Panteleon

Today we walked up out of Axum into the countryside - our destination was the 6th century Panteleon Monastery, which is perched on top of a hill 5km outside the city. We had been before, 3 years ago, so we knew the way and what to expect, but this time i had a better camera and was looking forward to taking some good photos.

I don't think that many foreigners make the trip out to Panteleon. The path leads up past the tomb of King Khaleb and then through fields bordered by giant euphorbia and prickly pear. Occasionally you will see people harvesting crops with a sickle, or leading teams of oxen or donkeys. Inevitably you will be followed by children selling cheap brass Axum crosses or just asking for birr/pens/sweeties/stickers.

Arriving at the monastery gates, you meet the priest, who speaks no English, but communicates by gesture. He sits you down in front of a shuttered window and then the performance begins - the showing of the impressive treasures of the monastery museum. Panteleon was founded by Abba Pantaleon, one of the Nine Saints, , who spent his last 45 years standing in a cell healing the sick. The priest lays out a carpet and then places on it two crowns, (allegedly of 6th century Axumite kings), huge silver processional crosses, and two illuminated vellum Bibles. He turns the pages of the Bibles to show the beautiful illustrations and poses, expecting that each one be photographed (which was fine by me).

All the while, we are watched by some boys chanting in Amharic, and the children who followed us up here, ragged children with flies on their faces.

The priest then takes us on a tour of the church and tells us the names of every saint in the paintings on its walls. The final part of the visit is for men only, to enter the monastery itself on the very top of the hill, so I sit in the shade of a tree, waiting with the children and showing them photos on my phone while D and the priest go up the steep flight of steps. 

The photos on my phone are very boring (and how did I come to have so many of Jess?) so I switch to taking photos of the children instead (see extra). Eventually D and the priest return. We give him the necessary Birr and wonder if we'll ever be back here again.

The children follow us most of the way back down the hill.