Ethiopia's Lalibäla and the fall of Jerusalem 1187

Abstract

Although there is no conclusive proof that the fall of Jerusalem in 1187 was not the main reason for hewing the churches at Lalibäla out of the rocks, there seem to be enough indications that the incentive for the enterprise is to be looked for in the internal politics in Ethiopia at the turn of the XIII^th century. The fact that the relations with the most important Muslim power of the time were rather friendly, in any case not hostile, may corroborate this view.

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