Note on the Rock-Churches of Lalibela
Lalibela is a semi-mythical King of Abyssinia, said to belong to the Zagues, an intrusive family of whom little is known, who occupied the throne for a number of years.…
Location: Lalibela, Ethiopia
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“Note on the Rock-Churches of Lalibela, and on the Muhamedan Raid on them in 1535.” from The Portuguese Expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543 as narrated by Castanhoso, translated by R. S. Whiteway, 1902.
I can find no account of a visit to the rock-churches of Lalibela in the narrative of any English traveller. There are, however, four descriptions of them accessible: one in the Verdadeira Informaçam of Alvarez, who visited them in the first quarter of the sixteenth century; a translation of his work has been published by the Hakluyt Society (vol. 64, 1881).
The remaining three are in the works of modern travellers: Rohlfs, who saw them at the time of the English expedition of 1868, and whose book, Land und Volk in Africa, was published in 1870; Rafifray, whose works on this subject are a monograph on the churches, with drawings, dimensions, and plans, published in 1882; and an account of his Abyssinian journey in the Bulletin de la Société de Geographie de Paris, 1882; and lastly, Gabriel Simon's L’Ethiopie, ses moeurs, etc., which appeared in 1885. These two last travellers were at Lalibela in company.
There is, further, a translation of part of one of the Ethiopian manuscripts in the British Museum (Or. MSS. 718, 719), published by Perruchon in 1892, under the title "Vie de Lalibala," in the Publications de l’ Ecole des lettres d’ Alger; in this there is a valuable compendium of the facts from the side of research. From this volume, and Rafiiay's monograph, which Perruchon had not seen, a complete idea of these churches can be gained. Simon's work should also be consulted for the details of the decoration. There are about two hundred rock-churches within a comparatively short distance of these particular ones, but it is allowed that these are the finest examples of the class.
Lalibela is a semi-mythical King of Abyssinia, said to belong to the Zagues, an intrusive family of whom little is known, who occupied the throne for a number of years. Lalibela himself is believed to have reigned in the early thirteenth century. He was born at Roha, in Lasta, a place situated a few miles north-east of the point where the 12° of north latitude crosses the 39° of east longitude; it is now known after him as Lalibela.
His wife was called Mescal Kebra, or the Servant of the Cross. As Lalibela has been canonized, his reputation as a saint has obscured the actual facts of his life. June 6th is his day, but Perruchon (p. xxxi) finds that his claims to saintship have been disallowed by the Bollandists, with the remark that, judging from his time and country, he was probably a schismatic. As remarked elsewhere (p. 131, below), Lalibela is one of the persons to whom the idea of diverting the Nile from Egypt is traditionally ascribed. He and his wife are said to have obtained some five hundred workmen from Egypt, under one Sidi Mescal, who excavated the churches in either twenty-three or twenty-eight years (accounts vary). As Raffray points out Lalibela lies nearly a month's journey even from Massowa, and it is very remarkable that workmen should have been obtained from so remote a country as Egypt.
The present town of Lalibela contains some three thousand people, and stands rather over 8,000 feet above the sea. On approaching it nothing particular can be seen, but on entering it the traveller finds several deep trenches cut through the living rock, which is volcanic. Through one of these trenches runs a small stream, called locally "the Jordan;" the others lead to the quarries or excavations, of about 30 feet in depth, in which the churches are situated. There are three main quarries connected by these open tunnels, and in each quarry there are one or more church or churches. A block of the desired size was left In the quarry, still attached to its base; the outside was worked to imitate masonry, and the interior excavated, leaving numerous pillars, the altars, etc., while the sides were pierced for windows: each church is, therefore, a monolith. The whole work has been hewn out with a pick, and the insides have been subsequently smoothed with the chisel.
There are eleven of these churches, all properly oriented. The largest, Medani Alam (the Saviour of the World), is, outside measurement, 33.5 metres by 23.5 metres (110½ feet by 77½ feet), and inside, 36 metres by 16 metres. The smallest, Denaghel (the Virgins) is only 5 metres square, or little more than a grotto.
The material does not lend itself to architectural effect, and the outsides are somewhat weathered; but the interior decorations, especially the pierced lattice-work, has considerable beauty. Simon finds in it traces of Arab and Greek influence The outside of the flat roofs, being visible from above, is, of course, ornamented. There are no inscriptions, only a rough outline portrait of Lalibela in the church of Abba Libanos, which was constructed by the widow, Mescal Kebra, in memory of her husband.
Simon doubts the possibility of excavating all these churches in the limited time allowed by the legend, and Rohlfs appears to be of the same opinion; he, in fact, traces a gradual growth and evolution in the style. Lalibela is still a sacred town, and there is attached to the churches a considerable territory, which has been respected by the successive rulers of Abyssinia. Raffray informs us that a manuscript has been preserved in the town, in which the history of the churches is given. On one page the dotation of the territory is written in Ethiopic—Arabic and Greek—a noteworthy collocation, which may indicate the nationality of the original workers. Of this no copy seems to have been made.
In view of what is stated by the Portuguese as to the failure of the Muhamedan attack on these rock-churches, it is interesting to see what the Muhamedans themselves say in their narrative of the lmam’s campaigns. Their own account is not that of a triumphant success. The chronicle says:—
“Ahmad afterwards made his preparations to advance into Tigre.... Then he learnt that the idolaters had assembled near the church called Lalibala; he marched against them across mountains, and by a very difficult road, during continuous rain; he travelled even by night, and hastened his march. Many of his men died of cold. They reached the church, where the monks were collected to die in its defence. The Imam examined the church, and found that he had never seen the like. It was cut from the rock, as were the columns that supported it. There was not a piece of wood in all the construction, save the idols and their shrines. There was also a cistern hewn out of the rock. The Imam called together the monks, and ordered them to collect and bring wood. They lighted a fire, and when the fire was hot Ahmad said to them: 'Now, let one of you and one of us enter:' wishing to see what they would do, and to test them. Then their Chief said, ‘Willingly; I will go in;' but a woman, who had adopted a religious life, arose and said: 'It is he who expounds to the Gospel. Shall he die there before my eyes?' and threw herself into the fire. The Imam cried, 'Drag her out.' They dragged her .out; but part of her face was burnt Then he burned their shrines, broke their stone idols, and appropriated all the gold plates and silk textures he found" (Basset, Histoire, p. 409).
Castanhoso, Miguel de. The Portuguese expedition to Abyssinia in 1541-1543 as narrated by Castanhoso R.S. Whiteway, translator, The Hakluyt Society, 1902.
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