New Rock-Hewn Churches of Ethiopia

Location

This recently enlarged rock-hewn church is located high on the north edge of the Gärʿalta massif immediately north east of the mountain in which Maryam Gulsha, also a recently enlarged church, is found. Both mountains are connected to one another by a low, narrow ridge. They overlook the unsurfaced road leading from Megab to the village of Dəgum on the south side of the Ḥawzen Plain. Däbrä Kidanä Mǝḥrät is reached by a steep, sometimes stepped ascent from the valley floor. There are three stages of architectural activity here: a pre-15th-century rock-hewn church, a possibly 18th-century built appendage supported by the rock face on the west side, and a contemporary enlargement of the original rock-hewn church incorporating a south entrance and a new sanctuary. The built church is crumbling. The priest of this ensemble, lives in a farmhouse at the foot of the escarpment. An old monk’s cell attributed to Abba Héllawe Krəstos, lies to the east, slightly below the church. The site was not visited by Ruth Plant.

Church Description

(by Tarn Philipp)

The recent enlargement has relocated the maqdas two bays to the east and introduced a second entrance from the south. The old church was built against the west rock face with only the maqdas carved from the rock. It should be added that the built part of the church is almost certainly a late addition, which reduced the small medieval rock church to the maqdas. The poor condition of the built structure inspired the recent excavation and returned Kidhane Mehret Temsehul to a rock church in its own right.

The church and the area immediately south are raised above the churchyard. The south elevation includes two entrances, each reached by steps. That to the left is the old entrance to the built part of the church. The arched entrance to the right gives access to the expanded rock church. The built addition includes two free standing columns which form a nave and two aisles, two bays in depth. The nave includes a window to the west and rising steps to the east, where a timber framed opening leads to what was the maqdas but is now the continued nave. The old maqdas was circular and included two free standing columns with rounded capitals and an entrance to the beta lehem, north of the church. The recent expansion has preserved these two columns but extended the space deeper within the rock, introducing four additional columns.

Two new columns to the east and one to the north of the preserved columns, indicate the extent of the old maqdas and form new bays to the east and north. A forth column is found south of the two east columns. This column is square in plan but the others are irregular in form and some include chamfered edges. The positioning of the southern column creates an unusual plan, but enables the new south entrance. The north aisle includes a raised west entrance to the beta lehem, once accessed from the maqdas. The relocated maqdas is circular in plan and raised a single step from the nave.

Arches are sprung in all directions from the capitals of the two old columns. An arch crosses the nave from the new east columns and also forms the entrance to the new maqdas. A flat beam is found to the south of the east bay of the nave. The nave ceiling is higher than that of the aisles, which is more or less flat throughout. The nave ceiling boasts a high cupola in the central bay and a recessed square-in-diamond with a central protruding cross in the east bay. The charcoal used to mark out the cross is still visible. The floor slopes downward from the nave to the newly carved south entrance and the surfaces of the enlarged church are generally uneven.

Getting There

Kidhane Mehret Temsehul is a forty five minute drive south east of Hawzien. From Hawzien, take the dirt road past the market. Neither the road nor footpath is signposted, but the built part of the church is visible from below. The church is a steep twenty minute ascent from the Hawzien Plain.

Co-ordinates: 13° 54’ 13’’ N, 39° 28’ 21’’ E