1.
Prince Lalibela, the name & place
In
this chapter you can read about Lalibela, the place and the people with
a complete reference. Please see at the end of this chapter a list of
books and sources we used to obtain all our information.
All
you are about to read here is about Lalibela, a place originally called
'Kingdom of Roha' which was the base of the Zagwe dynasty between 1125
and 1415 AD. The name Lalibela was given later on to honor the King who make it famous! The
king was named so by his mother as she show her baby in the cradle
encircled by a swarm of bees without harming him... In the old days
there was a believe that any one approached but not harmed by wild
animals or insects for that matter, would be later in his life great!
Prince Lalibela was brought up in a respectful
and religious manner raising jealousness from his brother who wanted the
throne for himself... Lalibela's brother prince Herbay tried to poison
him and Lalibela's friends convinced him to travel away for a while...
Prince Lalibela was deeply religious and started a
monastic life. Around the year 1187
he travel to Jerusalem. It was the time
of the 2d crusade and some French
monks, later called 'the knights of the holy temple of Jerusalem', in short Templars
were protecting Jerusalem. They were fighting monks protecting all
Holy places and
builder/architects at the same time! They have build the Dome as it
survives until today and many other historical buildings. Theoderic,
a
German monk visiting Jerusalem just before it fall under Salahedin
army, commended ' The Templars skills are superb, they have rebuild
most historical buildings with perfection!'
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Inside ST. Golgotha Church in Lalibela,
a sculpture on the granite rock reassembling the picture on the
left! This I have copied from a French publication depicting the
founder of the Templars!
* Click above
ST. George's Church with a shape of a cross.
We can clearly see the engraved double-cross on the roof, definitely a
Knights Templar design!
Click above in order to see a more detailed description with drawings!
Also you can see another Knights Templar cross engraved in the inside ceiling of this
Church!
2. History: Jerusalem
and the Templars
Well documented sources tell us that beyond the
protection the Templars offered to travelers and visitors to the Holly
Temple, they were looking for certain artifacts: the famous holy Grail
and the Ark of the covenant! They excavated year after year underneath
and around the Holy Temple but they have
only found valuable scrolls! Showing their finds in France they have got
recognition and financial support and at the same time new recruits! When Lalibela met the Templars
they talked about life in Ethiopia and among other things prince
Lalibela told them that during certain religious festivities they parade
the original Ark of the covenant... (Please see the separate chapter
about the Ark of the covenant) We don't know exactly how but most
probably the Templars traveled to Ethiopia and restored Lalibela as King deposing his
brother Herbay! There is no proof of what exactly happened but a long letter survived until today in the Vatican
library that apparently Herbay (Lalibela's brother) with the pseudonym "Prester John" send to Pope Clement
complaining about his brother and the 'treacherous French monks!' Most
probably his spies did inform him about the possible forthcoming
visit to Ethiopia... Another indication of Lalibelas presence in
Jerusalem is that today we can still see the chapel where the
Ethiopian Orthodox priests were based! History tell us that when Salahedin invaded
and captured Jerusalem with an ingenious trick, the Ethiopians requested to stay! Salahedin respected their
plea and granted them the right to stay and take care of the Holy place...
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Priests performing a Holy mass inside ST. Emanuel Church
* Click above
ST. Gabriel, see a detailed description of the
first group of Churches with drawings!
* Click above
ST. Emanuel, see a detailed description of the
second group
of Churches with drawings!
3.
The 11 rock hewn Churches in Lalibela
In Lalibela there are 11 rock hewn Churches
build with a proven finess and with an architect's expertise! Our guess is that when
the Templars arrived there and saw the Ark of the covenant they did respond to
king Lalibela's request to build these marvelous Churches!
Bianchi
and Bariviera, two Italian architects visiting Lalibela in 1936 and
mapped the whole area! Their observation was:
“After careful study we discover that the
Churches in a group are set on certain levels, in order to carry off
the heavy summer rains. All trenches serve as a walking path and a
drainage system! Churches whose placing conforms to the slope of the
terrain, then the ridge of the roof, the gutter edges and the base
of the plinth are slanted in line with it! Whoever experience the
'rainy season’ in the Ethiopian highlands will appreciate the
great skill shown by these early architects and builders to
arrange that a 100% drainage was established !”
Bianchi and Bariviera were the first
architects who studied the buildings and made professional drawings
of every group and every Church!
These Italian architects realized that the builders must have had
exceptional building skills baring in mind that
all Churches were build within 10 years starting at Lalibela’s
return from exile around 1187!I have visited
Lalibela myself four times and each time I was speechless looking at
these *monolithic structures! All visitors asking
themselves how is it possible to maintain such an accuracy when none
of the buildings are formed by cement but instead people carved the
granite rocks inside out with such a perfection for years in
order to create such a beautiful and harmonious designs! The ones of you
who are studying architecture will understand why the structure of
ST. George Church is in every 7 meters 30 cm smaller in diameter
while a decorative 'rim' disguise this difference making impossible
for our eyes to detect! Because of our eye habit, big and bulky
buildings look bigger as they are higher!Back
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* Click aboveand see a video clip with
some of the Churches!
On the left side of the porch in front of the
Cathedral we see the Ark loaded on a cart traveling to Ethiopia...
4. The
connection with Chartres Cathedral in France
Chartres Cathedral in France was build
around the 12th century by very experienced architects and
masons. It was the first Cathedral in Europe adopting the finest and
new for that time ‘Gothic’ style! The north entrance is devoted to
Old Testament themes and many statuettes are carved to give that
impression! As you observe them from a distance, we can for sure say
that they are not a mere decoration but there is a strong belief
that the builders wanted somehow to tell future generations of a
long forgotten story... They decided that if written, it could
somehow be lost or distorted!In the north entrance, among Holy Mary
and Jesus, Abraham, Moses, Samuel and king David are depicted among
the statuettes.On the left we can clearly recognize
Melchizedek the mysterious king - priest mentioned shortly in
Genesis Chapter #14.In his left hand is holding a cup or
otherwise known as a 'Grail' with a piece of bread inside which some
believe to be a stone! For many religious scholars he is viewed as
precursor of Jesus Christ!On the left we can clearly see an ox
cart loaded with a box which reassembles the Ark of the Covenant as
its dimensions fit the Biblical description! On the right side we can again
recognize Queen of Sheba as a full statue with her negroid maid on
her knees! As the cart is moving to the right, towards Queen of
Sheba, we can easily understand that the builders wanted to tell
future generations through these sculptures the story in the
Ethiopian 'Kebra Negast'! The story goes that Menelic, Queen of
Sheba and King Solomon son, took the Arc of the Covenant from Israel
to Ethiopia! We understand, it is impossible that
this story reached Europe at the 12th century! That means that the
Chartres Cathedral builders had somehow good knowledge of it!
Therefore its understood that only the Templars (the knights of
Solomon Temple in Jerusalem) could be the ones knowing about it who
were in Ethiopia at around that time and of course they also were
the builders of Chartres Cathedral!
Melchizedeck a King and priest in old Israel.
Very little is written in the old testament for such an important
person! Many say he was the precursor of Jesus Christ... In his hand
holds the holy Grail!
In the front porch of the Cathedral we can
clearly recognize Queen Sheba in the middle with King Solomon on the
right and her negroid slave on her feet!
5.
The connection with GermanyParcival, an opera or a cryptogram?
'The Young Titurel' was a play written from a
German writer around the 13th century whose name was Wolfgang von Eshenbach...
The
play is about a young singer (troubadour) and has a lot of information
embedded for searching of the Holy Grail and at the same time tells the
story of Queen of Sheba meeting King Solomon and
their ofspring, Menelik who took the Ark of the covenant to Ethiopia...
The original story was in an
old Ethiopian book called kebra Negast (tales of kings) and by no means could have come
to Europe without the involvement of the Templars...
Parzival was an opera written and composed by
Wagner later on with almost the same theme...
I understand that when some Templars
start coming back to Europe the story somehow leaked to the young
writer Wolfgang von Eshenbach...
- The Old
Testament,
King James authorized Bible. It was
first published in 1611 and for a long time it was 'the noblest
English'
literature being a good example among English speaking people and
in public institutions! There were though many serious defects in
it. In the middle of
the 19th century it has been a development of the biblical studies
and together with the discovery of many ancient manuscripts made
it apparent to call for a revision. The Church of England took the
task in 1870 and in 1881 a revised version was published! -
The Old Testament,
Jerusalem Bible. The original was
written in Hebrew including most books written in ancient times,
some from the famous prophets themselves! Nowadays copies in English
are available. -
'Ethiopia and the
Bible' by Dr. Edward Ulendorf -
'Archives from
Elephantine' by Bezaleel Porter A good
description of all findings and the Jewish Temple there! -
The 'Sign & the
Seal' by Graham Hancock,
a lot of information together with
suggestions of the whereabouts of that precious historic relic! -
'Antiquities of
the Jews'
written by Flavius Josephus, a
Pharisee who lived in Jerusalem around the
first century! -
'Legends of the Jews'
by Louis Gunzberg -
The book of 'History'
by Herodotus, a book translated and published by David Green university of
Chicago, US -
'Book of the Arc of the Covenant'
by Julian Morgenstern -
'The discovery of the source of river Nile'
by James Bruce in 1765
James Bruce detailed description
of Ethiopia on his visit at 1765.
- 'Hiram Key'
by Chris Knight & Robert Lowman About the Templars and how some secret scrolls buried
under the Temple in Jerusalem found their way to the basement of
ST. Rosalyn Chapel in Scotland!
the Kingdom of Roha
Back
to Top
Inside ST. Golgotha Church in Lalibela,
a sculpture on the granite rock reassembling the picture on the
left! This I have copied from a French publication depicting the
founder of the Templars!
Priests performing a Holy mass inside ST. Emanuel Church
* Click above
ST. Gabriel, see a detailed description of the
first group of Churches with drawings!
* Click above
ST. Emanuel, see a detailed description of the
second group
of Churches with drawings!
Melchizedeck a King and priest in old Israel.
Very little is written in the old testament for such an important
person! Many say he was the precursor of Jesus Christ... In his hand
holds the holy Grail!
In the front porch of the Cathedral we can
clearly recognize Queen Sheba in the middle with King Solomon on the
right and her negroid slave on her feet!