In the ith century, nine monks from
Byzantium arrived in the northern
Ethiopian city of Aksum and, together
with their disciples, ventured deep into
the mountains to develop the art of
excavating monolithic churches. One of
the monks, Abuna Yemata, carved a cave
into the needle pinnacle of Guh (shown
previous and right). Despite the
hazardous ascent, young and old worship
here each Sunday. The church of Maryam
Korkor (let) was excavated later, in the
13th century. Here, prayer sticks are
widely used by the congregation to lean
on during long religious services.116 nationalgeographic.co.uk/travel
ETHIOPIA