More water fell on Pesaro in a day than in the whole year.
🔥Europe 2022: Drought, Record Heat, Fires and now Floods
❖[Job 12:15]❖
If he holds back the rain, the earth becomes a desert.
If he releases the waters, they flood the earth
❖[Psalm 129:5]❖
“May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned backward!”
❖[1 Chronicles 13:9–12]❖
“And when they came to the threshing floor of Chidon, Uzzah put out his hand to take hold of the ark, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and he struck him down because he put out his hand to the ark, and he died there before God. And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzza to this day. And David was afraid of God that day, and he said, “How can I bring the ark of God home to me?”
💭 ‘Tsunami’-like floodwaters kill at least 10 in Italy as people climb trees to find safety
“It was an extreme event,” climatologist Massimiliano Fazzini said.
Floodwaters triggered by heavy rainfall have swept through several towns in a hilly region of central Italy, leaving 10 people dead and at least four missing, authorities said.
Dozens of survivors scrambled onto rooftops or up trees to await rescue.
“It wasn’t a water bomb, it was a tsunami,” Riccardo Pasqualini, the mayor of Barbara, told Italian state radio of the sudden downpour on Thursday evening that devastated his town in the Marche region, near the Adriatic Sea.
He said the flooding left the 1,300 residents of Barbara without drinking water and had impacted phone services.
A mother and her young daughter were missing after trying to escape the floodwaters, the mayor told Italian news agency ANSA.
Floodwater invaded garages and basements and with its weight and force knocked down doors.
“It was an extreme event, more than an exceptional one,” climatologist Massimiliano Fazzini said.
He said that based on his calculations the amount of rain that fell, concentrated over four hours that included an especially heavy 15-minute period, was the most in hundreds of years.
In a space of a few hours, the region was deluged with the amount of rainfall it usually receives in six months, state TV said.
Some of the worst flooding struck in and around town of Senigallia, where a river overflowed its banks.
Hamlets in the hills near the Renaissance tourist town of Urbino were also inundated when fast-moving rivers of water, mud and debris rushed through streets.
💭 China’s Drought-Stricken Sichuan Jolted by Deadly Earthquake
At least 46 people killed by 6.8-magnitude earthquake
Shaking damages houses, triggers landslides and disrupts power
💭 Southwest China Quake Leaves 46 Dead, Triggers Landslides
At least 46 people were reported killed and 16 missing in a 6.8 magnitude earthquake that shook China’s southwestern province of Sichuan on Monday, triggering landslides and shaking buildings in the provincial capital of Chengdu, whose 21 million residents are already under a COVID-19 lockdown.
The quake struck a mountainous area in Luding county shortly after noon, the China Earthquake Networks Center said.
Sichuan, which sits on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau where tectonic plates meet, is regularly hit by earthquakes. Two quakes in June killed at least four people.
The death toll rose to 46 with 16 missing as the search for trapped people continued Monday night, state broadcaster CCTV said.
Earlier, authorities had reported 7 deaths in Luding county and 14 more in neighboring Shimian county to the south. Three of the dead were workers at the Hailuogou Scenic Area, a glacier and forest nature reserve.
Along with the deaths, authorities reported stones and soil falling from mountainsides, causing damage to homes and power interruptions, CCTV said. One landslide blocked a rural highway, leaving it strewn with rocks, the Ministry of Emergency Management said.
Buildings shook in Chengdu, 200 kilometers (125 miles) away from the epicenter. Resident Jiang Danli said she hid under a desk for five minutes in her 31st floor apartment. Many of her neighbors rushed downstairs, wary of aftershocks.
“There was a strong earthquake in June, but it wasn’t very scary. This time I was really scared, because I live on a high floor and the shaking made me dizzy,” she told The Associated Press.
The earthquake and lockdown follow a heat wave and drought that led to water shortages and power cuts due to Sichuan’s reliance on hydropower. That comes on top of the latest major lockdown under China’s strict “zero-COVID” policy.
The past two months in Chengdu “have been weird,” Jiang said.
The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a magnitude of 6.6 for Monday’s quake at a relatively shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). Preliminary measurements by different agencies often differ slightly.
China’s deadliest earthquake in recent years was a 7.9 magnitude quake in 2008 that killed nearly 90,000 people in Sichuan. The temblor devastated towns, schools and rural communities outside Chengdu, leading to a years-long effort to rebuild with more resistant materials.
Is Moses’ Ark of the Covenant in the Bible [Old Testament] a superweapon? It brought plagues upon enemies, won battles, smote impure men who gazed at it, shot jets of fire from its base, and may have caused earthquakes in Israel. It was so great it even represented God himself.
✞ Relevant 16th century spiritual phenomenons:
The Germans, The Turks, The Portuguese, The Somalis, The Oromos, The Muslims and Ethiopia:
💭 Was Europe’s Millennial drought in 1540 caused because of the genocidal war that anti-Christ Ottoman Turkey-backed Muslim Adal Sultanate waged against Christian Ethiopia? (1529–1543)
❖ Why was Martin Luther interested in Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Christianity?
❖ How might Ethiopian Christianity have influenced the Protestant Reformation?
☪ Anti-Christ Turkey’s Muslim Agent in Ethiopia, Al-Ghazi Ahmed Gragn dared to attack The Holy Axum Zion church (where The Biblical Ark of The Covenant is housed)
☪ Al-Ghazi Ahmed Gragnwas shot and killed in 1543
❖ Martin Luther died in 1546
💭 Is Europe’s current devastating drought caused because of The Christian Ethiopian –Adal (Anti-Christ Ottoman Turkish) War (2020–) ?
👉 History repeating itself:
In 2018 Edomite Western Romans and Ishmailite Eastern Turkish, Arab and Iranian agent Abiy Ahmed Ali came to power.
After receiving the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize Abiy Ahmed Ali, who – like his predecessor Ahmed Gragn – is supported by Turks, Iranians, Arabs and Western and Eastern nations, started a genocidal war/ Jihad against Northern Christians of Ethiopia. Since the start of this Jihad, million Christians have been massacred. There has been an ongoing pattern of fascist Oromo army of current Ethiopia, Arab supported Eritrean and Somali forces targeting ancient Christian religious sites in Tigray for desecration, looting, and massacres. Cherkos Church in Zalambessa, Debro Damo monastery, and Mariam Dengelat Church are among the several places of worship that were violently targeted. The massacre at Saint Mariam Tsion church in Axum is one of the deadliest events of the Tigraygenocide thus far.
Martin Luther (1483 – 1546)
For Luther, the Church of Ethiopia had more fidelity to the Christian tradition, and the practices mentioned above were marks of this fidelity. Thus, the Church in Europe needed to be reformed in the direction of the Church of Ethiopia. Possibly for Luther the Church of Ethiopia was proof that his reform of the Church in Europe had both a biblical and a historical basis. What seems clear is that Ethiopian Christianity played an important role within Luther’s writings
The Ethiopian–Adal War, also known historically as the Conquest of Abyssinia, was a military conflict between the Christian (Ethiopian Empire and Medri Bahri Kingdom) and the Muslim Adal Sultanate from 1529 to 1543. Ethiopian troops consisted of Amharas, Maya, Tigrayans, Agaw people and Tigrinya people. Adal forces were mainly made up of ethnic Somali, Harari, Afar, Argobba, Hadiya, and the now extinct Harla ethnic groups, supplemented by Ottoman Turkish and Khaleeji musketeers.
Between 1529 and 1559, the Somali military leader Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi defeated several Ethiopian emperors and embarked on a conquest referred to as the Futuh Al-Habash (“Conquest of Abyssinia”), which brought three-quarters of Christian Abyssinia under the power of the Muslim Sultanate of Adal. With an army mainly composed of Somalis and later Galla-Oromos, Al-Ghazi’s forces and their Ottoman allies came close to extinguishing the ancient Ethiopian kingdom. However, the Abyssinians managed to secure the assistance of Cristóvão da Gama’s (Traveller Vasco Da Gama’s son) Portuguese troops and maintain their domain’s autonomy. Both polities in the process exhausted their resources and manpower, which resulted in the contraction of both powers and changed regional dynamics for centuries to come. Many historians trace the origins of hostility between Somalia and Ethiopia to this war.
In 1543, Ethiopian Christians were able to defeat the Somali and Oromo Muslims with the help of the Portuguese navy, which brought 400 musketeers led by Cristóvão da Gama. On February 21, 1543, Al-Ghazi Ahmed Gragn was shot and killed in the Battle of Wayna Daga and his forces were totally routed. The Ethiopian/Portuguese force consolidated their victory by ambushing and destroying a second force under one of the Imam’s subordinates. This turned the war around. The surviving Somalis were forced to withdraw from Ethiopia, leaving both kingdoms severely weakened.
Aftermath
Because the participants in this conflict weakened each other severely, this provided an opportunity for the Oromo people to migrate into the lands south of the Abay east to Harar and establishing new territories.
A number of contemporary accounts suggest that the plague arrived in the Mediterranean via either the Ethiopian kingdom of Axum, or Axumite-held territory (which included much of southern Arabia at this time), so transmission via the Red Sea, from East Africa, or Southern Arabia seems likely.
Around the middle of the sixth century there was a dramatic climate shift; John of Ephesus, a sixth century historian, described it, “the sun became dark and its darkness lasted for 18 months. Each day, it shone for about four hours, and still this light was only a feeble shadow” . Procopius also described the incident which took place in 535 and 536 C.E., writing “the sun gave forth its light without brightness like the moon during the whole year” . Tree ring analysis shows an extended period of cold indicated by extremely narrow growth rings between 536 and 545. The narrow growth rings correspond to a decreased growth rate that would be expected with a global temperature decrease of approximately 3 °C . This mini nuclear winter is believed to have been caused by a comet hitting the earth or the eruption of a massive volcano, possibly Krakatoa . This cold period was accompanied by wetter than usual weather in several parts of Eurasia and was followed by drought. This disruption of weather could have weakened the population through crop failures and famine, and made the people more susceptible to plague.
This weather pattern also could have brought wild rodents harboring plague into close contact with rodents associated with human habitation, and thus provided a link to people. Fleas require warm (18-27 °C) moist (greater than 70% humidity) conditions to develop. The cold temperatures and crop failures of the sixth century would retard flea reproduction outdoors, but also could have driven rats and fleas inside homes and horrea, to warmer temperatures and food sources. The plague is believed to have started in the area around Ethiopia, near a known plague reservoir in an area that is normally fairly dry. The increased rain and flooding might also have driven wild rodents from their burrows in or near river banks into close contact with human dwellings and house rodents.
Wars, grain storage, and bread dole were not unique to Justinian’s reign, and therefore were not likely to be the reason a plague pandemic occurred while he was in power. The dramatic shift in climate from 535 – 540, a factor completely out of Justinian’s control, is more likely to have set the stage for the plague to jump from animal reservoirs to humans. Justinian’s horrea,trade routes, and supply lines most likely influenced the extent of the pandemic even if they did not cause the pandemic.
👉 Anti Ethiopia Conspiracy Can Cause Universal Cataclysm as Ethiopia is a Biblical Nation Under the Almighty Egziabher God
“Europe is struggling through record breaking temperatures, with Portugal and Spain reaching the triple-digits. Italy is in the midst of a severe drought that is threatening some of the country’s most famous food exports. CBS News foreign correspondent Chris Livesay joined Vladimir Duthiers and Anne-Marie Green from one Italian region that is running out of water.”
💭 Italy at Risk of Famine Due to Drought | ጣሊያን በድርቅ ምክንያት የረሃብ አደጋ ተጋርጦባታል።
A ship approached Ukraine on Friday to pick up wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia, in the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N.-brokered plan to unblock grain trapped by Russia’s war and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide on the brink of starvation.
Posted by addisethiopia / አዲስ ኢትዮጵያ on August 12, 2022
💭 A drought has officially been declared in parts of southern, south-west, central and eastern England.
The announcement means water companies can begin announcing stricter measures to conserve supplies.
The Met Office has also warned of an “exceptional” risk of fires, while much of the country is experiencing sweltering temperatures and little rainfall.
💭 They are all systematically and strategically starving my people to death – and they ain’t seen nothing yet! ሕዝቤን በረሃብ እየቀጡ ነውና፤ ገና ምን ዓይተው፤
👉 GMO + Wheat from war-torn Ukraine?! Dear Lord, please have mercy on us.
A ship approached Ukraine on Friday to pick up wheat for hungry people in Ethiopia, in the first food delivery to Africa under a U.N.-brokered plan to unblock grain trapped by Russia’s war and bring relief to some of the millions worldwide on the brink of starvation.
🔥 Oh! America, your man Abiy Ahmed Ali continues Massacring and starving millions of Christians of Northern Ethiopia to death – for 600 days. Please get rid of the anti-Christian fascist Oromo regime that hijacked Ethiopia + ‘your’ evil monster PM Abiy Ahmed Ali now. STOP babysitting and supporting this genocidal monster!
😈 ሮማውያኑ ጣልያኖች አልለቀቁንም/ አይለቁንም
💭 Lake Mead: Drought-stricken reservoir near Vegas hits new lowest level since 1930s.
Lake Mead and Lake Powell, the 2 largest reservoirs in the US, which provide water to over 40 million Americans in Nevada, Arizona and California, are at their lowest levels ever.
This will have unprecedented consequences and require drastic water restrictions never seen before.
Major water cutbacks loom as shrinking Colorado River nears ‘moment of reckoning’
As the West endures another year of unrelenting drought worsened by climate change, the Colorado River’s reservoirs have declined so low that major water cuts will be necessary next year to reduce risks of supplies reaching perilously low levels, a top federal water official said Tuesday.
Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said during a Senate hearing in Washington that federal officials now believe protecting “critical levels” at the country’s largest reservoirs — Lake Mead and Lake Powell — will require much larger reductions in water deliveries.
“A warmer, drier West is what we are seeing today,” Touton told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. “And the challenges we are seeing today are unlike anything we have seen in our history.”
The needed cuts, she said, amount to between 2 million and 4 million acre-feet next year.
For comparison, California is entitled to 4.4 million acre-feet of Colorado River water per year, while Arizona’s allotment is 2.8 million.
The push for a new emergency deal to cope with the Colorado River’s shrinking flow comes just seven months after officials from California, Arizona and Nevada signed an agreement to take significantly less water out of Lake Mead, and six weeks after the federal government announced it is holding back a large quantity of water in Lake Powell to reduce risks of the reservoir dropping to a point where Glen Canyon Dam would no longer generate electricity.
Despite those efforts and a previous deal among the states to share in the shortages, the two reservoirs stand at or near record-low levels. Lake Mead near Las Vegas has dropped to 28% of its full capacity, while Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border is now just 27% full.
Touton said it’s critical to achieve the additional cutbacks and her agency is in talks with the seven states that depend on the river to develop a plan for the reductions in the next 60 days. She warned that the Bureau of Reclamation has the authority to “act unilaterally to protect the system, and we will protect the system.”
Though Touton didn’t spell out what that could entail, the Interior Department could impose cuts if the states fail to reach an agreement on their own. Touton said her agency is “working with the states and tribes in having this discussion.”
“We need to see the work. We need to see the action,” Touton said, calling for representatives of the states “to stay at the table until the job is done.”
The Colorado River supplies water to nearly 40 million people in cities from Denver to Los Angeles and farmlands from the Rocky Mountains to the U.S.-Mexico border. The river has long been over-allocated, and its reservoirs have declined dramatically since 2000 during a severe drought that research shows is being intensified by global warming and that some scientists describe as the long-term “aridification” of the Southwest.
The largest river in northern Italy is starting to dry up, as the region grapples with the worst drought the country has seen in 70 years.
Unusually low levels of River Po – Italy’s largest river – are transforming the country’s large fertile region, affecting crop production and threatening the densely populated region with a serious drinking water shortage.
While Northern Italy hasn’t seen normal rainfall for more than 110 days, the problems start in the mountains where the seasonal snowfall has been at its lowest for 20 years – 50% less than the seasonal average.
Rivers and streams in the Po district are at critical levels due to scarce winter precipitation, both snow and rain, causing severe to extremely severe drought conditions not seen in the region in 70 years, according to the Po River Basin Authority.
All measuring stations at the Po River, with the exception of Piacenza, are in severe drought conditions, with flow rates well below the averages for the period.
The precipitation that fell in May was mainly due to localized thunderstorms, even violent, but not sufficient to fill the deficit since the beginning of the year.
Temperatures in the month of May were above average for the period, with maximum values close to or locally above historical records for the month, with significant thermal anomalies beyond the first appearance of the first heat waves, which generated a sharp increase in the phenomenon of evapotranspiration.
At a monitoring station in Boretto, Alessio Picarelli, head of the Interregional Body of the Po River (AIPO), received results that the Po was measuring 2.9 m (9.5 feet) below the zero gauge height, which is drastically below the seasonal average. This is causing the seawater to be sucked back upstream, bringing saltwater into the earth and poisoning crops.2
According to the farmers’ association Coldiretti, the drought in the Po River Valley threatens more than 30% of national agricultural production, including tomato sauce, fruit, vegetables, and wheat, and half of the livestock of the country.
“In the face of a water crisis, the severity of which is about to surpass what has ever been recorded since the beginning of the last century, we ask that a state of emergency be declared as soon as possible in the territories concerned, taking into account the serious prejudice of national interests,” the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, said in the letter sent to Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Rome, Enough is Enough! Roma, Basta!
In Historical Context, Rome Caused Massive Destruction to The Zionist Community of Northern Ethiopia.
Esau is The Ancestor of Pagan Rome
The most hated of [God’s] sons is in your womb, as it says (Mal 1:3), “But Esau I have hated…”
Malachi used by Paul in Romans: God hates Esau, says the prophet Malachi, but in this case, Esau is not a code for Paul’s opponents but for the Roman Empire.
Edomites Descendants of Esau
The Edomites were the descendants of Esau, the firstborn son of Isaac and the twin brother of Jacob. In the womb, Esau and Jacob struggled together, and God told their mother, Rebekah, that they would become two nations, with the older one serving the younger (Genesis 25:23). As an adult, Esau rashly sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of red soup (Genesis 25:30-34), and he hated his brother afterward. Esau became the father of the Edomites and Jacob became the father of the Israelites, and the two nations continued to struggle through most of their history. In the Bible, “Seir” (Joshua 24:4), “Bozrah” (Isaiah 63:1) and “Sela” (2 Kings 14:7) are references to Edom’s land and capital. Sela is better known today as Petra.
The name “Edom” comes from a Semitic word meaning “red,” and the land south of the Dead Sea was given that name because of the red sandstone so prominent in the topography. Esau, because of the soup for which he traded his birthright, became known as Edom, and later moved his family into the hill country of the same name. Genesis 36 recounts the early history of the Edomites, stating that they had kings reigning over them long before Israel had a king (Genesis 36:31). The religion of the Edomites was similar to that of other pagan societies who worshiped fertility gods. Esau’s descendants eventually dominated the southern lands and made their living by agriculture and trade. One of the ancient trade routes, the King’s Highway (Numbers 20:17) passed through Edom, and when the Israelites requested permission to use the route on their exodus from Egypt, they were rejected by force.
Because they were close relatives, the Israelites were forbidden to hate the Edomites (Deuteronomy 23:7). However, the Edomites regularly attacked Israel, and many wars were fought as a result. King Saul fought against the Edomites, and King David subjugated them, establishing military garrisons in Edom. With control over Edomite territory, Israel had access to the port of Ezion-Geber on the Red Sea, from which King Solomon sent out many expeditions. After the reign of Solomon, the Edomites revolted and had some freedom until they were subdued by the Assyrians under Tiglath-pileser.
During the Maccabean wars, the Edomites were subjugated by the Jews and forced to convert to Judaism. Through it all, the Edomites maintained much of their old hatred for the Jews. When Greek became the common language, the Edomites were called Idumaeans. With the rise of the Roman Empire, an Idumaean whose father had converted to Judaism was named king of Judea. That Idumaean is known in history as King Herod the Great, the tyrant who ordered a massacre in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the Christ child (Matthew 2:16-18).
After Herod’s death, the Idumaean people slowly disappeared from history. God had foretold the destruction of the Edomites in Ezekiel 35, saying, “As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel, because it was desolate, so I will deal with you; you shall be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, all of it. Then they will know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 35:15). Despite Edom’s constant efforts to rule over the Jews, God’s prophecy to Rebekah was fulfilled: the older child served the younger, and Israel proved stronger than Edom.
Avenging Africanus: Belisarius and the Roman Empire’s Return to Africa
Fifty years after the Western Roman Empire was toppled by the Goth warlord Odoacer, a new Caesar is crowned in Byzantium. This man, the Emperor Justinian, refuses to accept that Rome’s best days have passed. With the help of his extraordinary young General Belisarius, Justinian will attempt the impossible – to expel the barbarians from Rome’s Lost Lands and to restore the Empire to its former glory. Join them on their adventure in the LEGEND OF AFRICANUS trilogy. In AVENGING AFRICANUS, the sequel to FROM AFRICANUS, General Belisarius leads Valentinian and the Roman Army on a perilous journey across Mare Nostrum to Africa in order to punish the Vandals for the Sack of Rome a century before, their invasion of Rome’s African province, and their role in the collapse of the Western Empire. The journey is perilous – many prior expeditions against the Vandals had been tried and failed. The Vandal horde outnumbers the Romans twenty to one. If they fail there will be no rescue. If they prevail, the Emperor Justinian’s plan for restoring the Western Empire will be within reach.
❖ One of The Oldest Christian Aksumite Churches Discovered in Ethiopia
😈 Edomite Pagan Rome vs ✞The Oldest Christian Nation of Axumite Ethiopia
A stone pendant with a cross and the term “venerable” in Ethiopia’s ancient Ge’ez script
Some people believe that they know everything about Christianity and its spread, but they don’t know that one of the oldest Christian churches of the Aksumites was discovered in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Christians claim that their church is one of the oldest. The Christian faith in this area, as they believe, was brought by the first companions of the faith in ancient apostolic times. A recent archaeological find in northern Ethiopia may surprise some Christians and people who have nothing to do with Christianity.
The area where archaeologists have unearthed the ruins of an ancient Christian church was once part of the mighty Aksumite Empire. During its heyday, this empire covered the territories of modern Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia and part of the Arabian Peninsula, the researchers note.
Historians managed to unearth the remains of an important site of the Aksumite Empire: a large commercial and religious centre. This ancient city was located north of the Sahara. Between the capital of the empire – Aksum, on the one hand, and the Red Sea, which the then inhabitants of this land called Yeha, on the other hand. The remains of a settlement unearthed during excavations may help reveal some of the mysteries surrounding the rise and fall of this oldest African empire.
Archaeologist Michael Harrower of Johns Hopkins University says that the Axum Empire was a very influential and powerful civilization in the ancient world. He also adds that it is a pity that the Western world is completely unaware of this. But, apart from Egypt and Sudan, which everyone knows about, the Aksumites are the earliest civilization with a complex structure on the African continent.
On the territory of Beta Samati, researchers found a whole group of commercial buildings, many residential buildings. The most important discovery was the discovery of one of the oldest Christian temples in Africa. Archaeologists attributed this structure to the 4th century AD. It is believed that it was built sometime after Christianity was adopted in Aksum. On the temple’s territory, archaeologists have found a well-preserved pendant, coins, figurines and vessels for transporting wine.
The most exciting find was a black stone pendant with an inscription in the shape of a cross. The descriptions on the pendant are made with the letters of the Ethiopian alphabet. This alphabet is still used in the region. Harrower also said the pendant was the size to hang around the neck and was likely worn by a local priest. The archaeological team also found a ring.
A stone pendant with a cross and the term “venerable” in Ethiopia’s ancient Ge’ez script
The ring is forged from copper. It was covered with gold leaf on top. The jeweller who made the ring adorned it with carnelian – a gemstone of red colour. The stone is engraved in the form of a bull’s head with a wreath or a vine above its head.
The researchers determined the construction of the discovered Christian temple as the same period when Christianity was first legalized by the Roman emperor Constantine. Rome was about 3000 miles from Axum.
The Axumite Empire connected Rome and Byzantium. It was an extensive network of trade routes. Despite all this, little is known about the Aksumites.
There is a version that the king of Ezana converted the empire to Christianity in the middle of the fourth century, and soon after, this church was built. The building is quite large, very similar in style to the ancient Roman basilicas.
Researchers found many artefacts of both secular and religious nature inside the structure, including crosses, animal figurines, seals and tokens, which were most likely used for trade. Overall, the items they found suggested a mix of Christian and pre-Christian beliefs, as would be expected at the beginning of the spread of the faith.
The Aksum Empire was mighty and influential until the 8-9 centuries when its decline began. Islam came to the region. Muslims seized control of trade in the Red Sea. And the once-mighty empire disappeared over time.
It is fascinating that despite the spread of Islam, the Christian faith remained solid and predominant in this region. Even when in the 16th century, the area was captured by Muslims from Somalia and the Ottoman Empire. Despite this, the inhabitants of the region have preserved the Christian faith. Even now, almost half of the country consider themselves members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
There are many other ancient Christian churches in Ethiopia. Many of them were built during the Middle Ages – not as venerable as archaeologists have discovered today. Their construction is very curious. They are built underground! The depth of the square pits where these temples were built reaches 50 meters. This is the height of two nine-story buildings!
These buildings have a roof and cross-shaped windows. Everything was built of stone. These churches are significantly younger than the ones found at Beta Sameti. There are several theories about who might have made these churches. Some say that the temples were built by the order of King Lalibela. He visited Jerusalem, was very upset that the temple in the holy land was destroyed, and the king decided to build his “new Jerusalem”. Other historians claim that the Templars built the temples. And there is a fantastic version that angels in one night erected the churches.
There is not much concrete evidence to support any of the theories, but one thing is clear: Ethiopia’s claim that it is the oldest “official” Christian country in the world has very concrete grounding.
💭 Nomadic Communities Are at ‘Brink of Starvation’, Says Charity Report
👉 From “The Independent”
Severe drought and hunger in Ethiopia have caused unusual animal behaviour, including monkeys attacking children and livestock out of hunger, according to a Save the Children report.
Malnutrition rates across east and south-eastern Ethiopia have soared in recent months as drought, displacement and conflict have a significant impact. The charity now estimates that 185,000 children are suffering from the most deadly form of malnutrition.
A prolonged drought alongside the disruption of health services due to instability, the pandemic, as well as a lack of funding has left over a million people in need of urgent nutrition support across the region.
Extreme malnutrition is only expected to get worse in the coming months as food prices continue to rise due to the devaluation of the Ethiopian birr and the war in Ukraine.
Farming communities are among the worst hit as one of the Horn of Africa’s worst droughts kills their herds. In the Dawa zone of the Somali region, the pastoral nomadic community is “at the brink of starvation”.
Ahmed, 40, and a father of seven living in the Somali region of Ethiopia recently lost his livestock in the drought. He left his village with his children in search of food and water.
“I do not know how to feed my children. The rain failed. The grass withered. My sheep and goats died, along with hundreds and thousands of animals from our village,” he said.
“We packed our meagre possessions on the donkey cart and set out at midnight.”
About 8.1 million people in Ethiopia have now been impacted by the prolonged drought, while close to 30 million people – or a quarter of the population – are estimated to be in need of humanitarian aid, including 12 million children.
The climate crisis has brought about severe drought across the Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. More than 23 million people are experiencing extreme hunger across the three countries, with 5.8 million children extremely malnourished.
Xavier Joubert, Save the Children’s Country Director in Ethiopia, said: “Children – especially small children – are bearing the brunt of a harrowing and multifaceted crisis in Ethiopia. A prolonged, expanding, and debilitating drought is grinding away at their resilience, already worn down by a gruelling conflict and two years of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Sadly, in 2022, the crisis in Ethiopia grew in complexity and scale. In the south and the east, prolonged drought is devastating lives and livelihoods; in the north, millions of displaced families barely have access to food, health services, livelihoods; and in the southwest, a hidden conflict is displacing hundreds of thousands.
“Families who have fled drought or conflict have left with very little, some only with their children and clothes on their backs. Though some families are returning home, they find their houses, hospitals, and schools damaged or destroyed, and their livelihoods lost.”
💭The Eclipse of June 21st, 2020 Cut Exactly over Iconic Lalibela in Ethiopia
Lalibela is one of the oldest towns in Ethiopia located in the Northern part of the country and was seat of the Zagwe dynasty that ruled Ethiopia in the 12th and 13th century.
According to scripts of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Lalibela is considered as the second holy city of Christianity following Jerusalem, due to its 11 monolithic rock-hewn churches.
King Lalibela, whom the town has renamed after him, has carved 11 monolithic churches hoping to create the ‘new Jerusalem in Ethiopia”.
King Lalibela was born on the same day with Jesus Christ; he carved fascinating Churches, and Lalibela represents his spiritual devotion.
The rock hewn churches of Lalibela, which carved out of rock in the 12th century, are inscribed by UNESCO as world heritages.
This annular solar eclipse was fully visible in Lalibela. This one was viewd from the exulted surrounding of Lalibela’s 12th century rock-cut churches in Ethiopia. Observers there could experience the “ring of fire” that is characteristic for this kind of solar eclipse. This was a rare and spectacular event that could only be experienced along a relatively narrow strip on the Earth’s surface.
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