Blogs from Axum, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, Africa - page 2

I have difficulty determining whether the bus to Aksum will be departing at 5AM or 5:30AM so decide to get to the bus station for 4:15AM to be on the safe side. Even at this time in the morning, there are plenty of tuk tuk drivers whizzing around, who all shout at me from distance to offer their services. I see many people asleep at the roadside, wrapped in sheets. The very faintest of silver linings for the homeless here is that it's not cold even at night. I find that the bus station doesn't open until 4:30AM, at which point I am let through the gate and locate my bus. There is no-one else there. Shortly after, the conductor arrives and points me to one of the better seats inside. This is the same model ... read more

"All people come from God, but the Ethiopians more than most." - a Geez scholar at Addis Ababa University, "I Didn't Do It For You." According to Ethiopia's founding myth found in the book which gave the Ethiopian emperor's their mandate to rule, the Kebra Negast, "Glory of the Kings," the Axumite kingdom was a kingdom blessed by God itself. The Kebra Negast has been described as "drawing on the Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha, Talmud and Koran, weaving in Ethiopian legends handed down by word of mouth... an exotic composite story... The tale of royal date rape, a radical rewrite of the Bible that substituted Ethiopia for Israel as God's Chosen People." In short summary, the founding myth is in essence the story of the Queen of Sheba, known as Makeda who ruled over ... read more