Field and river

20th International Conference of Ethiopian Studies (ICES20)
Mekelle University, Ethiopia

"Regional and Global Ethiopia - Interconnections and Identities"
1-5 October, 2018

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AN UNEXPECTED DISCOVERY: THE RE-SURFACING STORY OF A LONG-FORGOTTEN METROPOLITAN ECCLESIASTICAL CENTRE AT MĀRYĀM NĀZRĒT [Abstract ID: 0213-09]

Marie-Laure DERAT, CNRS
Emmanuel FRITSCH, CFEE

The monument known as Māryām Nāzrēt has often been visited but has hitherto remained hermetic. A fresh investigation has now identified the main monument as a massive cathedral erected atop a long-pre-existing Aksumite structure by 12th-century Metropolitan Mika’el. This unique monument surrounded by satellite hermitages will be shown at the crossroad of documented history and particular architectural trends, of contemporaneous developments in Ethiopian liturgy and church building, of ecclesiastical and regal interaction with remarks on Zagwé earlier facts.