ʾAksum Ṣǝyon
Francesca Panini
Names
አክሱም፡ ጽዮን፡↗ normalized: ʾAksum Ṣǝyon↗ alt: ማርያም፡ ጽዮን፡↗ normalized: Māryām Ṣǝyon↗ Mary of Zion↗ alt: ገበዘ፡ ጽዮን፡↗ normalized: Gabaza Ṣǝyon↗ Māryām Ṣǝyon↗
አክሱም፡ ጽዮን፡am
alt: ማርያም፡ ጽዮን፡gez
alt: ገበዘ፡ ጽዮን፡gez
General information
description: The Maṣḥāfa ʾAksum describes ʾAksum Ṣǝyon in technical terms while Francisco Alvares describes the old church as "very large; it has five aisles of good width and great length, vaulted above, and all the vaults closed, the ceiling and sides all painted. Below, the body of the church is well worked with handsome cut stone; it has seven chapels, all with their backs to the east, and their altars well ornamented. It has a choir after our fashion, except that it is low, and they reach the vaulted roof with their heads; and the choir is also over the vault, and they do not use it." Following the church reconstruction by Śarṣa Dǝngǝl , it is described by the sources as presenting a new smaller church built into the remains and walls of a larger older church. The local tradition maintains that the Ark of the Covenant is in the church of ʾAksum Ṣǝyon.
History
history: The church of ʾAksum Ṣǝyon has a long and complex history of destructions and reconstructions with a number of legendary aspects. It has a key role in Ethiopia's cultural heritage and is referred to in a number of sources: Maṣḥāfa ʾAksum, Francisco Alvares 's account (ca. 1520 ), Gadla Libānos (1400 ), Iter de Venetiis ad Indiam (1400 ), etc. Although the remains of ancient structures were identified under or embedded in today's church, the early history of this church is hard to reconstruct and involved legendary figures such as ʾAbrǝhā and ʾAṣbǝḥā and ? ʾƎsāto . Gadla Libānos refers that ? Dāwit II ordered the church restored in 1406 . The possessions of the church grew significantly over time and Maṣḥāfa ʾAksum records a number of land grants to the church. ʾAksum Ṣǝyon was destroyed in 1535 by Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-Ġāzī and then rebuilt by ? Śarṣa Dǝngǝl in the second half of the 16th cent. According to a Jesuit annual letter, it was burned down by the Oromo in 1611 but it was probably quickly restored as the church was visited and described by Manoel de Almeida , Tomás Barreto and Manoel Barradas in the 1620s - early 1630s. The church was restored in 1655 by ? Fāsiladas and again in 1749-50 by ? ʾIyāsu II . Following this last restoration the church has remained the same, except for some 19th-20th cent. alterations, while the surrounding buildings have experienced radical changes including the new round church of Māryām Ṣǝyon↗ built by ? Ḫāyla Śǝllāse I next to the old one.
Secondary Bibliography
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Munro-Hay, S. 2003. ‘Aksum Ṣǝyon’, in S. Uhlig, ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, I (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), 183b–185a.
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Munro-Hay, S. and R. Fattovich 2003. ‘Aksum’, in S. Uhlig, ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, I (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003), 173b–183b.
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Berry, L. B., J. Quirin, and D. Crummey 2005. ‘Gondär’, in S. Uhlig, ed., Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, II (Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2005), 838a–848a.
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| country | ኢትዮጵያ |
| regional state | Bǝḥerāwi Kǝllǝlāwi Mangǝśti Tǝgrāy |
| province | Tǝgre |
| zone | Māʾkalāy Tǝgrāy |
| town | ʾAksum |
| Coordinates | 14.1305 38.7195 |
Use the tag BetMas:LOC1311AksumS in your public hypothes.is annotations which refer to this entity.