Archaeologists Unearthed Lost Ruins In Ethiopia That Have Major Implications For Christianity

Laboring away in the rugged landscape of Ethiopia’s northern uplands, a specialist archaeological crew are about to hit paydirt. While the team excavate an area only 30 miles or so from the capital of the former Kingdom of Aksum, they come across a building hidden by the earth. And this find isn’t just remarkable for how it may affect our understanding of this ancient civilization. You see, the relics may also completely transform how we view early Christianity.

Excavation begins

The potentially history-changing discovery was made within the context of a five-year operation, which started in 2011 and ended in 2016. And the work took place about 70 miles from the Red Sea – and not far from Ethiopia’s neighboring country of Eritrea – at an excavation site once known as Beta Samati. This name means “house of audience” when translated from an East African language called Tigrinya.

Long overlooked

Before 2009, however, the area hadn’t been of much interest to archaeological experts. In fact, the specialists’ attention was only drawn to the site when people living nearby suggested that they should visit a certain hill. This slope, the locals knew, was historically critical – though the reasons for this weren’t understood. Nonetheless, the hill had featured in the natives’ stories for generations.

Numerous breakthroughs

So, led by Johns Hopkins University’s Michael Harrower, the archaeologists eventually got to work in the area. And throughout the course of their research, the team had a number of important breakthroughs that have helped to paint a clearer picture of the region – as well as the ancient kingdom that once ruled there.

A great trading empire

Although things were a little more vague before these discoveries were made, historians had already constructed a broad narrative of the Kingdom of Aksum. Essentially, Aksum was seen to be a “trading empire” that at one point encompassed a vast area throughout East Africa and West Asia. In today’s terms, it would’ve fallen within the borders of Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Egypt, Somalia, Djibouti, Saudi Arabia and Yemen.