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ETHIOPIA<br />
M. M. NINAN<br />
IX<br />
ROCK-HEWN CHURCHES, LALIBELA<br />
» Lalibela:- the city renowned for its 12th AD, 11 rock hewn churches, the Eighth wonders of<br />
the world:<br />
The town of Lalibela was originally known as Roha. It was renamed after the 12th-century King<br />
Lalibela, who was a member of the Zagwe dynasty, which had seized the Ethiopian throne<br />
around 1000 AD. Soon after the period of Islamic conquest of the old Jerusalem by Muslims in<br />
1187 Jerusalem was under the control of the Muslim kings and later under the crusaders. "The<br />
Crusades continued for several centuries after 1291, usually as military campaigns intended to<br />
halt or slow the advance of Muslim power.." Britannica.<br />
King Lalibela's goal was to create a New Jerusalem open to all but incapable of being controled<br />
by earthly political powers. His political intentions were probably to create a sacred city to rival<br />
powerful Axum, with its Ark of the Covenant.<br />
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