Love in the Land of Barefoot Soldiers Page 8

  Below, they could see that on the spurs and mesas that rose from the canyons, even when their sides were vertical and their surfaces just a few acres, there were fields and sometimes villages and round Coptic churches. On each plateau there were squat, toad-like tukuls made of piled fieldstone, all kraaled with a thorn fence and speckled around with grazing sheep and cattle. Each flat mountaintop was ringed with cactus euphorbia or wild lemon to prevent the cattle from falling over the edge of the plateau as sacrifices to the Gods of the Cliff.

  “Look at that,” she yelled above the roar of the engine. “The highland protected them for thousands of years.”

  “Who?” Standish shouted back.

  “The Axumite people. The Axumite state covered this whole area from the Sudan to Somalia and all along the Red Sea coast and as far as the Nile. Their only rival was Rome.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “A sixth century Christian monk came here and wrote about it. He claimed that the Axumite merchant navies sailed as far as India, China, and even Gaul. They carried gold, ivory, rhinoceros horn, frankincense and myrrh, and in return imported cloth, glass, iron, olive oil, and wine.”

  “Why did it end?”

  She shrugged. “That’s what we’re trying to find out. Problem is that with one exception, there is no documentation. The only things we know are from a brief account written by a Greek traveler named Cosmas Indicopleustes, who after his trip to Axum reported that the King of Ethiopia’s four towered palace was adorned with four brass figures of a unicorn, as well as the skin of a rhinoceros stuffed with chaff. He wrote that the king dressed in a short toga with gold necklaces and armbands, rode about in a golden chariot pulled by elephants, and kept several giraffes as his pets. That was in the fifth century. I’m not sure one could call that barbaric splendor befitting a capital of what had by that time become the most important power between the Roman Empire and Persia.”

  Today, as Ceseli and Standish rode their mules toward the center of the valley she could see the obelisks in front of her. Then in a large nearby field they finally found all the others, lying on the ground like a complicated maze of giant matchsticks. It was a horizontal forest of huge monolithic pieces of dark granite. Some of them were rudimentary, but others were elaborately carved.

  “Each of the obelisks is a single block of granite. This could weigh three or four hundred tons,” she said, drawing her hand over the rough-hewn surface. “How do you think they carved them, brought them here, and erected them?”

  Standish was walking around the side of an obelisk. “Like the pyramids, I guess. Elephants, or maybe slaves. What did they do with them?”

  “They’re grave markers and they honor a celestial god,” Ceseli answered, feeling awed by these surroundings. “Sun worship was very popular in the towns of Yemen in Arabia. Queen Makeda ruled a part of southern Arabia in Sabea that is known as Sheba. That’s how she got the title of Queen of Axum and Sheba. People forget the Axum part and she is usually referred to as the Queen of Sheba. Do you believe that the Queen of Sheba was Ethiopian?” Ceseli asked, turning back to the present.

  “I’m not very good at believing.”

  “No problem. Do you know anything about obelisks?” Ceseli asked as she circled one of the standing obelisks.

  “Only that there are lots of them in Rome, and one in New York.”

  “In Central Park. I used to play near there.”

  “That’s where I learned to ride my bike.”

  “Do you remember all the impromptu baseball games in the park?”

  “I was an avid baseball fan. I wanted to be a professional pitcher,” Standish smiled.

  “Yankees or Dodgers?”

  “Yankees, of course.”

  “Me too. I didn’t want to be a pitcher, but I loved playing softball with Daddy during the summer. Hey, look at this one,” she said, pausing to look more closely at a huge obelisk broken into four pieces. “It’s carved as if it were a tower. This is meant to be the door,” she said, pointing to the carved sham door which had a stone lock carved into it. “Count them. It’s thirteen stories tall.”

  “They weren’t superstitious.”

  “I guess not. The Sun God lives up there in the firmament at the top. These flat basins collected the blood from the offerings.”

  “What kind of offering?” Standish asked.

  “I’m sure they weren’t human,” Ceseli said as she took out her sketchpad and began drawing one of the standing obelisks. She looked up to the height of the obelisk. “Maybe sixty or seventy feet? What do you think?”

  “You want to measure it?” he asked, shading his eyes from the sun.

  “I was thinking of a small boy and a coconut tree.”

  “And that I'd like, a coconut right about now.”

  “I’m very serious,” she smiled.

  “So am I! Must have been very impressive when they were all standing,” Standish said as he ventured looking out over the valley. “That’s very good,” he said, walking behind her to look at the sketch.

  “Thank you. Drawing is one of the first things you learn as an archaeologist.” She turned to a new page and walked to a huge altar stone.

  Standish stooped to look more closely at the carvings on the stone. “It’s like a house of cards. Any idea why the obelisks fell?”

  “A group of German archaeologists who came here in 1906 thought it could have been the silting up of the Mai Chan River. That one,” she said, pointing in the direction of the river. “They lost their balance and toppled over. Or, razed to the ground by some Muslim army.”

  “Or an earthquake?”

  “That might explain why they go in every direction. Razing them would probably mean deciding in what direction.”

  Ceseli had returned to the fallen obelisk and was stooping over one of the pieces. “This is carved on three of the surfaces. Do you know how rare that makes it? Think there’s any chance to look at the fourth side?”

  “What were you thinking of?”

  “Tunneling under just enough to see if the carving continues? Or lifting it.”

  “I don’t know how many elephants or slaves we can count on.”

  “What about oxen?”

  Standish stooped to look at the thorns and grass matted around the edges. He walked around the obelisk and looked at the other broken pieces. “Perhaps down from this edge. We can try that tomorrow.”

  Remounting, they galloped the mules over the meadow with its sky high grass. It could have been a sea with two ships, their sails trimmed neatly. The gait of the mule and the wooden western style saddle were different from those she had ridden before, but wasn’t uncomfortable. She looked across at Standish who was holding his own.

  She felt exuberant, free, wild, transported. It was not yet hot and she had been right to wear her blue jeans rather than a pair of jodhpurs. Her hair was lightened by the sun, and braided in two thick tresses that barely contained its volume. As they rode, the wind blew her straw hat, held in place by a cord knotted under her chin onto her shoulders and she felt the wind warm against her face.

  As they rode, they passed two young boys whipping an ox as it tilled the field with an archaic wooden plow pulled behind it. The ox was small by American standards, but so were the children, who looked to be seven or eight, but were probably several years older.

  Finally they reached a magnificent tank, or reservoir, where the waters of a stream were artificially confined and from where the town got its water. It was an open deep water reservoir dug down into the red granite of the hillside and approached by means of a rough-hewn stairway.

  “It’s known as the Queen of Sheba’s pleasure bath. Since the beginning of Christian times it was used for baptismal ceremonies to celebrate the Holy Epiphany, or Timkat.”

  “Some bath! This must be one hundred fifty square feet,” Standish said. “Half of the ladies of Axum could have bathed in here with ease.”

  As they watched, three women descended the rock
-hewn steps carrying gourds balanced on their heads to collect water. Their stature was so regal, their balance so perfect that they could easily have been royal women in waiting rather than modest peasant women.

  Ceseli looked at him before removing her boots, tucking her legs over the edge, and dangling them in the cold water.

  “Can you hand me my bag?” she asked while making herself comfortable. Standish handed her the bag and was not surprised when she pulled out her bible. She opened it and began flipping through the pages. “You know why this place is so important?”

  “It’s the place where the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to be.”

  “That too. But because of its holiness, it has the status of a sacred city. Axum is the only place in Ethiopia where a man or woman can take refuge and be safe from justice. He only has to go to the porch of the sacred enclosure, ring the bell and declare three times in a loud voice his intention of taking refuge. And all Christian kings were crowned here up until the 1870s.”

  “I wonder how many people actually take advantage of that,” Standish mused.

  “I don’t know. Let’s go see St. Mary of Zion.”

  CHAPTER 12

  THE LIGHT WAS DIMMING as they dismounted in front of the holiest church in Ethiopia. Ceseli had already read that the “new” St. Mary of Zion was a Portuguese style structure, with some fragments of the earlier Byzantine church set into the walls. It had a flat top and battlements on a little bell tower. The church had been built on a raised platform above the ancient temple that existed in the days of sun worship.

  The few stones still in place were drafted stones with chiseled edges put together without mortar. Inside, the church had one large vestibule and a sanctuary known as the Holy of Holies. It was this sacred chapel that contained the Ark of the Covenant.

  “What does your bible say about this?” Standish asked as they studied the ruins.

  “A Portuguese chaplain, Francisco Alvarez, was here in 1520. He was the first European to come to Ethiopia and he left very detailed accounts. He said that King Ezana built the church when the Axumite kingdom converted to Christianity in the fourth century AD. Parts of it have been destroyed and rebuilt several times. The first time was by order of Queen Yodit Gudit in the tenth century. Then again in the sixteenth century by Muslims who were trying to conquer the whole area from the coast up. The most powerful of them was Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi. He was a warlord and his battle name, Gragn, meant left-handed.”

  “But he didn’t succeed.”

  “No. But they did drive the Portuguese out, and with them all their efforts to convert the Ethiopians to the Roman Catholic Church.”

  “Do you get the idea that history is about to repeat itself?” Standish asked.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Don’t you think Mussolini has the Pope’s blessing? It would give him a holy mission. Bringing the Catholic Church to Ethiopia.”

  “You think that’s his plan?”

  “It would be mine,” Standish said as he looked at the church. “It’s where the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to be.” Standish rubbed his forehead, trying to reconcile his thoughts. “But if your story of the Queen of Sheba is correct, and if Solomon sired a son, and this son you call Menelik did steal the Ark of the Covenant and brought it to Ethiopia, then it must have been here well before the time of Christ.”

  “Legend says it was kept protected in a monastery on an island on the east coast of Lake Tana. Then when King Ezana converted to Christianity, he sent for it. Now that we’re here, let’s go see where the Ark is supposed to be. Women aren’t allowed in the Holy of Holies so you need to take wonderful visual notes.”

  On the doorstep of St. Mary of Zion was an ancient deacon, leaning on a prayer stick, his back almost parallel with the ground. He wore a black robe and had a long, straggling patriarchal beard. As they walked toward him, Ceseli was sure that the cloudy cataracts completely dimmed his sight. He turned hearing, but not seeing them approach. He held out his right hand and she noticed it was like a dried prune, and his grip was delicate as if he were offering a tiny bird.

  The smile she gave him was in her voice and he reciprocated, his face creasing like precious papyrus. “Good day, Father, may peace be with you.”

  “And with you, my daughter.” The eyes followed her words. “You have come to see the tabot? The Ark?”

  “Father, I know I cannot enter this holy place,” Ceseli answered, “but my friend will go if he can. He has come from across the ocean to see the tabot.”

  “He cannot see the tabot. No man can look at it. Only at the holy of the holies, where it resides.”

  “Yes, father, we know. You alone among men can look upon it.”

  “I am the Keeper of the Ark, but even I cannot look at the face of god, only at the container of his laws.”

  Standish followed the priest who, although disfigured to such an extent, did not lose his noble bearing. While he was gone, Ceseli walked in the vestibule noting a huge collection of varied drums, banners, and crutches all given by the faithful worshippers who had been cured. She took several photos of the inscriptions carved into the stone.

  Looking around, she found a comfortable spot on the wall of the enclosure and reread the entry she had made in her bible.

  ‘God himself inscribed the ten words of the law upon two tablets of stone. These were the Ten Commandments. Moses put the stone tablets into the Ark of the Covenant, that was a chest made of wood and gold. The Ark accompanied the Israelites during their wanderings in the wilderness and their conquest of the Promised Land. It brought them victories. King Solomon placed the Ark in the holy of holies of the temple he built in Jerusalem. The Ethiopians called the Ark a tabot. Really, it is an altar slab. In an Ethiopian church it is the tabota Zion, not the building itself, that is consecrated.’

  Ceseli opened her bible and began to read the Kebra Nagast from where she had left off on the train. According to the story, Queen Makeda, also known as the Queen of Axum and of Sheba, had little experience in government when she became queen in the tenth century BC. One of her closest advisors suggested that she should travel to Jerusalem, where a famous King Solomon was known for his wisdom. Solomon was also a healer and Makeda had a clubfoot. So Makeda set out with seven hundred ninety-seven camels, mules, and donkeys laden with precious gifts. When she arrived, Solomon received her with great pomp for she was a beautiful queen. He agreed to let her learn as long as she paid her own way and took nothing without permission.

  As it is said in the Book of Kings, Solomon was a lover of women and he married wives of’ Hebrews and the Egyptians, and women who were reported to be beautiful. He had four hundred wives and six hundred concubines. This he did not for the sake of fornication, but with the thought that perhaps God would give him male children from each one of these women and his sons would inherit the cities of the enemy and would destroy those who worshiped idols.

  The queen stayed in Jerusalem and studied Solomon’s religion and his rule. When she was ready to leave, she sent a message to Solomon. Solomon answered inviting her to a banquet. When she accepted, Solomon rejoiced and ordered the royal table set according to the law of the kingdom. He spread near his place purple hangings and laid down carpets, he burned aromatic powders, sprinkled oil of myrrh, and scattered frankincense and other costly incense in all directions.

  The queen came and passed into a hidden place set apart just behind the king where she could see everything, but not be seen. And with intent, Solomon sent to her meats that would make her thirsty, drinks that were mingled with vinegar and fish and dishes made with pepper. He’s a dirty old man, Ceseli thought.

  And after the meal ended, the king went to the queen, and he said, “Take thine ease here until daybreak.”

  And she said unto him, “Swear unto me by thy God, the God of Israel, that thou wilt not take me by force. For if I, who according to the law of men am a maiden, be seduced, I should travel on my journey home in sorrow, affliction,
and tribulation.”

  Solomon answered, “I swear that I shall not take thee by force, but thou must swear unto me that thou wilt not take by force anything that is in my house.”

  The queen laughed and said unto him, “Being a wise man, do not speak as a fool. Do you imagine that I have come hither through love of riches? My own kingdom is as wealthy as yours, and there is nothing that I wish for that I lack. I have only come in quest of thine wisdom.” And she said unto him, “Swear to me that thou wilt not take me by force, and I on my part will swear not to take by force thy possessions.”

  And he swore to her and made her swear. And the king went up on his bed on the one side of the chamber and the servants made ready for her a bed on the other side. Solomon instructed a manservant to wash out a cup and set it in a vessel of water while the queen is looking on and then to shut the door and go to sleep. The servant did as the king commanded. Solomon pretended to be asleep and watched the queen intently.

  The queen slept a little, but when she woke her mouth was dry and she was thirsty. She moved her lips and sucked with her mouth. She wanted to drink the water. She looked at King Solomon thinking that he was sleeping soundly. She rose and making no sound, went to the water bowl and lifted the cup to drink the water.

  Solomon, of course, was not asleep. He was waiting for her to take the water.

  He seized her wrist before she could drink the water, and said, “Why hast thou broken the oath?”

  She answered, “Is the oath broken by my drinking water?”

  “Is there anything under the heavens that is more valuable than water?”

  “I have sinned against myself and thou art free from thy oath. But let me drink some water.”