Ethiopia’s History - Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somaliland - page 545

THE COMING OF CHRISTIANITY

The Ethiopian church claims that Christianity first reached Aksum at the time of the
Apostles. According to the Byzantine ecclesiastical historian Rufinus, it arrived on Ethiopi-
an shores by accident rather than by design, when two young Christian boys from the
Levant were given to the King (for the full story on this Click here ) .
Whatever the truth of the matter, what's cer-
tain is that Christianity didn't become the state
religion until around the beginning of the 4th
century. King Ezana's stone inscription ( Click
here ) makes reference to Christ, and his famous
coins bear the Christian cross - the world's first
to do so.
The end of the 5th century AD brought the famous Nine Saints, a group of Greek-speak-
ing missionaries from the Levant who established well-known monasteries in the north of
the country, including Debre Damo ( Click here ) . At this time, the Bible was first trans-
lated from Greek into Ge'ez.

Those intrigued by the ancient civilisation of Ak-
sum should pick up Professor David W Phillipson's
Ancient Ethiopia . It's excellent and is an easy read.

THE ARK OF THE COVENANT

'Mounted on his stead and dressed in robes of mysterious colour and wearing vestments that his forefather King
David had worn when he led the Ark of Zion into Jerusalem, King Iyasu rode past the priests and deacons who had
lined the road to greet him and entered the sanctuary of the Ark. Here he requested that the Priests bring forth the
Ark of Zion. When it's carried to him the Ark is locked in a chest with seven seals, each of which has its own key
and own technique for opening. The first six seals are opened but when the priests get to the seventh seal it will not
open. But then, when the King himself stands before the Ark, the seventh seal miraculously springs open and the
King speaks to the Ark and it replies and advises him on how to rule wisely.'
From the Royal Chronicles of King Iyasu, 1691.

Few other objects in history match the enduring legend of the Ark of the Covenant. But what is this Ark and is it
really sitting inside a small Aksum chapel? The Old Testament says that the Ark was constructed on Mt Sinai by
Moses, and that it houses the two stone tablets on which are inscribed the Ten Commandments. It is also said to
contain the Rod of Aaron (Moses' brother) and a jar of manna (an edible substance that, according to Abrahamic
doctrine, God provided for the Israelites during their travels in the desert). Other more recent descriptions of its
contents include that of 17th-century Ethiopian Emperor Susenyos who said that it contained the 'figure of a wo-
man with very large breasts'. Such a figure was common in ancient fertility beliefs.

In Old Testament days the Ark was housed in King Solomon's Great Temple in Jerusalem and was used by the
Israelites as an oracle. It was also carried into battle. After the sacking of the Great Temple in 587 BC, the Bible
falls silent as to the Ark's whereabouts - some say it was buried in a secret chamber under the Temple Mount in