Zeghie peninsula

The Zeghie peninsula is in Lake Tana. It's most important economic activity is naturally grown coffee. The trees grow wild and are harvested. The 1st picture is of a walkway there that passes through the coffee plants. They almost look to me more like vines. Incidentally, the man's hand is on an ebony tree. In addition to coffee, there is fishing, agriculture (mangos, avocado, lemons, etc.) and tourism.
The peninsula is perhaps best known for the several monasteries therr, many dating to the 14th century. I visited 3 of them: Bete Maryam, Azusa Maryam and Ura Kidanemihret. The next several pictures are taken at the 3 monastery churches.
These are round churches with concentric sections. The 2nd picture is one of these from the outside. This one maintains the traditional thatch roof. The 3rd picture is of the outermost ring of one. This is where the chanting, dancing, music, etc. takes place.
The 2nd ring is highly painted with scenes from the bible and other books sacred to the Ethiopian Orthodox tradition. The 4th picture is the flight of the holy family to Egypt, which the Ethiopian tradition says continued south from Egypt into this region. The 5th picture shows the martyrdom of the apostles, something I don't think I've seen elsewhere. I should note that these paintings are on the innermost part of the church: the holy of holies. This part of the church is reserved for the priests. Note the door in the 6th picture. This is the entrance to the holy of holies and it always carries paintings of the archangels protecting the entrance. The 7th picture is the east side where the Eucharistic elements enter the holy of holies for mass. These 4 walls are painted from floor to roof.
In order for a building to be an Ethiopian Orthodox church, the holy of holies must contain a replica of the ark of the covenant with the 10 commandments. The originals are said to be at Axum.
The last 3 pictures are in the museum at Ura. The 8th picture is the original cross atop the Ura church from the 14th century. Historically, when kings ended their reigns before death, they retired to the monastery as monks. The 9th picture is the crowns given to the monastery at their retirement. The last picture is a large set of holy books predating the printing press. These include many held holy in Ethiopia but not in the biblical canon as we know it.Read more