the sixth century, the capital city of the Axumite Empire, namely Axum, had acquired a clear symbolic Christian identity. However, Ethiopian traditions concerning the building of the metropolitan cathedral at Axum are varied. Some sources argue that the cathedral was built by King Ezana, after he converted to Christianity. Other sources stated that was Emperor Kaleb who built the cathedral. 35 Notwithstanding these conflicting traditions, the Book of Axum – a collection of documents linked to the history of the city – establishes the building of the cathedral during the reign of two brothers called Abreha and Asbeha.36 Some researchers have found evidence that Kaleb‟s royal name was Ella Asbeha‟, considering that „ella‟ is the plural of „king‟. 37 The metropolitan cathedral, known as Axum Seyon was dedicated to Mary Mother of Jesus. This cathedral, takes the name of the Zion Church in Jerusalem, built by Maximus, bishop of Jerusalem in 340 C.E on Mount Zion.38 Theodosius, a pilgrim to the Holy Land in the sixth century, described the Zion church as the „Mother of all Churches‟. 39 Thus, we may affirm that the construction of the Old Seyon cathedral at Axum by Negus Kaleb, demonstrates that the original symbolism of this church was related to a venerated prototype, the church of Zion in Jerusalem. 40 The Book of Axum, also known as the Liber Axumae, describes Axum Seyon in a very technical way. 41 For example, Axum Seyon, like the 32 Ernest Wallis Budge, The Book of the Saints of the Ethiopian Church: Vol. III (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1928), pp. 913-914. 33 Steven Kaplan, The Monastic Holy Man and the Christianization of Early Solomonic Ethiopia (Wiesbaden: Steiner, 1984), p. 17. 34 The first king with a significant position within the KN is Menelik, the first king of Ethiopia and the son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. See Ralph Lee, “The Conversion of King Caleb and the Religious and Political Dynamics of Sixth Century Ethiopia and Southern Arabia,” in P. Sarris, M. Del Santo and P. Booth (eds.), An Age of Saints?: Power, Conflict, and Dissent in Early Medieval Christianity, (Leiden: Brill, 2009), pp. 81-82. 35 Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church,” p. 226. 36 Ibid. 37 Carlo Conti Rossini, Etiopia e Genti di Etiopia (Florence: R. Bemporad, 1937), p. 42. 38 Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church,” p. 224. 39 John Wilkinson, Jerusalem Pilgrims Before the Crusades (Warminster: Aris & Phillips, 1977), p. 66. 40 Heldman, “Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography and the Ethiopian Church,” p. 228. 41 Stuart Munro-Hay, “Axum Seyon,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A- C (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), p. 184. 7 Church of Sion in Jerusalem, had five aisles. Therefore, according to M. Heldman, multiple references such as the general correspondence of measurements, the dedication of the cathedral to Zion, and the selective transfer of an architectural element, are seemingly compelling evidence to support the fact that Axum Seyon was built as an imitation of the Church of Zion in Jerusalem. 42 The Zagwe Dinasty and the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela Axum has retained its prestige as a religious center of Ethiopian Christianity. However, the Axumite Empire started to decline by the twelfth century, mainly because of the rise of Islam, having a marked effect on both cultural and religious development in Ethiopia. 43 This turbulent period was characterized by a strong Muslim proselytization in southern Ethiopia, whilst in the north this era was marked by the revival of a new Christian dynasty: the Zagwe Dynasty. 44 The circumstances of the advent to power of the Zagwe Dynasty are far from clear. The Zagwe Dynasty, defined as usurpers according to orthodox tradition – taking into account that they were not of the race of King Solomon45 – proved to be defenders of the Christian faith, building churches and monasteries, and encouraging missionary activities among tribes not yet converted.46 In this regard, Sergew Hable Selassie states that the chroniclers, who recorded this foggy period in Ethiopian mediaeval history, usually summed up the Zagwe rule as follows: “The Kingdom was given to the people who did not belong to the Tribe of Israel.” 47 The Zagwe Dynasty, defined as usurpers according to orthodox tradition – taking into account that they were not of the race of King Solomon48 – proved to be defenders of the Christian faith, building churches and monasteries, and encouraging missionary activities among tribes not yet converted to Christianity. 49 42 For a list of other references to Jerusalem see Heldman, pp. 228-229. Ullendorf, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, p. 58. 44 Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia: 1270-1527, p.53. 45 Ibid. 46 Ullendorf, The Ethiopians: An Introduction to Country and People, p. 64. 47 Selassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History, p. 241. 48 Ibid. 49 Ullendorff, The Ethiopians, p. 64. 43 8 Among the Zagwe dynasty, one king stands out from the others: King Lalibela. 50 According to the many legends recorded in Gadla Lalibala, – composed in the 15th century – God directly revealed to the King Lalibala his intention to build a replica of Jerusalem in the place where he was born, namely Roha, the capital of the region of Lasta. Roha was the Syriac name of Edesa, and this fact may be related to the diffusion within Ethiopia of Syriac the Legend of Abgar, King of Edessa, and of his correspondence with Jesus Christ. 51 According to Lalibala‟s hagiography, the Zagwe sovereign has visited the Holy Places in Jerusalem with the guidance of the Archangel Gabriel. Subsequently, God showed him ten great churches, all cut from a single stone. 52 Some sources reflect that, ultimately, “The construction of the churches of Lalibela is maybe, the traditional justification of his Sainthood.”53 M. Portella argues that „the sovereign is basically presented as a monk, closely following the model of Christ, who is carried away to the heavens like Isaiah.54 Likewise, the life of the great King Lalibala was usually compared with King Solomon, who built two fantastic monuments in ten years – the first Temple of Jerusalem and his own palace – with Lalibala who built ten churches in Northern Ethiopia from a single rock. 55 E. W. Budge describes King Lalibela‟s work by stating that “When the churches were finished Lalibela felt that his work in this world was done, and he had no wish to continue to reign himself, and he did not want his son to succeed him. For he thought the time had come when the sovereignty should be restored to the Solomonic line.” 56 As mentioned in the introduction to this work, Ethiopia, like many other Christian nations, had its own local version of Jerusalem. The toponyms (Dabra Zait, namely Mount of Olives; Beta Golgota, namely Golgotha; the stream Yordanos, namely Jordan) are profoundly linked to Jerusalem. 57 With regard to the above, T. Tamrat notes that ¨[…] at no time does the Holy Land seem to have captured the imagination of the Ethiopians so much as in this period, which Conti 50 For a complete description of the history of King Lalibela see Budge, A History of Ethiopia, Nubia & Abbysinia, Vol. I, pp. 280-283. 51 According to Isaac, the Ethiopic Legend of Abgar (Aqaryos Negusa Roha) was documented in some manuscripts dating from the 17th century, offering evidence of the link between Ethiopia and the Syriac Orthodox Church. See Ephraim Isaac, The Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahido Church, pp. 242-243. 52 Jules Perruchon, Vie de Lalibala, Roi d’Ethiopie (Paris: E. Leroux, 1892), pp. 88. 53 Derat, “Lalibala,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He- N (Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz Verlag, 2007), p. 478. 54 Mario A. Portella, Ethiopian And Eritrean Monasticism: The Spiritual And Cultural Heritage of Two Nations (Pismo Beach: BP Editing, 2015), p.67. 55 Budge, A History of Ethiopia, Nubia & Abbysinia, Vol. I, pp. 237. 56 Ibid, pp. 282-283. 57 Pedersen, “Jerusalem,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He- N, p. 275. 9 Rossini so aptly characterizes as „the dawn of a new period in Ethiopian literature. The beautiful churches of Lalibela were in fact a deliberate attempt to reproduce the Holy City of Jerusalem in the mountains of Wag and Lasta.”58 Despite this explicit explanation, it seems to be that the establishment of a New Jerusalem in the mountains of Wag and Lasta, could be explained more clearly assuming that King Lalibela‟s intentions were primarily political and then religious. We cannot ignore the fact that King Lalibela was usually compared with King Solomon but, paradoxically, he was part of a Dynasty that was defined as usurpers. Perhaps the building of this “New Zion” was used as an opportunity to justify its legitimacy, and establish a new capital city for the Zagwe Diynasty, replacing the old and Solomonic Axum. The Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem The strong links between the Ethiopian Christians and Jerusalem are more intense than many other Christians. Tradition, as we have seen above, has it that the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia directly descends from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. However, little is known about the life of the Ethiopians in Jerusalem between the fourth and thirteenth centuries. 59 As mentioned previously, Emperor Kaleb became a monk and sent his crown to be suspended in front of the Holy Sepulchre, in Jerusalem and, in addition, we can affirm that Ethiopian Pilgrimage to the Holy Places date from very early times. 60 S. Pankhurst emphasized the tolerance and respect for the religious convictions of strangers given by the Ethiopian Throne, citing as an example the well-known incident between the Quraish in Arabia and the followers of Mohammad. The Prophet himself recommended them to take refuge in Ethiopia, describing the country as “the land of righteousness where no one is wronged.” The refugees were gently received by the Ethiopian Emperor Armah, and protected by the Ethiopian Throne. 61 By the seventh century, the famous Christian Church of Alexandria was conquered by the Muslims, but the close link between the Ethiopian Church and Holy See of St. Mark in Alexandria was tolerated and maintained, mainly due to economic and strategic reasons. 62 In addition, Gibbon pointed out that after the Arab conquest of Jerusalem, Ethiopian pilgrims were among the several 58 Tamrat, Church and State in Ethiopia: 1270-1527, pp 58-59. O´Mahony, “Between Islam and Christendom: The Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem Before 1517”, p.144. 60 Pankhurst, A Cultural History of Ethiopia, p. 284. 61 Ibid. 62 Ibid, p. 285. 59 10 pilgrims who constantly visited in the Holy Land, arguing that “a crowd of pilgrims from the East and West continued to visit the Holy Sepulchre […] and the Greeks and Latins, the Nestorian and the Jacobites, the Copts and Abyssinians, the Armenians and Georgians, maintained the chapels, the clergy and the poor of their respective Communions.”63 However, when the Roman Church gained control of Jerusalem in 1099 during the first crusade, Ethiopians tried unsuccessfully to obtain from the Pope an altar at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. According to Pankhurst, a letter of 1177 from the Pope Alexander III, who answered the Ethiopian Emperor‟s request, expressed his willingness to assert to this request if an embassy were sent to him by the Emperor with a formal request of his proposal. Taking into account that the Greeks had been excluded and expelled from the Holy city because their schismatic position, we should consider that the Ethiopians suffered a similar fate, losing some privileges, rights and places in Jerusalem which they had previously possessed. 64 Ten years thus passed since the Letter from the Pope Alexander III until, in 1187, Saladin took control of Jerusalem. 65 It was widely accepted that as a result of this conquest, the Ethiopian community in the Holy Land obtained the Chapel of the Invention of the Cross in the Holy Sepulchre and a station in the grotto of the Nativity in Bethlehem, 66 being the Emperor and the Church of Ethiopia in charge of preservation of these holy shrines. 67 However, Cerulli has shown that the source, on which these details are based, is a fake. 68 Therefore, there is no proof that Saladin showed any special generosity to the Ethiopian community in Jerusalem. However, if Ethiopians were present in Jerusalem at the time of the entrance of Saladin‟ troops to the Holy City, they have been treated in strict compliance with the rest of the Oriental Christians, who were granted with some particular privileges. 69 Meanwhile, Ethiopia was going through a very unstable period, facing the consolidation of the Zagwe Dynasty. The construction of the pompous series of rock-hewn churches in Lalibela, managed to captivate the eyes and the imagination of the Ethiopian Christian believers. Lalibela was thus one of the many reproductions of Jerusalem in the Christian world. Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of Ancient Rome, Vol. VII (Paris: Raudry‟s European Library, 1840), p.198. Pankhurst, A Cultural History of Ethiopia, p. 286-287. 65 Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of Ancient Rome, Vol. VII, p. 276. 66 Conti Rossini, Etiopia e Genti di Etiopia, p. 47. 67 Pankhurst, A Cultural History of Ethiopia, p. 287. 68 Cerulli, Etiopi in Palestina: Storia Della Comunitá Etiopica di Gerusalemme, pp. 31-32. 69 Ibid, p. 33. 63 64 11 Some sources linked the construction of this New Jerusalem with the fall of Jerusalem in 1887. O´Mahony argued that the conquest of Jerusalem by Salah al-Din in 1187 provoked great response around the Christian world. One of the causes that led to the construction of the Rock Churches by the Emperor Lalibella in Northern Ethiopia meets the need of a New Jerusalem due to the complex ongoing situation in the Holy Land.70 However, this hypothesis is still debated.71 According to N. Finneran, Lalibela may have been planned as an alternative pilgrimage site to Axum, highlighting that “if Lalibela reflect the mystical topography of the real Jerusalem, which was now off limits to Christian pilgrims, it may also carry echoes of the main churches of Axum.”72 We can ask ourselves if the main reason of the construction of Lalibela Churches was the fall of Jerusalem or it was, on the other hand, a political and strategic reason in order to replace the Kingdom capital city from Axum, to Roha-Lalibela. Conclusion Originally, Lalibela was created not only as the “Jerusalem in Ethiopia” but also as a new Axum, considering that Axum had been Ethiopia‟s ancient political capital and the site of its metropolitan cathedral, Axum Seyon. 73 However, we can ask ourselves if we have sufficient information to conclude that the reason for undertaking this gigantic enterprise in order to build ten monolithic churches it was indeed a reaction to the conquest of the Holy City by Saladin. Thus, it seems likely that there were no urgent motives for the Zagwe Dynasty to rebuild Jerusalem in Roha. As mentioned above, Ethiopians and other Oriental Christian communities were granted with special privileges and had been treated well. According to Sergew Hable Selassie, Ethiopians did not dissociate themselves from Jerusalem for a long time. In 1194, an official delegation was sent from Ethiopia to Egpyt in order to request the resettlement of the Ethiopian community in Jerusalem. 74 During the fourteenth century we start to have details from the geography of the Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem. 75 This increase of information about the Ethiopian community in O´Mahony, “Between Islam and Christendom: The Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem Before 1517”, p.144. Derat, “Lalibela,” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: He- N, p. 482. 72 Ibid. 73 Heldman, “Legends of Lalibela: The Development of an Ethiopian Pilgrimage Site,” Anthropology and Aesthetics, 27, 1995, pp. 1-2. 74 Selassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270, p. 262. 75 O´Mahony, “Between Islam and Christendom: The Ethiopian Community in Jerusalem Before 1517”, p. 147. 70 71 12 Jerusalem is normally attributed to The Emperor Zar´a Ya´eqob, who strengthened the Ethiopian presence and constructed some buildings, supported by the Mamluk Sultanate, controlled by the Sultan Jaqmaq. 76 The close links between the Ethiopian Emperor and the Sultan in Cairo, was crucial to the fulfillment of these objectives. To give an idea of the importance of the Ethiopian presence in Jerusalem during the Zar´a Ya´eqob´s reign, O´Mahony lists a number of Ethiopian possessions in the Holy city. Notable among these were the Chapel in the rotunda of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre; the Chapel of Mary of Golgotha; the Chapel of Improperium; and the Grotto of David on Mount Zion. 77 Eventually, the Ottoman conquest of Palestine and Egypt in 1517 together with the Muslim invasion of Ethiopia in 1530 brought about a sharp decline in the Ethiopian community in Jerusalem. 78 We can conclude that Ethiopian Christianity never ceased to care about the Holy City, and there is no proof that the Conquest of Jerusalem in 1187 by the hands of Saladin was the principal reason for the building of the Lalibela churches. Conversely, the monolithic churches at Lalibela were probably a reaction linked to internal political motives. The friendly relations between Ethiopians and Muslims, as was mentioned above, might verify this view. 76 Ibid, p. 150. 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