UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
There is reason to think that this typology in the architecture reflects a social
hierarchy.
To the south and east of the town there are religious edifices which are
outwardly very much like the other structures: they have a central building
surrounded by courtyards and outhouses; the method of construction was
exactly the same. One of these edifices is a sort of funerary chapel rather
like Kaleb's Tomb at Aksum, though not so large. It is 15 metres long
and 10 wide, and stands over a crypt which is reached by a flight of
fourteen steps.
To the east another church - the third from the bottom of four distinct
layers of ruins - had a central nave and side-aisles divided from the nave
by two rows of four pillars, of which the bases are still extant. An apse
with a room on either side lies on the same axis as the nave, which is oriented
in the same direction in all buildings of this kind. The outer walls are
22-4 metres long and 13-5 metres wide. A baptismal tank has been found
in a room on the east side of the church, behind the apse. Water was
delivered into the tank by a series of amphoras fittedinto each other so
as to form a conduit running down the wall outside.
There was another church on the hill of Goual-Saim, to the south of
the site, but here most of the walls have been destroyed and the lay-out is
scarcely visible. However, there are some vestiges of a schist pavement and
of the bases of pillars. It was a comparatively small building.
Kohaito
On this site, which lies north of Matara at a height of 2600 metres, many
ruins of architectural interest can be seen. Ten or so mounds scattered
over quite a large area contain the remains of large buildings belonging
to the end of the Aksumite period and, in all probability, fragments of still
older structures. Several pillars are still standing on the mounds. It is
thought that most of them belonged to churches of about the same size
as those at Matara. The walls on all the hillocks display the features of
Aksumite masonry work and are laid out on the same rectangular pattern
as those visible on other sites of the period. Seven of these architectural
complexes can easily be discerned. As well as these ruined buildings, to
the north-north-east there was a dam consisting of regular courses of
perfectly fittedblocks of stone. Its function was to impound the water on
the south-eastern side of a natural basin commonly known as the Safra
basin. The dam is 67 metres long and stands about 3 metres high in its
central section, where two sets of projecting stones form steps leading down
from the top of the dam to the water.
To the east there is a rock-hewn shaft tomb which comprises two rooms
or burial-vaults. A cross of the Aksumite type cut into the rock adorns one
of the sides of the tomb.
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