Ethiopian Sights: Ethiopia in Pictures

Words are not enough to describe the full beauty of Ethiopia. Our Ethiopian picture galleries bring together a collection of eye-opening images, while our videos bring the scenes to life, as well as explaining our life-saving work in the country.

All of these pictures from Ethiopia are genuine and unedited. We don’t attempt to exaggerate the country’s poverty. Instead, we simply catalog what we see, as we see it. We invite you to immerse yourself in the culture, to witness the traditional way of life, and to see the people of Ethiopia at work, rest, and play…

Women, Girls & Water

Wells of Life

According to legend, the True Cross on which Jesus Christ was crucified, was found by St. Helena—the mother of Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity—in the 4th century. [9]

A relic of the True Cross was later given to Ethiopia’s kings for protecting Coptic Christians in their country. Meskel celebrates the arrival of the True Cross in Ethiopia and has been celebrated there for more than 1,600 years.[9]

In the 1930s, a group of Jamaicans came to believe that Haile Selassie was a messiah of Biblical teachings: believing Jesus was black and the emperor was his incarnation and the leader of an independent African nation.[9]

Before Halie Selassie chose his imperial name, which means “the power of the trinity,” his name was Tafari Makonnen. He was serving as the Ras, or regional governor, before he became emperor.[9]

Ras Tafari, which means “Prince Tafari” in Amharic, lent his name to the religion, Rastafarianism. Although the Rastafari movement did evolve in Jamaica, it began in Ethiopia.[11]

Aksum is famous as a claimant to the final resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, the chest containing the 10 commandments God gave to Moses.[16]

Ethiopia is mentioned 40 times in the Bible and it is one of the few countries mentioned in the Bible, the Koran, Homer’s Odyssey, and many other ancient books.[9]

Tewahedo, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, is one of the oldest forms of Christianity in the world. It came to Ethiopia from Egypt, where Egyptians belonged to the Coptic Church.[11]

Around A.D. 330, Frumentius, the Apostle of Ethiopia, converted the Axumite king Ezana, who made Christianity the empire’s official religion. Today, 40% of Ethiopians practice Christianity.[11]

Ethiopia was the first country to accept Islam as a religion and it sheltered the Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his followers when they were being persecuted and killed by pagan Arabians. Today, 35% of Ethiopia is Muslim.[3]

The Garima Gospels, the oldest illustrated Christian book, is in Ethiopia. It was written about A.D. 494 by the Abba Garima, a monk who arrived in Ethiopia from Constantinople. According to legend, he wrote the book in one day.[2]

Ethiopia is home to the Black Jews, known as the Falashas or Beta Israel (House of Israel). Various legends claim they are a lost tribe of Israel or descendants of King Solomon.[11]

The first Muslim call to prayer was done by an Ethiopian named Bilal Ibn Rabah, and the first mosque to be built outside of Arabia was the Al Nejashi mosque in northern Ethiopia.[5]

King Ezana is thought to be the man behind the first church in Ethiopia. Built in the 4th century, its remains can still be seen next door to the St. Mary of Zion Church in Aksum.[3]

Traditionalists believe that Ethiopia’s Oromo religion, whose God is called Waka, is the oldest, monotheistic religion in the world and that Moses borrowed the Ten Commandments from them.[2]

Ethiopian Sights: Ethiopia in Pictures

Ethiopian Sights and Sounds