ABBA GERIMA MONASTERY

[africangear]

One of the Nine Saints settled on the southern fringe of the Adwa mountain chains, now known as the Abba Gerima Monastery. To be precise, it is located at about 8 km south-east of the town of Adwa. The monastery houses the oldest known Tigrayan manuscript, a vellum gospel book, carton dated to the Late Aksumite period (6th century). The gospel is bound in two volumes, although it seems that there were originally three books, each comprising the four gospels and a set of canon tables. They are illustrated with portraits of the evangelists, standing and holding books in a pose seen later at the church of Golgotha at Lalibela, Ethiopia. The text is in Ge'ez, although there are clear Syrian and Armenian influences in the pictorial and decorative elements, some of which may have had a stylistic influence on the detailing of the orthodox churches. Apart from being one of the oldest places of Christian worship in the country, the monastery is also famous for being the resting place of the body of the most famous of all African Generals, Ras Alula Aba Nega.

ABBA GERIMA MONASTERY