...Much of Ethiopia was officially closed to foreigners during the years the dictator Haile Mariam Mengistu ruled with Soviet support. In 1992, after a long and protracted guerrilla campaign, he was ousted by joint Eritrean and Tigrean factions.
In 1995 I visited the country to shoot a story on the remote rock churches mainly in the Gheralta region of Tigre.
Christianity dates from 4th century and the country has preserved the traditions of the earliest forms of the Orthodox Coptic church, and claims to this day to harbour the original Ark of the Covenant brought in the 10th century from King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.
The preservation of rock churches within the monastic tradition in remote regions of the north is unique in the history of Christianity. Later I also visited Lalibela, Gondar, Axum, Harar and regions in the south from Awasa to Gambella...