These priests marched and stood with the tabot (replicas of the Tablets of the Law, contents of the Ark of the Covenant supposedly resident in Axum, and the sanctifying piece of any Ethiopian Church) on their heads for hours, very patiently. It is a great honor to be selected to carry the tabot, but I wonder how it is on the back. . .
A priest escorts the tabot to the Timkat ceremonies at Jan Meda ffield, Addis Ababa.
Near the beginning of the Timkat (Epiphany) procession, the priests accompanying the tabot (a replica of the Tablets of the Law, said to be the contents of the Ark of the Covenant), which is carried covered, over the head of the priest on the left edge of the image, pause to wait for the tabot of another group of churches to join them in procession to Jan Meda field, where a dozen churches will converge to celebrate together.
Lalibela, envisioned as a second, African, Jerusalem, is a pilgrimage site in Ethiopia, site of churches cut out of the living rock, and home to a great multitude of priests and deacons, who manage the churches, conduct services, and give tours.
This priest is showing off processional crosses from the treasury of his church.
A sun beam coming through a small window illuminates the interior of Bete Golgotha Church.
Sometimes lumped together with its sister church, Bete Debre Sina into the same unit, called Bete Kidus Mikael, Bete Golgotha is meant to evoke its biblical namesake. Inside, in addition to several bas-relief figures and a symbolic tomb of Christ (obscured by curtains), a narrow passageway connects to Trinity chapel, a place so sacred that it is even off-limits to most Lalibela priests.