Ethiopia: The Living Churches of an Ancient Kingdom

This book is amazing and far exceeded my expectations. I could not find many fully illustrated resources on Ethiopia’s ancient architecture, or Africa’s ancient architecture for that matter, and stumbled across this book. Its sheer size is impressive at 500+ large pages.Its pictures are vivid and capture the beauty and imagination of Ethiopia’s ancient architecture all while describing each site’s history and deep rooted ancient Christian customs, in some cases describing a connection to Israel and the Bible. A little pricey, but worth it.

This is one of the most visually stunning books I own, and it is also informative.

Prepare a prominent place in your home to display this work of art!! This book (the word "book" doesn't do it justice, as it is sooo large) is absolutely beautiful! Page after page of amazing photographs, as well as nice descriptions of ancient churches they depict. It is worth every penny!

Extensive volume. Tons of info

One absolutely, magnificent book. The stunning photographs, from the master Nigel Pavitt, exude an understanding and visceral connection between photographer and subject. Furthermore the excellent maps, and the enticing and informative text reveal that this is NO coffee table book, but a deeply thoughtful documentation of Coptic Christianity in Ethiopia.

Vivid pictures and stories make it a easy read and great coffee table book. Everyone who comes to my house sits and looks at it front to back.

I know getting things right is a hard thing as a foreigner and embarking on a huge project like this but this book is well done, and I have bought another book that attempts to cover the churches but I had to return it. This is as close as it gets and beautifully done!

Beautiful book for a totally reasonable price

This is a gorgeous coffee table book. It’s massive (10” x 13.5”, and 2” thick). There are 520 glossy pages full of photographs. There’s minimal text on each church, just enough information to introduce it. Some of the photo captions mention fascinating tidbits that are worth reading (like notes on when certain images started being portrayed in churches. For example, images of the Deposition of Christ (Christ being taken down from the Cross) only show up after the Jesuits started preached in the country in the late 1500s). In a few cases I was disappointed by how few photos there were of a particular monument. Abba Garima, an important monastery and forbidden to women does not have a single image from inside the church, nor is there an explanation for this (like they were unable to enter/photograph it). In contrast, the monastery of Debre Damo, also off limits to women, has some excellent photographs of the buildings and ceiling. The photos themselves are clear with a lot of detail. It’s obvious a lot of work went into them (as mentioned in the 'notes on photography' at the back of the book). If you are interested in Ethiopia, the expanded Christian church, architecture or religious art, this book is worth the price.

Marvellous book with wonderful photos. Fascinating insight but helps that I have been to some of these churches and worked in Ethiopia for a short while.

El libro está perfecto. Ha cubierto mis espectativas.

A visual feast.

A perfect and well detailed insight to Ethiopian extra ordinary country of culture and religion.