LALIBELA: World Monument Caught Amidst Ethiopian War
By Folami Mustafa
“Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion”, wrote Edward Gibbon in The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, “the Ethiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten”.
For more than 400 years, Aksum thrived on the Red Sea, growing rich on trade with Rome, Southern Arabia and even Gaul-modern day France.
When Islam rose in the seventh century, the Christian Kingdom began to fall but, in its spirit, rose a new city 150 miles to the South, Roha, later renamed for the emperor who built its first churches: Lalibela.
Like the emblem of a fallen monarch, the proof of Aksum’s majestic lineage lies carved in shattered stone.
In understanding Aksum, it is to the evolution of Eritrea we turn. Around 2000 BC, people of the interior of Africa settled in what is now Eritrea, more people began arriving from the Arabian Peninsula. The Aksum Kingdom became the first important state in the area around 1000 BC. The kingdom reached its height as a trading and cultural center between 300 AD and 600 AD.
In post-colonial history, Eritrea first emerged as an entity in the 1880’s following the Italy’s occupation of the Red Sea port of Massawa and other coastal enclaves. In 1889, Italy signed a treaty with the Ethiopian Emperor, and in 1890 named the new possession “Eritrea”. This treaty gave control of the colony to the Italian government. The borders agreed upon therein are the borders of Modern Eritrea. Italian exploitation ceded after WW11, leaving the UN to decide upon the territory’s future. Several commissions were given the tasks of determining the most suitable recommendation.
Eventually, the UN itself recommended a federation of Eritrea. The decisions took effect in 1952, but a decade later, Eritrea was unilaterally absorbed into Ethiopia as a province. Soon after, a war of secession erupted. By 1974, the arms struggled intensified and was eventually transformed into a full-scale war.
In 1991, a conference of representatives was convened in London under the chairmanship of the US assistant secretary of state for Africa. All parties agreed to a referendum and as result of the referendum, Eritrea became 182nd member of the UN on May 24th, 1993.
The Roha area around Amhara region where the stone hewn churches of LALIBELA is situated is a disputed region, which was a fallout of the post Ethiopia-Eritrea crisis of 1974.
Today, while world attention has been focused on Ukraine, the conflict in Ethiopia has taken the shape of a full-blown crisis. The war has pulled in neighbors and threaten the stability of the Horn of Africa. Tigray’s rebels have captured the North Ethiopian town of LALIBELA, home to 11 medieval monolithic cave churches hewn into the red rocks and a key pilgrimage site for Unitarian Christians. It is home to a UNESCO heritage site.
The question on the lips of close observers is: How long will it take to protect this ancient silk road of world civilizations?
SORCE: NigerianSketch
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