Gone to Gonder

Admittedly, I know nothing about ancient Ethiopian history, nor do most people since it's not taught in the schools and you're not likely to find an engrossing book on the tables at Barnes and Noble: Yet, if you get past the blur of names and dynasties, Ethiopia offers up some great historical visuals.

I leave Bahir Dar for Gonder--a name suitable for some kind of fantasy video game--a mere 3-4 hours away in a stuffed mini-bus: As long as I sit next to a window, I can create my own personal space, and the run is tolerable. At least the music is not too obnoxious, and the countryside is marginally more prosperous than that between here and Addis. Had the Sudan worked out, I would have entered Ethiopia in Gonder.

Anyway, why come here? First there's the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Fasil Gebbi, better known as the Royal Enclosure--a 17th-century complex of castles and palaces. It was here that Scottish explorer James Bruce wrote about a bacchanalia of raw-meat feasting where women, sitting on either side of a man, would place large cubes of steak into the men's mouths, it being beneath male dignity to touch the meat themselves. After everyone is thus sated, couples would retire behind a screen to make noisy love. 18th-century English society was shocked by these reports and dismissed Bruce's entire work as unbelievable: The dining halls are now empty, but it doesn't take much to imagine what went on in the place.



To the other extreme, Gonder has one of the most interesting churches in Ethiopia. It is a survivor of 19th-century Mahdist/Islamist fanatics who burst out of the Sudan and laid waste to the city. Not too astounding on the outside, the interiors of Debre Birhan Selassie offer a marvel of frescos, topped by at least a hundred faces of angels--Ethiopian style. It's utterly charming.