AFRICANA BULLETIN

Warszawa 2003

Nr 51

Michael Gervers

THE REHABILITATION OF THE ZAGU KINGS AND THE BUILDING OF THE DBR SINAGOLGOTHASELLASSIE COMPLEX IN LALIBLA*

The Zagu capital, Lalibla, with its twelve rock-cut and monolithic sites designated as churches, has received more attention in travel and scholarly literature than any other medieval place in Ethiopia. The churches known as Dbr Sina and Golgotha (Fig. A) have been considered of primary importance within the rock-cut complex since it was first described in western literature by the Portuguese priest, Father Francisco Alvares, following his visit in 1521.1 He describes ten churches2 in considerable detail, and ends by saying
* The author is grateful to Professor Alessandro Bausi of the Istituto Universitario Orientale in Naples for his valuable reflections on the content of this paper; to Ato Kebede Amare, Commissioner of Tourism in the Tigray, and to Professor Stanislaus Chojnacki for helping with the identification of churches containing monolithic altars; to Dr Nicoletta Barbarito of the Canadian Embassy in Rome and to Dr. Livia Varga for assistance in the translation of various texts; to Paul Henze for permission to reproduce his photographs as figs. 3 & 4; and to Gillian Long of the DEEDS Project, University of Toronto, for bibliographical research and editing.
1 C.F. B e c k i n g h a m and G.W.B. H u n t i n g f o r d , eds., The Prester John of the Indies.

A true relation of the lands of the Prester John, being the narrative of the Portuguese Embassy to Ethiopia in 1520 written by Father Francisco Alvares, 2 vols., Hakluyt Society, Works, ser. 2, nos. 114-15, Cambridge, 1961 (hereafter: B e c k i n g h a m & H u n t i n g f o r d , Prester John), vol. 1, pp. 205-28, esp. pp. 205-21. 2 The gadl or Vita of King Lalibla speaks of an angel instructing the king to build ten churches (J . P e r r u c h o n , trans., Vie de Lalibala Roi dthiopie, Publications de lcole des Lettres d'Alger, Bulletin de Correspondance Africaine, Paris, 1892, pp. 121-27 (hereafter: P e r r u c h o n , Vie de Lalibala); also quoted in Gabriel S i m o n , Voyage en Abyssinie et chez les Gallas-Raias. Lthiopie, ses murs, ses traditions, le ngouss Iohanns, les glises monolithes

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Michael Gervers I weary of writing more about these buildings, because it seems to me that I shall not be believed if I write more ....3 More than four hundred years later, A.A. Monti della Corte referred to the site as la gemma archeologica e artistica indiscussa.4 A third important component is the small, totally rock-cut structure described almost universally in the literature as the Sellassie Chapel or Crypt, which is accessed through a simple doorway at the east end of Golgothas south
de Lalibla, Paris, 1885, pp. 321-22). There are several differences in these two accounts: only the Vie de Lalibala includes the churches of Dbr Sina, Bet Gabriel and Bet Libanos, while only Alvares mentions Bethlehem and Lalibela, which latter he cites as the principal one. Both include Golgotha, by which Alvares may also have meant Dbr Sina (see below). Neither mentions Mikael, which appears to be a later appellation for either Golgotha or Dbr Sina (In L. Bianchi B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia di Lalibel et di altri luoghi del Lasta, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, vols. XVIII-XIX (1962 & 1963) (hereafter: B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia), pl. 8 & 8bis, Dbr Sina is described also as Chidane Meret, while the western part of what most refer to as Golgotha is described as Mikael and the eastern part as Lalibla. His plan places Golgotha in the western part of what has become known as the Sellassie Crypt, and Sellassie in the eastern part. On the other hand, Alessandro Augusto M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e (Lalibel. Le chiese ipogee e monolitiche e gli altri monumenti medievali del Lasta, Rome, 1940 (hereafter: Monti della Corte, Lalibel) , p. 56) and Irmgard B i d d e r (Lalibela. The monolithic churches of Ethiopia, Cologne, 1958 [hereafter: B i d d e r , Lalibela] , fig. 25, p. 117) identify Dbr Sina as Mikael and make no reference to Lalibla or Chidane Meret). Neither the Vita nor Alvares makes specific mention of the Sellassie Crypt and it may well be that Alvares never entered it. The absence of any reference in the Vita to Beta Lehem suggests that the structure was not a church at the time the work was composed. What Alvares meant by the church of Lalibla remains unclear unless, perhaps, he was referring to Dbr Sina, making it the principal church of the complex and Golgotha the church of the least buildings here (B e c k i n g h a m & H u n t i n g f o r d , Prester John, p. 207). Achille Raffray, who visited Lalibla in 1873, speaks of ten churches, but includes Dbr Sina (Mikael) with Golgotha and makes no mention of the Sellassie Chapel, of which he was undoubtedly ignorant. Nor does he refer to the church of Bethlehem (Achille R a f f r a y, Les glises monolithes de la ville de Lalibla (Abyssinie), Paris, 1882 [hereafter: R a f f r a y, Lalibla], p. 5). It seems very likely that the names of some churches have changed over the course of time, and that the use of some of the excavated structures has gone from civil to ecclesiastical. Certainly, as Stuart M u n r o - H a y has recently pointed out, some of the wooden alters that have been found in Lalibla do not ... share the present dedications of the churches (Ethiopia the Unknown Land. A cultural and historical guide, London New Y ork, 2002 [hereafter: M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land] , p. 191). He also questions, in light of King Laliblas Vita, whether some of the attributions current in the fifteenth century were different from those of today (ibid. p. 193), which may have been different again from the time of their original dedication. 3 B e c k i n g h a m & H u n t i n g f o r d, Prester John, vol. 1, p. 226. 4 M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e , Lalibel, p. 15.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla aisle (Fig. A:H). It is, in fact, no more a crypt than any other rock-cut monument in Lalibla because it is on the same underground level as the Dbr Sina and Golgotha churches, and has no vertical link to the surface. It is, however, an exceptionally dark spot, since natural light comes only through a single, small window in the SW corner, and is held to be such a holy place that few people outside the superior ranks of the priesthood have ever been granted access to it. The first non-ecclesiastics known to have entered this chapel were Italians in 1939, who shortly afterwards provided detailed descriptions.5 According to the Memhir with whom Beatrice Playne spoke in 1946 or 1948, this sacrilege took place at the point of a pistol.6 Since that time, access has occasionally been afforded to laymen,7 who have described the Dbr SinaGolgothaSellassie complex as Lalibala's most secret and holiest place8 and the Sellassie chapel
5 B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, pp. 5-6, 35-39, 96-100 and pl. 3, 6, 8 11bis, 57-8;

M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e , Lalibel, pp. 54-63 and pl. XVI. There is a possibility that Miguel de Castanhoso entered the Sellassie Chapel in 1543 as he speaks at one point of a high altar and other altars, all of the same stone (as quoted in M u n r o - H a y, Ethiopia, p. 196). The three monolithic altars in the chapel (see below) are unique to the known monuments of Lalibla, with the apparent exception of the monolith in the maqdas of Bet Merqorios (see below, n. 26). G. R o h l f s mentions the Sellassie tomb in the following context: Der Knig Lalibala liegt in der Golgatha-Kirche begraben, wo auch ein anderer berhmter Heiliger Abessiniens, Selasse, seine Grabsttte hat (Land und Volk in Afrika. Berichte aus den Jahren 1865-1870, Bremen, 1870, p. 143). It is clear from the confusion over the meaning of the term Selasse that he never entered the chapel. 6 Beatrice P l a y n e , St. George for Ethiopia, London, 1954, p. 139. The accusation is unlikely as Bianchi Barriviera was told he could not see into the tomb of Lalibla without a special authorization from the head of the Ethiopian Church, because it is the tomb of a saint (B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 34, n. 1. See also below, n. 35). Had force been used to enter the Sellassie Chapel, it could also have been used to see into the tomb, but was not. 7 Georg G e r s t e r s classic fish-eye photograph was first published in 1968 (Kirchen im Fels, Stuttgart; English trans. by Richard H o s k i n g , Churches in Rock. Early Christian Art in Ethiopia, London, 1970 [hereafter: G e r s t e r , Churches in Rock], pl. 81). The photographs accompanying the present article were taken by the author in the company of E. B a l i c k a W i t a k o w s k a , S. C h o j n a c k i and P . H e n z e in 1993. P . S c h o l z published two photographs of the central altar from the Sellassie Chapel in 1989, but provides no reference to his source (Piotr S c h o l z , Bemerkungen zur Ikonologie der sog. Vier apokalyptischen Wesenan dem Steinaltar der Dreifaltigkeitskapelle zu Lalibala, in Proceedings of the first International Conference on the History of Ethiopian Art. Sponsored by the Royal Asiatic Society. Held at the Warburg Institute of the University of London, October 21 and 22, 1986, London, Pindar Press, 1989, pp. 23-29 (hereafter: S c h o l z , Vier apokalyptischen Wesen), figs. 48 & 50. 8 G e r s t e r , Churches in Rock, p. 100.

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Michael Gervers as the place of greatest sanctity in Lalibela.9 Bianchi Barriviera considered the tri-partite unit as unique and perhaps the most important for the study of monolithic churches.10

THEORETICAL INTERPRETATIONS AND HISTORICAL PRECEDENTS

The unique nature of the rock-cut monuments in Lalibla, together with their sanctity and, especially in the case of the Sellassie Chapel, its secrecy, has led some scholars to go well beyond the evidence in their attempts to interpret the meaning of the site as a whole. Two particularly imaginative examples come to mind, the first being the widely distributed work of Irmgard B i d d e r. In Lalibela, The Monolithic Churches of Ethiopia, published in 1958, she theorized that the structures as we know them today are reworked versions of ancient sanctuaries originally devoted to nature worship. This line of reasoning led her to many quite fantastic conclusions, not the least of which was her overall view of the cosmology of the site. It was, she thought, the physical expression of a creation myth. She considered the churches in three groups, the first concentrated in the NE section, near the monolithic church of Bet Emanuel. They, she wrote, represented the Womb of the Earth. The second group, concentrated around the Grave or the Church of Golgotha in the NW section, represented the form and the idea of the stele projected horizontally into the rocks surface; in other words the impregnating phallus. The remaining unit, the single church of Bet Giyorgis to the SE, expressed logically the idea of the Offspring of Heaven and Earth.11 In the nearly half century since the book was published, perhaps because it was so fanciful, no one has commented upon her reasoning, although the work is frequently consulted for its ground plans (adapted from Monti della Corte) and cited for its descriptions and illustrations. Another comprehensive hypothesis was proposed by the much regretted Jacqueline Pirenne in her paper La signification symbolique des glises de Lalibla, partir des inscriptions dcouvertes en 1980-1983, delivered at the
9 http://www.selamta.net/lalibela.htm 10 As quoted in Jules L e r o y, Lthiopie. Archologie et culture, [Desclee de Brouwer],

1973 (hereafter : L e r o y, Lthiopie), p.137. 11 B i d d e r , Lalibela, p. 116.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies in 1984.12 Inspired by the discovery and publication by Gigar Tesfaye of four inscriptions engraved on fragments of wood and bearing the theme of Christs Transfiguration on Mount Tabor, and of the invocations inscribed on ten mnbert tabot of which nine were attributed to King Lalibla,13 she concluded that the excavated site, for which she gave credit to the king alone, represented a mystical commentary on the Apocalypse of St. John.14 Much of her argument derived from the association of each tabot with a specific church (identified by similarities in the decorative elements common to both the tabot and church), and from her absolute conviction that the attributions to King Lalibla were original and correct. However, Stuart Munro-Hay has recently expressed serious doubts about the matter, suggesting that the mnbert tabot may be no more than pious forgeries dating from a subsequent phase, and pointing out that even if they are the Zagu monarch's work, they do no more than indicate that King Lalibela took an interest in the churches they are far from proof that he had all, or any of them, constructed.15 The idea that King Lalibla might not have been responsible for all, or indeed any, of the rock-cut and monolithic structures at this eponymous place, has been growing steadily over the years.16 It is not necessary to return to Bidder's theories to find precedents for rock-cut religious architecture in the highlands of Ethiopia. In 1972, Taddesse Tamrat proposed that the Zagu king, Ymrehnna Krstos, was responsible for introducing the phenomenon in the mid-twelfth century,17 while Claude Lepage suggested simultaneously that the
12 In Taddese B e y e n e , ed., Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of

Ethiopian Studies, University of Addis Ababa, 1984, Addis Ababa, 1989, pp. 137-45 (hereafter: P i r e n n e , Signification symbolique). 13 G i g a r Tesfaye, with the collaboration of Jacqueline P i r e n n e , Inscriptions sur bois de trois glises de Lalibala, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, 17, 1984, pp. 107-43 (hereafter: G i g a r , Inscriptions). 14 Her argument may also have been influenced by that propounded in S c h o l z , Vier apokalyptischen Wesen (above, n. 7). 15 M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, p. 191. 16 Emeri van D o n z e l , Ethiopias Lalibla and the fall of Jerusalem 1187, Aethiopica, 1,1998, pp. 27-49, esp. p. 40 (hereafter: van D o n z e l , Ethiopias Lalibla); Munro-Hay, Unknown Land, pp. 190-94. 17 Taddesse Ta m r a t , Church and State in Ethiopia, 1270-1527, Oxford, 1972 (hereafter: Taddesse, Church and State), p. 58. Taddesses opinion is perpetuated by Marilyn E. H e l d m a n , Legends of Lalibala, The development of an Ethiopian pilgrimage site, Res, 27, 1995, pp. 2538 (hereafter: H e l d m a n , Legends), (p. 28 & n. 24).

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Michael Gervers rupestrian glises de valle in Tigray, such as Degum, were totally Axumite in their rendition, that they very clearly preceded the examples from Lasta, and that some of them might well have been executed as early as the seventh century.18 There is no absolute proof either way, but there can be no question that Axumite elements appear to a greater or lesser degree in the rock-cut churches of Ethiopia, and that proportionately more of them can be found in the churches of Tigray, the traditional centre of Axumite power and influence, than in Lasta and regions to the south.

THE EXCA V ATION OF LALIBLA S ROCK-CUT CHURCHES

Developing a chronology for Ethiopias rock-cut ecclesiastical heritage is essential and scholars like Lepage, and David Buxton before him,19 have paved the way through their sometimes meticulous analysis of the physical make-up of these monuments and of the perceptible similarities and differences among them. One must exercise caution in attempting to determine the age of a rockcut or monolithic structure, however, because unlike a built counterpart, one cannot trace its history back any further than its visible surfaces. Any earlier stage of construction is by necessity removed forever by the workman's chisel. As a consequence, it is impossible to determine whether the rock-cut monuments of Lalibla ever existed in a form other than what can be seen at present. The question, as far as the churches of Lalibla are concerned, is whether they were all constructed under the aegis of King Lalibla in the twenty-two or twenty-four year period Alvares understood it took to make them.20 Certainly, the job
18 Claude L e p a g e Lglise rupestre de Berakit, Annales dthiopie, 9, 1972, pp. 147-88

& pl. XXV-XXVII (hereafter : L e p a g e , Berakit), esp. pp. 167, 179; idem, Une origine possible des glises dthiopie, Comptes rendus de lAcadmie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, juillet-octobre 1997, Paris, 1998 (hereafter: L e p a g e , Origine), fasc. 3, pp. 199-211 (p. 210). 19 David B u x t o n , The Christian Antiquities of Northern Ethiopia, Archaeologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity, London: Society of Antiquaries, XCII (1947), pp.1-42 (hereafter: B u x t o n , Christian Antiquities"). 20 Charles B u c k i n g h a m , Notes on an unpublished manuscript of Francesco Alvares: V erdadera Informaam das Terras do Preste Joam das Indias, Annales d'Ethiopie, 3, 1959, pp. 139-54 (see p. 145). R a f f r a y reports having found a ms. in the Church of Medhane Alem , apparently a Vita of King Lalibla, in which it is stated that the work was completed in twentythree years (R a f f r a y, Lalibla, p. 9).

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla could have been done in that time, for the tufa from which the monuments were cut would not have been particularly difficult to excavate before it was exposed to the air;21 yet the structures display a sufficiently wide range of architectural and stylistic differences to make it doubtful that they all belong to such a short period of time. Buxton has suggested that Lalibla represents a museum of church types,22 but while that may actually be the case it can hardly have been the original objective of its constructors. One may also wonder for what purpose they carved out the complex in the NE section of the site. In comparison with the structures in the NW section, only Bet Emmanuel and Bet Libanos are oriented; the others may once have served for civil purposes and should probably not be considered in terms of ecclesiastical architecture at all.23 We remember that the fifteenth-century gadle of King Lalibla reports that the angel of the Lord instructed the king to build ten churches.24 Eleven dedications are actually cited, but Bet Lehem is not included among them, quite probably because it was not a church at the time. There is, furthermore, the possibility, alluded to by several scholars,25 that some at least of the dedications have changed over time.

AXUMITE ARCHITECTURAL TRADITIONS

If there is any correlation between the presence of Axumite elements in Ethiopian rock-cut architecture and the relative antiquity of any given site, then Bet Maryam (Figs. B/E:O), Abba Libanos, and Bet Emmanuel, and perhaps in
21 Paul H e n z e has reported the recent excavation of seven rock-cut churches: in some

cases the work was undertaken by a single individual. Three discovered in 1997 were: Petros & Pawlos (Tsada Amba,Tigray), Chicheho Gabriel (Wollo-Gondar border), Etissa (Shoa). Agroup of four found in 1999 in the Saraya region north of Debre Berhan were dedicated to Mikael, Egziabeher Ab, Maryam and Sellassie. 22 D.R. B u x t o n , Ethiopian Medieval Architecture The Present State of Studies, Ethiopian Studies, papers read at the Second International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (Manchester University, July 1963), ed. C.F. B e c k i n g h a m & Edward U l l e n d o r f f , Journal of Semitic Studies, 9, 1964, pp. 239-44 (hereafter: B u x t o n , Ethiopian Medieval Architecture), p. 243. 23 S e r g e w Hable Sellassie, Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270, Addis Ababa, 1972 (hereafter: S e r g e w H.S., Ethiopian History), p. 278. 24 See above, n. 2. 25 P i r e n n e , Signification symbolique, pp. 140-41; M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, p. 191.

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Michael Gervers its enlarged formula, Medhane Alem, represent the most conventional type among the churches of Lalibla. Excluding Bet Merqorios, Bet Gabriel and Bet Lehem, which are not oriented and which may as a consequence never have been conceived as churches,26 the least Axumite of the ecclesiastical structures in Lalibla are those of the Dbr SinaGolgothaSellassie complex, and Bet Giyorgis.27 They in fact appear to disregard Axumite traditions almost entirely, notwithstanding the non-functional transversals in the entrance door and lower range of windows at Bet Giyorgis (Fig. 1). The absence of longestablished forms suggests that these monuments were carved at a time when those traditions were no longer considered essential in church construction; that is, at a date following the creation of Bet Maryam and others of its type. In terms of the ground plan alone, that so-called Axumite type consisted of a central square divided into three aisles by two sets of two pillars contained in a rectangular frame (Fig. B:O).28 At each end of the central square this frame incorporated a tripartite division of space corresponding to the layout of the three aisles. At the east end, the sanctuary stood as a continuation of the central aisle, and was flanked to the north and south by rooms, accessed from the sanctuary and/or the side aisles, which served as sacristies. At the west end, a central entrance vestibule was situated between two chambers, with access to the northern chamber from the vestibule and to the southern from the south aisle. In addition to the west entrance, there were northern and southern ones which opened into the westernmost bay of the central square. This is precisely the formula
26 Bet Merqorios has a sanctuary containing a monolithic altar or, more likely in view of its

height, a mnbr tabot (measurements taken by a priest in 2002 at the authors request were: 2.5 x 1.35 x 1.35m), suggesting a construction date of the late 14th or, quite probably, the 15th century (see below, n. 63). This date, consistent with the reference to the site in the 15th-century Vie de Lalibela as a church dune construction diffrente (P e r r u c h o n , Vie de Lalibela, p. 124), does not preclude the prior existence of a rock-cut structure which might have served a civil role. Monti della Corte speaks of un luogo di dimora e di rappresentanza (Lalibel, p. 27). M u n r o H a y (Unknown Land, p. 194) suggests that it might have been part of the royal residence (see also: Roderick G r i e r s o n and Stuart M u n r o - H a y, The Ark of the Covenant, London, 1999, p. 256). 27 Bet Giyorgis also has a stepped foundation, but it is not rendered in the Axumite fashion. In a further departure from Axumite forms, this church has no interior transversals marking the corners of doors and windows. 28 Mario D i S a l v o , with texts by Stanislaw C h o j n a c k i & Osvaldo R a i n e r i , Churches of Ethiopia. The Monastery of Nrg ells, Milan-New Y ork, 1999, pp. 62-4.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla found at Bet Emmanuel and Bet Libanos,29 and very close to that of Bet Maryam which is otherwise distinguished by two additional pillars, one in front of the sanctuary and the other opposite in the entrance vestibule.
THE CHURCH OF DBR SINA

The only means of entering the Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex is through the south or west portals of Dbr Sina (Fig. A). The interior measurements of Dbr Sina are approximately 9.50m E-W and 8.50m N-S. The church is divided into three aisles by two rows of four cruciform columns which support arches rising to a height at mid-point of about 3.4m. The flat ceiling is 5m high.30 Unlike the examples described above, there are no chambers in the four corners of Dbr Sina. The pillars at the east and west corners of the central square are free-standing, not engaged, thereby doubling the usual number from four to eight. In another divergence from Axumite principles, the east end, which is wholly occupied by the sanctuary, is accessed from the north and south aisles by a step rising from the back of the first set of pillars, and from the nave by a double step rising between the second set of pillars (Figs. A/C:A).31 As a result, the clergy have a considerably larger space for their use during the celebration of holy offices.

THE CHURCH OF GOLGOTHA

Narrow doorways in the NE and NW section of Dbr Sinas northern wall, leading out of the first and fourth bays, serve as the only entrances to what is known as the Church of Golgotha (Figs. A/C/D:B & C, 2). Compared to other churches in Lalibla, and noticeably to Dbr Sina, this is a poor structure, badly wrought, yet considered to be among the holiest places on the site because it houses the so-called Tomb of Christ and, supposedly, the remains of King Lalibla himself (Figs. A/C/D: F, G). Its 10.7m E-W length is separated into two aisles by three cruciform piers. The total width measures approximately 6m. The north aisle is wider than its southern counterpart, suggesting that the origi29 With the exception that there is no NW chamber at Bet Libanos. 30 B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 31. 31 L e p a g e , Installations liturgiques, p. 91 & fig. 8.

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Michael Gervers nal intention may have been to create a tri-partite structure with a nave broader than each of two flanking aisles. Certainly, compared to the southern wall, the northern wall is rough and unfinished, leaving the impression that it was hastily prepared. An entablature in low relief carries around the south, east and west walls at the point where, on the pilasters, arches spring from bracket capitals to corresponding brackets on the three central piers (Fig. D). Arches also link the piers to each other on the E-W axis of the structure. Unlike those in Dbr Sina, the capitals are devoid of any chiseled decoration. Painted bands, in greenishblue and red, and probably dating from the 19th-century, run along the south wall at the level of brackets and capitals. A greenish-blue rectangle surrounded by a triple frame of bands in the order of yellow, red and yellow, covers the north face of the pilaster capital standing to the east of the door connecting Golgotha to Dbr Sina in the third bay. The bracket above it is painted in an unsuccessful attempt to create a Greek meander. The pier below bears a representation of a female saint in frontal position. The western wall, reached by a step which in the north aisle is broad enough to serve as a plinth (Fig. A:E), is pierced by windows on two levels (Figs. D, E). At the upper level in each aisle the opening is semicircular and corresponds to the transversal arches which spring from the north and south walls to meet at the central row of piers. The entablature separates these openings from five cruciform windows which pierce the wall below, two in the south aisle and three in the broader north aisle. Each of the five windows is itself set back into the top of a row of vertical recesses which stands between the raised floor and the entablature. At the opposite end of the interior, in the NE corner, the first bay of the north aisle rises three steps above the floor of the church. A blind archway in the east wall of this bay may have been intended to contain a monumental standing figure in relief (Fig. A/C/E:1), but nothing can be discerned from available photographs.32 A final transversal arch rises above it from within the wall creating a blind lunette below. A recess in the north wall, protected by an iron grate, is designated the Tomb of Christ. Within, a recumbent figure in low relief lies at floor level, facing east (Figs. A/C/D:G, 3, 4). The body tapers from broad shoulders to his feet, which are integrated into the east wall of the arcosolium. His hands are crossed
32 Bianchi Barriviera reports that this eastern niche contains a poorly preserved, larger-than-

life sized figure, identified by a later inscription as Maryam (Barriviera, Le chiese in roccia, p. 32) but the presence of any such figure is unlikely.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla over his chest and he wears a short, thigh-length tunic. The face is without features and was either unfinished or rendered purposely thus. An angel stands in relief at his feet; if there was once one also at his head, as postulated by Barriviera,33 it was not visible to this writer.34 The second bay of the north aisle contains the Tomb of Lalibla,35 surmounted by a large mnbr tabot draped in cloth. Today, it, together with the raised first bay, is normally curtained off.36 In the spaces between the pilasters along the north and south walls of Golgotha are five larger-than-life-sized figures standing in relief within blind arches (Figs. A/C/D:2-6, 5).37 Those in the north wall appear, like the wall itself,
33 Ibidem, p. 33. 34 R a f f r a y (Lalibla, p. 7) writes that the head of the recumbent figure lies on a Greek

cross, but recent photographs provide little evidence to confirm this point. 35 Alvaresdescription suggests that a tomb monument stood on the surface of the rock floor which could be seen from any of the windows at the west end of the church at the right of the high altar (B e c k i n g h a m & H u n t i n g f o r d , Prester John, vol. 1, p. 207). What was meant by the high altar is unclear in terms of the actual arrangement, wherein the tomb monument stands in the second bay of the north aisle. There is no altar on the raised area represented by the confines of the first bay, although there may once have been one. Today, the kings remains are said to lie in a vault under the floor, probably the spot identified by Alvares as the entrance to the lower chamber: In the centre of the body of the church is the mark of a door like a trap door; it is covered up with a large stone, like an altar stone, fitting very closely. They say that this is the entrance to the lower chamber, and that no one goes in, nor does it look as if the stone or door could be lifted. This stone has a hole in the centre which pierces it through; its size is three spans. All the pilgrims [, who come here in infinite numbers for devotion,] put their hands into this stone (where there is hardly room for them), and they say that many miracles are done (ibid., pp. 207 & 221). B a r r i v i e r a describes the tomb monument as a tabot, below which close to the northern wall is a rectangular opening measuring 100 x 180cm. dug into the floor and closed on top by a wooden cover. He was told by the monks that this opening led to the tomb of Lalibla, to which he was not able to gain access because it would have involved obtaining a special authorization from the head of the Ethiopian Church. As a consequence we could not check this enclosed space to see whether it differed from others which were open and empty, nor could we clarify Alvares' text, which does not correspond with what we saw (B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 34 & n. 1; see also M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e , Lalibel, p. 61 ). 36 That this space is surrounded by curtains increases its sanctity, but unlike the sanctuary of an Ethiopian church, non-priests have occasionally obtained access to it. Golgotha would seem, therefore, not to have a sanctuary per se, although a tabot is kept with the tomb of Lalibla in the north aisle and also with another, commemorating Kidana Mehret (the Pact of Mercy), which stands opposite it in the second bay of the south aisle. 37 The smallest of these reliefs, its height limited by the existence of a little window above it piercing the wall between Golgotha and Dbr Sina, is still as large as life. See the illustration in L e r o y, Lthiopie, p. 139, in which a living priest stands beside the relief.

33

Michael Gervers to be unfinished (Fig. 6). Each is identified as a saint by inscriptions on the front of the arches, but since these inscriptions are only lightly incised and the letters unevenly distributed along the curve of the arch, it is generally thought that they were added at a later date.38 Similar arches over the narrow doorways leading from the south aisle into the NE corner of the Church of Dbr Sina on the one hand and into the Jesus Cell on the other, suggested to Barriviera that two more saintly figures in relief may once have stood below them, but that these were lost when the doorways were cut through.39
THE JESUS CELL

Two doorways open from the SE corner or first bay of the south aisle, one leading through the south wall into a small chamber measuring 2 x 1.3m known
38 The inscribed identifications documented by B a r r i v i e r a are as follows, reading clock-

wise starting with the figure in the niche in the east wall of the north aisle: 1) Maryam, 2) Y ohannes, 3) Qirqos, 4) Giyorgis, 5) Gabra Kristos, 6) Estifanos, and 7) Mikael (Barriviera, Le chiese in roccia, p. 32). There is, however, no figure evident in the deep niche designated by B a r r i v i e r a as no. 7. That the two reliefs seen by Alvares were described as SS Peter and John (B e c k i n g h a m & H u n t i n g f o r d , Prester John, vol. 1, p. 221), suggest the inscriptions are in fact quite recent as Peter is absent from B a r r i v i e r a s list. The four seen by Findlay included SS John, Stephen, George and Kirkos (Louis F i n d l a y, The Monolithic Churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia, Cairo, 1944 [hereafter, F i n d l a y, Monolithic Churches], p.14), that is, those which according to B a r r i v i e r a s list correspond to the figures along the south wall and one, Stephen, in the centre of the north wall. In December 2002, Afe Memhir Alebachu Retta reported in conversation with the author that these inscriptions were added a century ago, that is to say, c. 1900. 39 B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 33 n. 1. Two additional figures would have amounted to a total of nine, which, Barriviera thought, could have represented the well-known Nine Saints to whom are attributed the spreading of the faith in Ethiopia in the fifth century. Munro-Hay finds this an unlikely theme here, adding that if there were nine here, they, with three others in the Sellassie chapel, would represent the twelve apostles (M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, p. 213). There are at present only places for two such figures in the Sellassie Chapel, not three, although it has been postulated that a third figure may once have stood in the centre of the chapels east wall. There is no sign now of there ever having been a relief sculpture in this central niche. Because the chapel bears the dedication Sellassie (The Trinity), those favouring the previous existence of a third figure argue that the three taken together represent the Trinity rather than three of the Twelve Apostles (G e r s t e r, Churches in Rock, p. 102, with reference to fig. 81; Ewald H e i n & Brigitte K l e i d t , Ethiopia Christian Africa. Art, Churches and Culture, John M. D e a s y, trans., Ratingen: Merlina-V erlag, 1999 [hereafter: H e i n & K l e i d t , Ethiopia], p. 145). The fact of the matter is that the single, complete relief figure in the Sellassie Chapel bears the head of an ox and is obviously a representation of one of the four beasts of the Apocalypse, thus negating any association with either the Nine Saints, the Twelve Apostles or the Trinity.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla as the Jesus cell (Fig. A:D) and the other through the east wall to the Sellassie Chapel. The Jesus cell is linked to the east end of the north aisle of Dbr Sina by a small aperture in its SW corner. Amodest window with a pointed arch looks out from high in the wall of the SE corner over the deep rock-cut passage which delimits the east end of Dbr Sina. An interior frieze is said to be decorated with leaves similar to those which extend like swansnecks out of the upper frame of the broken arch on the exterior wall (Figs. A:J, 7).40 According to Barriviera, this cell formerly contained a tabot.41

THE SELLASSIE CHAPEL

The Sellassie chapel is a rough trapezoid measuring 6.5m wide at the east end and 4.6m at the west. It is 6.8m deep on the north side and 6m on the south. The south side was made shorter to avoid cutting into the pre-existing Jesus cell (Fig. A). Asingle, 60cm-square, 5.4m-high pillar rises on the central axis about a third of the way into the room. It has no capital, but brackets support wide ribs which cross transversely and longitudinally above it. A 40cm-high step, or plinth, leads eastwards out of the base of the pillar for a distance of 1.5m, whereupon it intersects with, and continues a step higher than, three well-delineated steps leading up to a platform which extends on a slight convex curve from one side of the room to the other. In the centre of the platform and directly in line with the column at a depth of 50cm from the top step is a monolithic altar, flanked by two others equi-distant from the north and south walls (Figs. A, C, 8). The central monolith is 1.5m high, while those on either side stand at 1.35m. Each is roughly 70 to 90cm square. The vertical surfaces are divided horizontally with crosses incised at the upper level on each of the four faces. Anthropomorphic symbols of the four beasts of the Apocalypse, with arms raised in prayer, fill the lower faces of the central monolith: the man in the west, the eagle in the east, the bull in the south and the lion in the north.42 Corresponding surfaces in the flanking monoliths are empty. In the east wall behind the central monolith is a 2.7m high niche surmounted by an arch.43 The
40 P i r e n n e , Signification symbolique, p. 138. 41 B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 34. 42 S c h o l z , Vier apokalyptischen Wesen. 43 Drawings published by both M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e (Lalibel, p. 59) and Bianchi

B a r r i v i e r a (Le chiese in roccia, tav. 10) show a disc containing a relief cross sculpted just below this arch, but none was visible to this writer.

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Michael Gervers niche, 1.4m wide, is stepped on three levels at the bottom, increasingly recessed to a depth of 1.1m before the springing of the arch. In a blind arch on the north side of this central niche, directly behind its corresponding monolithic altar, a larger-than-life anthropomorphic figure with the head of an ox stands in relief (Figs. 9, 10). The hands are held clasped above the waist, while the head is encircled with a nimbus containing a cross in the top centre. Monte della Cortes description of this head as that of an ox, although true, has been much derided by subsequent commentators.44 The decoration on the drapery of this figure seems somewhat more elaborate than on the well-preserved figures along the south wall of Golgotha, but all would appear to be contemporary. The figure intended for the south side is represented only by a small fold of drapery in the lower left corner of the space delineated by the arch, apparently all that the sculptor achieved before his work was definitively interrupted. At the bottom of the steps on the north wall is the opening to an empty tomb chamber. The west end of the south wall is pierced by a single small window which, from the outside, appears next to, and is framed with decoration very similar to, that of the window opening into the Jesus cell (Figs. A:I, 7).45 The swan-necked, floral pattern which delineates the frame of these windows with pointed arches is again reproduced in all twelve of the upper range of windows in the Church of Bet Giyorgis, although in the latter they are not so delicately conceived (Fig. 1).

44 M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e , Lalibel, p. 60. A priest reluctantly explained to Bianchi

B a r r i v i e r a that the figure on the left had the head of an ass and that on the right the head of an ox. The sides are obviously transposed and there is absolutely no sign of the head of an ass in the south niche. B a r r i v i e r a , who could not have seen what was there, objects to this interpretation (which encouraged M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e to associate it with a Nativity scene), and supposed instead that the figures had human heads which were destroyed (B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, p. 37, n. 1). The occurrence of the standing anthropomorphic figure with the head of an ox is ancient in Christian iconography, as evidenced by the late 8th- 9th-century example occurring on the Soiscl Molaise (National Museum of Ireland, R.4006; see Michelle P . B r o w n , The Lindisfarne Gospels, Society, Spirituality & the Scribe, London: British Library, 2003, p. 210, fig. 79). 45 The two windows are very similar in their appearance, although the somewhat more elaborate design of that of the Sellassie chapel suggests that it was inspired by, but carved later than, the Jesus cell window.

36

Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla

RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY OF THE COMPLEX

The Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex is certainly unique among the Lalibla churches in its structure and composition, devoid as it is of nearly every traditional characteristic of Axumite-style architecture. The absence of corner chambers in Dbr Sina is a new departure in church construction, with eight piers instead of four (Fig. A), thus creating an open interior space considerably larger than that of an Axumite precursor constructed around a square. There is no evidence that there was any intention to excavate the rest of the complex when the Church of Dbr Sina was conceived. On the contrary, the narrowness of the two doorways in the north wall of Dbr Sina which are the only means of entry to Golgotha, suggests they were cut at a time when the architectural vocabulary of the former had already been established. Golgotha itself, with three free-standing piers, only two aisles and also devoid of corner chambers, is even less conventional in its conception than Dbr Sina. Its construction preceded the next stage of expansion which was the tiny Jesus cell.46 The final excavation, and perhaps the last of any of the rock-cut monuments in Lalibla, was the Sellassie Chapel. It must have followed the completion of Golgotha because it can only be entered through the doorway at the east end of Golgothas south aisle; and it must have followed the excavation of the Jesus cell as its SW corner is excavated on an angle in order not to cut into and obliterate the cell's east wall. Thus, there is a very clear progression in the construction of the complex. As Dbr Sina is the oldest of the group and already devoid of Axumite features, it is not surprising that such features are also totally absent from the rest. There are no transversals (square monkey heads), typical of Axumite architecture, to be found in any of the doors and windows. The windows from the exterior are barely framed, if at all, and the relief of those which are decorated is shallow (Fig. E). There is, furthermore, no consistency between the shapes of the windows in Dbr Sina and those in Golgotha, not to mention the two with highly stylized meandering fronds which distinguish the Jesus cell and Sellassie Chapel from the others (Fig. 7). They, too, could have been cut as an afterthought. The amount of light they let through is minimal and their place46 The purpose served by this chamber is unknown, although it may possibly have served a

function similar to that of the aedicule of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem which covered the rockcut tomb where Christs body was thought to have been laid after the Deposition.

37

Michael Gervers ment is entirely utilitarian. These windows can, therefore, be considered to be among the newest of the new.

THE AXUMITE WINDOW

Not to be overlooked when considering the windows of the complex is the Axumite doorway opening onto the top of the deep trench delineating the west exterior wall of the Church of Golgotha (Figs. B/E/F:Q, 11). This doorway, described in the literature as a balcone47 and understood to be a window, stands at the western extremity of a corridor which is directly in line with the E-W axis of the Church of Bet Maryam, and which opens through a double portal into the courtyard before the west faade of that church (Figs. B/C/E/F:M). The corridor is now open to the elements, but it is very likely that it was once a rock-cut passage and that the roof collapsed. It is also probable that this corridor served as the principal access to Bet Maryam before the deep trench surrounding the Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie complex was cut.48 That would have been even before the carving out of the so-called Tomb of Adam onto which the Axumite doorway looks (Figs. A/B/E/F:K, 11). It is, in fact, almost certain that this trench was once far shallower and that formerly it was the principal link between the river now known as the Jordan and the entrance to Bet Maryam. At that time the site was still designated as Roha, presumably derived from al-Ruha, the Arabic name for the ancient riverine town of Edessa in Asia Minor. Edessa is a
47 B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, pl. 6, no. 3. 48 This hypothesis is similar to that proposed by Lino Bianchi B a r r i v i e r a , Restauri alle

chiese di Lalibel, Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 22, 1968 for 1966, pp. 135-46. On p. 138, footnote 2, he writes: Il ritrovamento, nel corso dei piu recenti lavori di restauro, di tombe scavate nel pavimento di questo corridoio archittonicamente importante, l'esistenza di una croce scolpita nella sua fronte interna est, e altre particolarita gia notate, ci confermano nell'idea che esso possa esser stato originariamente un ingresso, e piu precisamente quello principale, al quale si doveva accedere per una gradinata dalla trincea antistante, il cui piano di calpestio poteva essere a una quota circa corrispondente al ripiano superiore della Tomba di Adamo; e che questa e la chiesa di Golgota-Mikael Sellase siano state scavate e scolpite in un tempo successivo, con la conseguente asportazione della gradinata per labbassamento della trincea. Per le considerazioni sopraccenate e per alcune osservazioni relative alle finestre di questultima chiesa, vedi RSE vol XVIII, 1962, pag. 21, nota 1; pag.42, nota 1; pag. 44. Questa nostra timida ipotesi e confortata dal fatto che anche lingresso sud al cortile di Maryam ha una struttura simile, e corrispondenza di quote relative.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla Macedonian term referring to abundant water.49 It has recently been argued that the etymology of al-Ruha can be traced to the Arabic rawahah, meaning low plain where water accumulates.50 It is this association which may lie behind the choice of the name Roha for a site with plentiful supplies of water. The now functionless doorway opening onto the void may thus be seen as a solitary witness to the Bet Maryam site before the excavation of the present deep trenches leading both to the river and around what subsequently became the Dbr SinaGolgothaSellassie complex.

THE CHRONOLOGICAL CONTEXT FOR THE GOLGOTHA COMPLEX

If the concept and aspects of the architectural and decorative details of the Dbr SinaGolgothaSellassie complex are unique to Lalibla, they are not unique to Ethiopia. In his consideration of the chronological development of ecclesiastical architecture, and especially of rock-cut ecclesiastical architecture in Ethiopia, Claude Lepage noted already thirty years ago that there was a clear progression from late Axumite (or early Zagu),51 to various stages of Axumite-influenced, and then to post-Axumite styles. Among the first, he refers to what he calls the glises de valle, of which an early example is Degum;52 the second, to Berakit, erqos Wuqro, Abreha-Asbeha and Mikael Amba,53 which relate to the churches built in caves by the Zagu and which (with the exception of the possibly contemporary Berakit) precede the late Zagu monoliths in Lalibla;54 and third, to the post-Zagu period which saw the construction of such rock-cut churches as Enda Maryam Wuqro (Amba
49 Amir H a r r a k , The Ancient name of Edessa, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 51/3,

July 1992, pp. 209-14. 50 Ghada J a y y u s i - L e h n , Edessa: A Holy City in the Muslim-Crusader Conflict, Toronto Studies in Central and Inner Asia, vol. 6 (2004), forthcoming. 51 Lepage, Berakit, p. 150. 52 On his dating of Degum, see: L e p a g e , Berakit, p. 151; idem, Dcouverte dun art tonnant: les glises thiopiennes du Xe au XVIe sicles, Archologia, 64, 1973, pp. 45-58 (hereafter: L e p a g e , glises thiopiennes), (p. 53); idem, Le premier art chrtien de l'thiopie: Les glises et leur architecture in Dcouverte de lthiopie chrtienne, Les Dossiers de lArchologie, 8, 1975, pp. 34-59 (hereafter: L e p a g e , Le premier art), (p. 56). 53 L e p a g e , Berakit, p. 151 & n. 11. 54 L e p a g e , Berakit, pp. 152, 155.

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Michael Gervers Sanayt) and May Kado Giyorgis in Tigray in the late-thirteenth to early fourteenth century and thereafter.55 The latter are of particular significance in the present study because both have a raised, central sanctuary containing a monolithic mnbr tabot and a raised platform in the NE corner. In the case of May Kado, this platform contains a monolithic altar, while at Enda Maryam a similar altar is situated in a room of modest dimensions entered from the north side of the central sanctuary. The west faces of both bear a cross in relief closely resembling those in the upper sections of the three monolithic altars in the Sellassie Chapel (Figs. 8, 12). The raised position of the NE corner of these two churches further recalls that of the Church of Golgotha (Fig. C), and points to the probable use of the area in all three cases as an extension of the sanctuary.56 The monolithic altar in May Kado confirms this employ. It has already been proposed that the Sellassie Chapel in Lalibla, although constructed at a somewhat later date, served as a sanctuary for the Church of Golgotha. The central sanctuaries with a monolithic mnber tabot may also have been later additions to the other two churches. There is, furthermore, a small chamber leading off the north side of the NE corner in Maryam Wuqro which may have served the same purpose as the arcosolium containing the body of the Dead Christ in Golgotha.57 Such similarities do not presuppose a direct influence between these arguably post-Axumite style churches in Tigray and the Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex at Lalibla in Lasta, but they do have enough in common to suggest that they are related chronologically. Fundamental to this argument is the presence of the raised sanctuary, a feature common to all of the aforementioned structures, as well as to Lalibla Bet Giyorgis. Lepage's proposed late thirteenth- or early fourteenth-century date for the Tigrayan monuments is difficult to confirm, but the reduction, or total absence, of Axumite architectural elements and
55 L e p a g e , Installations liturgiques , pp. 99-101; L e p a g e , Les glises thiopiennes,

p. 58.
56 Mordini gives the measurements of the room as 3.31 x 2.78m, with a height of 2.3m, adding that the monolithic altar stands 1.7m. high by 1m wide (Antonio M o r d i n i , La chiesa ipogea di Ucr (Amb Seneiti) nel Tigrai, Annali dellAfrica Italiana, II , 1939, pp. 519-26 (hereafter: Mordini, Ucr), (p. 523). His fig. 4 on pl. 3, however, indicates the height and width to be similar, probably at 1 m. The monoliths at Enda Maryam Wuqro are so similar in appearance to those at May Kado as to suggest they may have been carved by the same workmen. 57 L e p a g e identifies this chamber as a placard or cupboard which could have served as a sacristie (L e p a g e , Les Installations liturgiques, p. 99), while in Golgotha the purpose is obviously funerary (L e p a g e , Le premier art, p. 52; L e p a g e , Origine, pp. 207, 210 & n. 27).

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla traditions in all of these churches does point to a post-Axumite period for their excavation in the rock.58

THE MONOLITHIC ALTAR

The presence of monolithic altars is of prime importance to the argument for the particularly late construction of the Sellassie Chapel. Their appearance at Maryam Wuqro and May Kado Giyorgis in the context of the raised sanctuary has already been mentioned, but there are many more in Tigray and the more one looks the more one finds. Of fourteen examples cited here, it is certain that ten churches have a monolithic altar or mnbr tabot in the central part of the sanctuary.59 If there is a second altar, and there often is, it is usually to be found in the NE corner of the church,60 confirming Lepage's assessment of the ceremonial importance and sanctity of this part of the monument.61 Abba Y ohanni has a monolithic altar at the east end of each of its three aisles (Fig. 13). Altars of this type in the SE corner of Iyyesus Wanza and Mikael Barka suggest that each may also have a total of three. Iyyesus Wanza contains interior features remarkably close to those at Dbr Seyon, which also contains a monolithic altar and is dated to the period 1382-1411.62 In chronological terms, churches with only one mono58 The church of Gnnt Maryam, which according to an inscription was decorated with

mural paintings c. 1270 under the patronage of Y ekuno Amlak, the first king to hold the throne after the fall of the Zagu dynasty, retains many Axumite characteristics. The new, simpler style would seem, therefore, to have made its appearance at a later period still. 59 The fourteen include Abba Y ohanni (Tembien), Abrha Atsbha, Bahera Maryam, Dbr Seyon (Geralta), Maryam Dengelat (Amba Sanayt), Enda Maryam Wuqro (Amba Sanayt), Gabriel Wuqien (Tembien), Iyyesus Wanza (or Gedjet), Iyyesus Weleghesa (Tembien), Johannes Maqudi, May Kado Giyorgis, Mikael Ambo, Mikael Barka, and Tselal Moo. It has not as yet been possible to confirm whether there is a monolithic altar in the central sanctuary of Abrha Atsbha, Gabriel Wuqien (Tembien), or of Iyyesus Wanza. 60 Churches containing two monolithic altars, one in the NE corner and one in the centre of the sanctuary, include Bahera Maryam, Enda Maryam Wuqro, May Kado Giyorgis and Tselal Moo. Att Abrha Atsbha, rather than being a monolith, its equivalent in the NE corner is constructed of stone. Since there is a monolithic altar in the SE corner of Mikael Barka, it is likely that there is another in the NE corner, but its presence has not yet been documented. 61 L e p a g e , Installations liturgiques, pp. 98-101. 62 G e r s t e r , Churches in Rock, p. 81. In addition to having monolithic altars, the common feature is the superimposed rows of small, blind arcades, which in Dbr Seyon contain the painted heads of holy figures. Outside the church of Iyyesus Wanza, on the south side in line with its

41

Michael Gervers lithic altar, as at Maryam Dengelet, could represent the earliest of their type. These may have been followed by those with similar monoliths at the east end of the north or south aisles when those aisles terminate to the west of the sanctuary, as at Iyyesus Wanza and May Kado Giyorgis (Fig. 12). Those with monolithic altars on the same plane to the north and/or south of the central sanctuary, as at Enda Maryam Wuqro, Mikael Barka and Tselal Moo, may either be later extensions to a church which began with a single monolith in a central sanctuary apse, or were carved into the rock at a time when the popularity of such altars coincided with the enlargement of the sanctuary area to the full width of the church, as was probably the case for Abba Y ohanni. At Abrha Atsbha, an altar constructed of stone and mortar in the NE corner of such an expanded sanctuary, may represent a later attempt to keep up with the new custom.63 Tall monoliths, measuring up to 2.7m in height and fashioned to serve as the mnbr tabot in the central sanctuary area of some churches may well belong to the latest period of development, and in some cases have been introduced as an eastward extension to the sanctuary of a previously existing rock-cut church (Fig. 14).64 All those who have attributed dates to churches with a monolithic altar or mnbr tabot place them between the late thirteenth century (starting with the reign of Y ekuno Amlak, 1270-1285) and the early fifteenth century;65 that is, to
east end, are the remains of what would appear to have been a series of three more monolithic altars which might once have been enclosed in a built structure. 63 The priests reported to Ewa Balicka-Witakowska in November 2002 that the tomb of SS. Abrha and Atsbha in the south compartment of the sanctuary is a monolith covered by metal. It must have originated as a monolithic altar and later been designated as the so-called grave of the church's patrons. The compartment is closed by a wall with a window-like opening and an entry. It is opened only once a year on the festival day of SS. Abrha and Atsbha. 64 The monolithic mnbr tabot is to be found at Abba Y ohanni, Enda Maryam Wuqro, Johannes Magudi, May Kado Giyorgis and Tselal Moo. A cavity to hold the tabot was carved out of the front of the monolithic altar at Bahera Maryam in recent times, in the process destroying the painting of the Virgin Mary between the archangels. Previously, access may only have been from the east side, but the existence of such an opening has not been confirmed. The monolith in the Church of Lalibla Merqorios, which measures 2.5m high (see above, n. 26), must also belong to this group. 65 G e r s t e r, Churches in Rock, p. 102; Jean G i r e & Roger S c h n e i d e r, tude des glises rupestres du Tigr: Premiers rsultats de la mission 1970, Travaux de la recherche cooprative sur programme R.C.P . 230, Documents pour servir lhistoire des civilisations thiopiennes, (series later named Abbay) fasc. 1, 1970, pp. 73-79 and 12 pl. hors texte (pp. 74, 78-79 and pl. 3-4, 11-12); L e p a g e , Installations liturgiques, pp. 99-101; M o r d i n i , Ucr, p. 526; Roger S a u t e r, glises rupestres au Tigr, Annales d'thiopie, X, 1976, pp. 157-175 (p. 160, no. 8).

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla the post-Zagu period. Significantly, the one church known to have three such monoliths is Abba Y ohanni, a late structure believed to bear the name of the fourteenth-century Abba Y ohanni whose Vita was composed in the fifteenth century by Menas IV , bishop of Axum.66 Seen in this context, the three carefully worked monolithic altars in the Sellassie Chapel would appear to be the high point of this rupestrian development which, probably in the late fourteenth to early fifteenth century, filtered its way down from Tigray to Lalibla in Lasta.

THE RELIEF FIGURES

An anomaly in any style and at any time is the presence in the wall niches of the Church of Golgotha and the Sellassie Chapel of larger than life-sized relief sculptures representing holy figures (Figs. A/C/D:2-6, 5, 6), and of the recumbent figure in the arcosolium in the NE corner of Golgotha said to represent the Dead Christ (Figs. A/C/D:G, 3, 4). All those who have studied them comment that they are unique not only in Lalibla, but in Ethiopia as a whole. While the identity of the standing figures remains uncertain, there can be no doubt that they represent saints since all but one has a nimbus. That exception is the most frequently reproduced because not only is the relief in nearly perfect condition, standing below the small window opening into the Church of Dbr Sina in the centre of the south wall of Golgotha, but the figure is depicted wearing a turban (Fig. 15).67 The inscription on the arch above identifies him as St. Cyriacus, but since, as was mentioned before, the inscriptions do seem to have been added later, this information may probably be disregarded. Furthermore, the presence of a turban rather than a nimbus suggests that the figure is not meant to represent a saint, but instead a high ecclesiastical official. It is also notable that this relief is small in comparison to the others, perhaps to indicate a figure of lesser stature than a saint. Such differences do detract from the theories that these reliefs represent the Nine Saints or the Twelve Apostles.68 Elsewhere, from a chronological
66 Ren B a s s e t , Vie d'Abb Y ohanni, Bulletin de Correspondance Africaine, III, 1884,

pp. 433-53 (p. 440). 67 M o n t i d e l l a C o r t e , Lalibel, between pp. 59 & 60; B u x t o n , Christian Antiquities, p. 28/b; B a r r i v i e r a , Le chiese in roccia, pl. 9; G e r s t e r , Churches in Rock, p. 102 & fig. 79; L e r o y, Lthiopie, p. 139; H e i n & K l e i d t , Ethiopia, p. 146. 68 See above, n. 38.

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Michael Gervers viewpoint, the introduction of oriental dress goes hand in hand with the rise of the Ottoman Turks and the spread of their empire in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Ethiopian Court had adopted Turkish court costume with narrow sleeves by the sixteenth century and in 1628 Almeida recorded that Rich men have [round, red] caps worked for them in silk and gold by Turkish tailors.69 The turbaned representations of the saints and biblical figures in the church of Abba Y emata at Guh (Gralta, Tigray), perhaps the closest in style to the Golgotha figure, have been attributed broadly to the fifteenth to seventeenth century (Fig. 16).70 All scholars note that the reliefs are unusual. Sergew Hable Sellassie points out that the usage of statues in the church is not at all a practice of the Ethiopian church nor of the Orient in general. It is reminiscent of the western practice.71 Similarly, Jules Leroy finds the presence of these sculptures animes to be un fait trs rare et contraire la pratique gnrale des chrtients orientales,72 and comments with reference to the recumbent figure that in a western context the representation of the Entombment in churches does not become widespread until the fifteenth century.73 Lepage compares their style to examples in divers manuscrits bien dats of c. 1400.74 The general consensus points to a fifteenth century date for these reliefs.75 A postquam date is provided by Alvares, who reported seeing two of them in 1521.76

69 Manoel d e A l m e i d a , Some Records of Ethiopia 1593-1646, being extracts from The

History of High Ethiopia or Abassia by Manoel de Almeida together with Bahrey's History of the Galla, ed. C.F. B e c k i n g h a m & George Wynn Brereton H u n t i n g f o r d , London: Hakluyt Society, Works, second series, vol. CVII, 1954, p. 61. 70 L e p a g e , Berakit, p. 176; G e r s t e r , Churches in Rock, p. 135 & pl. 191. See also Gigar Te s f a y e , Reconnaissance de Trois Eglises Antrieures 1314, Journal of Ethiopian Studies, XII/2, 1974, pp. 57-75 (p. 64). 71 S e r g e w H.S., Ethiopian History, p. 275. The author nevertheless concludes that the art employed on these statues ... is Oriental (ibid.). 72 L e r o y, Lthiopie, p. 136. 73 L e r o y, Lthiopie, p. 140. 74 L e p a g e , Le premier art, p. 46. 75 F i n d l a y (Monolithic Churches, p. 14) finds them to be identical in style with similar but smaller ones carved in wood in the Coptic Churches of Cairo, but suggests no date. 76 Beckingham & Huntingford, Prester John, vol. 1, p. 221.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla

SOLOMONIC REHABILITATION OF THE ZAGU DYNASTY

Despite the presence of the relief sculptures, the Church of Golgotha is hardly a burial place fit for a thirteenth-century Zagu king, not comparable in quality with such other churches in Lalibla, as for example Bet Maryam, or even Dbr Sina. Had King Lalibla chosen his own burial place, one might have thought that he would have provided something better for himself. But if the evidence here is correctly interpreted, there is little possibility that the Church of Golgotha even existed at the time of the kings death, and obviously even less that he was buried next to the symbolic tomb of Christ when that tomb with its recumbent effigy may not have been fashioned from the rock for up to two centuries after his death. Either his remains have been translated from elsewhere,77 or Lalibla may not be buried in what for at least the past five hundred years has been referred to as Laliblas tomb.78 Furthermore, it has been recently argued that it was only from the fourteenth century that the churches at Lalibla began to be ascribed to the king in Ethiopian sources,79 and not until the fifteenth century that pilgrimage to the tomb of Lalibela developed.80 The fifteenth century
77 J.-B. C o u l b e a u x indicates that King Lalibla's remains lay in the Church of Bet

Mariam (Histoire Politique et Religieuse dAbyssinie depuis les temps les plus reculs jusqu l'avnement de Mnlik II, 2 vols., Paris, 1928 or 1929, vol. 1, p. 269. 78 The dedication of the Church of Golgotha in Lalibla to the memory of Christ's Crucifixion and burial in a rock-cut tomb on the Golgotha hill in Jerusalem makes this site a symbolic representation of the aedicule of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The tradition which places Christ's Birth in a rock-cut grotto commemorated by the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and his burial in a rock-cut tomb in Jerusalem from which the Resurrection occurred, provides the context for the phenomenon of rock-cut ecclesiastical buildings in the Christian world (see Michael G e r v e r s , The Iconography of the Cave in Christian and Mithraic Tradition, in Mysteria Mithrae, ed. Ugo B i a n c h i , Leiden, 1979, pp. 579-96). The fifteenth-century gadl of King Lalibla, which is more a work of hagiography than a history, contains many elements which serve to compare the king's life with that of Christ, while his burial beside the tomb of Christ in the rock-cut environment of the Church of Golgotha emphasizes the theme of Resurrection attached to the site (see Michael G e r v e r s , The Mediterranean Context for the Medieval Rock-Cut Churches of Ethiopia, Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, University of Addis Ababa, 26-30 November 1984, Addis Ababa Frankfurt am Main, 1988, vol. 1, pp. 171-83; idem, The Monolithic Church of Wuqro Msql Krstos, Africana Bulletin, 50, 2002, pp. 99-113, esp. pp. 111-13; L e p a g e , Origine pp. 207-10). 79 v a n D o n z e l , Ethiopias Lalibla, p. 40. 80 H e l d m a n , Legends, p. 35.

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Michael Gervers is also the time when images of King Lalibla first appear in art.81 This chronology suggests that for reasons still unclear, the kings of the Zagu dynasty, long branded by scholars as usurpers, were rehabilitated in the fifteenth century. This is the century when, as far as can be determined, the names of the Zagu kings Lalibla, Neakkuto Leab, Yitbarek and Harbay (i.e. Gebre Maryam) were first included in the Ethiopian version of the Synaxarium, or Book of Saints.82 Their inclusion is a clear indication that they and their dynasty were then acceptable to the Orthodox Church. This is also the century when the lives of Lalibla and Neakkuto Leab entered the literature as hagiographical texts,83 and the century when the name Lalibla is first used to designate the site of the rock-cut and monolithic churches which the Zagus had called Adefa or Roha.84 The evidence for the incorporation of the kings of the Zagu dynasty, and especially of King Lalibla, into the mainstream of Ethiopian religious culture in the fifteenth century is overwhelming. The process may have begun in the previous century when, for example, the authors of the Kebra Ngst gave Solomonic legitimacy to the Zagu dynasty by tracing their descent to the handmaiden of the Queen of Sheba who, like the Queen herself, was impregnated by King Solomon.85
81 H e l d m a n , Legends, p. 33 & fig. 6. 82 E.A.W. B u d g e , The Book of Saints (= Synaxary), 4 vols., London, 1928 (reprinted,

Hildesheim-New Y ork, 1976), vol. 1, pp. xix-xx; v a n D o n z e l , Ethiopia's Lalibla, pp. 35 & n. 57, 38. Heldman (Legends, p. 35) postpones the inclusion until the sixteenth century. 83 G e t a t c h e w Haile and Wm. F. M a c o m b e r , A Catalogue of Ethiopian Manuscripts Microfilmed for the Ethiopian Manuscript Microfilm Library, Addis Ababa and for the Hill Monastic Manuscript Library, Collegeville, vol. 5, Collegeville, MN, 1981, pp. 121-22; Heldman, Legends, p. 33; M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, p. 190. The example in the British Museum (Or. 719), which may be the oldest surviving copy, is dated to 1434 (C.W. W r i g h t , ed., Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847, London, 1877, nos. 294 & 295. L e p a g e (Le premier art, p. 45) and v a n D o n z e l (Ethiopias Lalibla, p. 28, n. 4) attribute King Laliblas gadl to the fourteenth century. 84 In the second half of the twelfth century, and apparently as late as the fifteenth century when the Gadla Ymrhann Krstos was written, the site was known as Arafah/Adefa (M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, pp. 193-94). S e r g e w H.S. thought the change from another name, Werwer, to Roha took place at some point early on in the construction of the site (Ethiopian History, p. 273). On Roha/Warwar, see also H e l d m a n Legends, p. 29, and v a n D o n z e l , Ethiopia's Lalibla, pp. 34, 39. Monti della Corte notes that the first occurrence of Lalibla as a place name occurs as Lalabed in the mappa mundi published by the V enetian Fra Mauro in 1459 (Lalibel, p. 21, n. 1). 85 v a n D o n z e l , Ethiopias Lalibla, p. 38.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla One may ask why this change which was so supportive of the Zagu came about. There is no firm answer, but it could be suggested that it was related to the long-standing controversy over the celebration of the double Sabbath which had been so disruptive throughout the land during most of the fourteenth century, and even before, only to be resolved to the satisfaction of the followers of the monk Ewostatewos by King Zara Yaqob at the Council of Dbr Metmaq in 1445.86 The reasoning behind this association lies in the text inscribed on a mnbr tabot, now in the Church of Dbr Sina, attributed to King Lalibla and designated by Gigar Tesfaye as Golgotha 1.87 This perfectly preserved, lengthy inscription is consecrated to Sunday, the sabbath of the Christians.88 Such a statement of orthodoxy may possibly belong more to the Alexandrian position of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries than to a Zagu king of the early thirteenth, unless of course, the observance of Saturday was already rooted in the Zagu period.89 This mnbr tabot, together with four others from the Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex, two from the Church of Mdhane Alm and two from Bet Gabriel, are thought to have been produced in the early thirteenth century, but although they all bear the name of
86 P . P i o v a n e l l i , Les controverses thologiques sous le roi Zara Y aqob (1434-1468) et

la mise en place du monophysisme thiopien, in : Alain Le B o u l l u e c , ed., La controverse religieuse et ses formes, Paris, 1995, pp. 189-228; Edward U l l e n d o r f f , The Ethiopians. An Introduction to Country and People, 2nd ed. London, 1965, p. 105; G e t a c h e w Haile, Religious Controversies and Growth of Ethiopic Literature in the 14th and 15th Centuries, Oriens Christianus, 65, 1981, pp. 102-36, esp. pp. 131-32; idem, Ethiopian Saints, in The Coptic Encyclopedia, vol. 4, NY , 1991, pp. 1050-53; Ta d d e s s e , Church and State, pp. 206-47. 87 G i g a r , Inscriptions, pp. 114-19. 88 G i g a r , Inscriptions, p. 108. 89 Gianfrancesco L u s i n i argues that it does, noting that the spiritual father of Ewostatewos (1273-1352) was Danel, abbot of Dbr Maryam on Mount Qorqor, whom he met c. 1280. He further argues that Danel, in turn, was the student of Ebna Sanbat, a name which he interprets to mean Stone of the Sabbath or Son of the Sabbath. This name, he writes, leads one to believe it to be a clue to the existence of some controversy about the observance of the 'Sabbath' around the middle of the thirteenth century; that is, during the period of Zagu rule. Lusini refers to the inscription on the tabot published by Gigar Tesfaye as providing further evidence for a possible Sabbathic controversy during the reign of Lalibala (Gianfrancesco L u s i n i , A new source for the history of Garalta (Ethiopia). The Life of Danel of Dabra Maryam on Mount Qorqor (KRZ 36), Quaderni Utinensi, 8 (15-16), 1996 for 1990, pp. 345-352. See also: idem, Studi sul Monachesimo Eustaziano (secoli xiv-xv), Naples, 1993, pp. 27-28). If the inscription does date from Laliblas reign, it may be that part of the kings renown, and consequently his rehabilitation a century or more later, can be attributed to his orthodox position.

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Michael Gervers King Lalibla, there is nothing to prevent their having been made at a later date.90 One may suggest, therefore, that the kings of the Zagu Dynasty were rehabilitated by the Orthodox Church in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries possibly in an attempt to counter the Tigrean heresy of Ewostathianism which at that very time was penetrating Lasta from the north. The Zagu capital at Roha had by then been abandoned as a centre of government, but the Axumite-style monoliths and rock-cut churches remained and, like the foundation of St. James of Compostella in Spain shortly after the Muslim conquest of the Iberian Peninsula in the eighth century, circumstances encouraged their transformation into a centre of orthodox pilgrimage. Apilgrimage site needs a saint, however and, possibly because he had some reputation as a supporter of orthodoxy, King Lalibla was selected for this purpose. His relics were retrieved, or invented, and an especially dark, mystical space was hastily carved out of the rock to house them. Lasta was former Zagu territory and in the fourteenth century both the Church and the monarchy may have sought to engender local support by promoting the memory of, and sanctifying, a popular Zagu king who may himself have triumphed over an earlier wave of Sabbathic monasticism. One need not insist upon this interpretation of the motivation which lay behind the sanctification of King Lalibla and the creation of the Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex, but it cannot be denied that the name of the king was introduced to the Synaxarium at about this time, and that the rock-cut complex incorporates architectural features and liturgical elements which postdate those apparent in the other ecclesiastical monuments on the site. The period witnessed a vogue in the production of mnbert tabot. These may include those made from wood and bearing invocations ascribed to the king, those in the very same style carved as monoliths in the Sellassie Chapel (Fig. 8) and, the largest of them all, the so-called Tomb of Adam (Fig. 11) and the Church of Bet Giyorgis (Fig. 1) which, as David Buxton so aptly put it over forty years ago, is nothing more nor less than a glorified portable altar (manbar).91 The characteristics, both decorative and architectural, which Bet Giyorgis holds in common with the churches, chapels and cells of the Dbr Sina Golgotha Sellassie complex, make it quite clear that it is contemporary with them. The Tomb of
90 G i g a r , Inscriptions; M u n r o - H a y, Unknown Land, p. 191. See also p. 27, n. 15

above.
91 B u x t o n , Ethiopian Medieval Architecture, p. 243, n. 1.

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Dbr Sina-Golgotha-Sellassie Complex in Lalibla Adam, in turn, can be compared with the probably late medieval Tigrayan phenomenon of the monolithic mnbr tabot, while the positioning of the cross on the upper level of the south face recalls those on each of the monolithic altars in the Sellassie Chapel. In this case, however, the shape of the cross suggests an even later date, further confirmed by the fact that the lower half of this monolith extends below the floor level of the Golgotha complex, and was almost certainly fashioned out of the rock after its completion. As for the life-size relief sculptures in the Church of Golgotha, perhaps the figure wearing the bulbous turban (Fig. 15) is the abuna who sponsored the construction work, or maybe even the Patriarch of Alexandria who represented the orthodoxy which this holy sanctuary was created to promote.

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