Architectural Symbolism, Sacred Geography, and the Ethiopian Church

  • The Ethiopian Church considers the consecrated a
    symbol of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant.'
    pian beliefs concerning the Ark of the Covenant have
    by non-Ethiopian observers since the thirteenth century

  • Although establishing a chronological development
    is hampered by a dearth of internal documents for the period before
    1270, evidence suggests that a process of imitation was the initial
    means by which Ethiopian sites and church edifices were endowed
    with special sanctity.

  • The Altar: The term 'altar' denotes a place or structure where sacrifices to
    the gods, ancestors, etc. are offered. In Christian practice, it is the
    table at which the officiating priest symbolically re-enacts the
    sacrifice of Christ on the Cross by breaking the Eucharistic bread.

  • The kingdom of the Queen of Sheba is Ethiopia, and she is the
    mother of a son named Menelek, who was conceived in Jerusalem
    by Solomon during her visit to his court. Menelek, upon his
    maturity, went to Jerusalem where he was recognized by Solomon
    as his son.

  • When he returned home to Ethiopia, he took with him
    the Ark of the Covenant or tdbot from Solomon's Temple.

  • The narrative of The Glory of the Kings becomes elusive; it does not name
    the city as Aksum, nor does it say that the Ark was placed in the
    cathedral.

  • The Ethiopic term tdbot suggests this appropriation, because the
    name of the Ethiopian altar chest or tdbot is identical with the
    Ethiopic name of the Ark of the Covenant in Solomon's Temple in
    Jerusalem.

  • The present textual recension is said to have been translated into Ethiopic from an
    Arabic translation of a Coptic version of The Glory of the Kings.

  • When not in use it is stored within a chest or coffer termed tdbot. The altar tablet [selld] and the chest in which it is stored may together be termed the tdbot.

  • Only mass priests could carry them. When the peripatetic Ethiopian court with its
    palace churches travelled from one location to another, each altar
    tablet was covered with rich silk or brocade fabric and carried in
    procession upon a priest's shoulders, preceded by a processional
    cross and censer as well as a ringing bell.

  • The Biblical Ark signified the presence of the Lord. It was carried by the Israelites on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and, when Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem was completed, it was placed within the inner shrine or the Holy of Holies

  • During the early years of the new dynasty, religious texts appear
    to have been destroyed and retranslated in order to redress 'contaminating' influences of the non-Solomonic Zdgwe, dynasty.

  • As early as the sixth-century, Aksum, the ceremonial center of
    the Aksumite empire, had acquired a symbolic Christian identity.

  • Christianity apparently did not become the official religion of the
    Aksumite state until the reign of Emperor Kaleb.15 The universal
    Church recognizes Kaleb as a saint by the name of St. Elisbaan, a
    Hellenized version of his royal title.

  • About fifteen years after this celebrated victory, Kaleb gave up
    his throne and retired to the nearby monastery of Abbantalewon. 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 Sepulcher.

  • Dimensions are given as 125 cubits in length and 53 cubits in width.26 Francisco Alvarez, who visited the cathedral shortly before its destruction, wrote that the very large edifice had five aisles of good width and great length, and seven
    chapels at the eastern end.

  • According to medieval conceptions of architecture, a structure
    had not only form and function, but also a symbolical dimension,
    which often was conveyed by imitating a venerated prototype.

  • An imitation or copy of a church might be created solely by its dedication, since the dedication of a church was one of its essential characteristics.

  • The juxtaposition at Roha/Lalibala of the rock-hewn Tomb of Adam with
    the rock-hewn church of Golgotha and its copy of the Tomb of Christ demonstrates that this complex was initially conceived as a replica of Jerusalem's church of the Holy Sepulcher. However, the basis of this replication is symbolic and apparently based upon literary traditions.

  • These three rock-hewn altar chests in the holy chamber signify
    the presence of the Trinity. Their symbolic function as thrones of
    the Trinity is indicated by winged, animal-headed figures carved in
    relief upon each of the four sides of the base of the central chest.

  • Constantine's magnificent architectural complex with large basilica marked the site of Christ's Crucifixion, Burial, and Resurrection. This important architectural monument prepared the way for Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, who taught that Jerusalem was the Christian Holy City, the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.