{"id":1158,"date":"2021-08-12T00:05:58","date_gmt":"2021-08-11T16:05:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/?p=1158"},"modified":"2021-08-12T00:51:36","modified_gmt":"2021-08-11T16:51:36","slug":"centuries-old-rock-hewn-churches-in-ethiopia-threatened-by-warfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/centuries-old-rock-hewn-churches-in-ethiopia-threatened-by-warfare\/","title":{"rendered":"Centuries-Old Rock-Hewn Churches in Ethiopia Threatened by Warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rebels from Ethiopia\u2019s embattled Tigray region have taken control of Lalibela, a\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_unesco-world-heritage-site\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\" data-tag=\"unesco-world-heritage-site\">UNESCO World Heritage Site<\/a>\u00a0famed for its 12th- and 13th- century monolithic rock-hewn churches.<\/p>\n<p>Lalibela is a site of pilgrimage for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Around 250,000 people have fled the region since November after war broke out between the national army and forces from the Tigray People\u2019s Liberation Front (TPLF).<\/p>\n<p>The Ethiopian Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, sent troops to Tigray to quell the rebellion by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\">TPLF<\/a>, which had controlled the country for three decades until Ahmed took power in 2018. Forces from nearby Eritrea have joined Ahmed in the country\u2019s fight against the TPLF.<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, fight for control of the north Ethiopian state of Tigray has expanded to the neighboring regions of Afar and Amhara, where Lalibela is located. United Nations aid chief <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AtelierAuctionsg\">Martin Griffiths<\/a> has stated that more than 5.2 million people across the state are facing starvation. He called on both sides to allow humanitarian services to intervene.<\/p>\n<p>The deputy mayor of Lalibela, Mandefro Tadesse, told the BBC<em>\u00a0<\/em>that he fears for the safety of the historic churches. \u201cThis is the world\u2019s heritage, and we must cooperate to guarantee that this treasure is preserved,\u201d Tadesse said.<\/p>\n<p>The 11 churches in Lalibela were chiseled in the medieval period from monolithic blocks of rock in the mountainous region of Ethiopia. According to according to UNESCO, \u201ctheir building is attributed to King Lalibela who set out to construct in the 12th century a \u2018New Jerusalem,\u2019 after Muslim conquests halted Christian pilgrimages to the holy Land. Lalibela flourished after the decline of the Aksum Empire.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The news comes amid growing evidence that heritage sites across the region are being targeted during a prolonged battle, in what international experts have warned is a \u201ccultural cleansing.\u201d A deacon at the Church of St Mary of Zion, the country\u2019s most sacred Ethiopian Orthodox Church,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AtelierAuctionsg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u00a0told the Associated Press<\/a>\u00a0that, on November 28, Eritrean soldiers stormed the church during a service and opened fire on hundreds of congregators. According to the report, over 800 Ethiopians were murdered after gunfire spilled into the streets.<\/p>\n<p>The 6th-century Debre Damo monastery in Tigray was bombed and looted of its treasures by Eritrean soldiers. Centuries-old manuscripts and other historically significant objects were taken from the monastery\u2019s holdings while the monks\u2019 historic dwellings were destroyed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are reports of looting of manuscripts from Tigrayan churches and monasteries, and warnings that they will sooner or later be taken out of Ethiopia to be sold at antiquities markets in other countries,\u201d a group of experts from the Hiob Ludolf Centre for Ethiopian and Eritrean Studies in Hamburg, Germany, said in a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AtelierAuctionsg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">\u00a0public appeal<\/a>\u00a0in January. \u201cIt is beyond any doubt that the conflict is causing heavy damage to the cultural heritage, but since most communication lines remain cut off and the information coming from the region is minimal, it is difficult to assess the real scope of the losses.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source\uff1ahttps:\/\/www.artnews.com\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rebels from Ethiopia\u2019s embattled Tigray region have taken control of Lalibela, a\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage Site\u00a0famed for its 12th- and 13th- century monolithic rock-hewn churches. Lalibela is a site of pilgrimage for millions of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Around 250,000 people have fled the region since November after war broke out between the national army and forces [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1159,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,13,7,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artist","8":"category-auction","9":"category-events","10":"category-gallery","11":"category-latest-news"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Centuries-Old Rock-Hewn Churches in Ethiopia Threatened by Warfare - Investable Art Auctioneer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rebels from Ethiopia\u2019s embattled Tigray region have taken control of Lalibela, a\u00a0UNESCO World Heritage Site\u00a0famed for its 12th- and 13th- century monolithic rock-hewn churches.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.atelierauction.com\/globalupdates\/artist\/centuries-old-rock-hewn-churches-in-ethiopia-threatened-by-warfare\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Centuries-Old Rock-Hewn Churches in Ethiopia Threatened by Warfare - 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