Ethiopia is 40% Orthodox Christian and 64% Christian overall. Muslims make up 35% of the population, according to Pew-Templeton’s Global Religious Futures Project.

Armed with a bamboo ink pen and a steady hand, Ethiopian Orthodox priest Zelalem Mola carefully copies text in the ancient Ge’ez language from a religious book onto a goatskin parchment. This ...

As a stranger draws near, priest Mesganaw Tarkgn whips on an embroidered cape and raises an ancient cross in a picture-perfect pose. He is used to the demands of visitors to one of Ethiopia's ...

Joseph travels to Northern Ethiopia to uncover its ancient history. Joseph travels Northern Ethiopia from the monasteries of Lake Tana to the castles of King Fasiladas in Gondar and the rock-hewn ...

These books, known as the Orit, are sacred to Beta Israel, the ancient Ethiopian Jewish community. They are now the oldest known Jewish manuscripts of their kind in the world.

Ethiopia has always held me in thrall. It is a cradle of prehistoric humankind. It embraced Christianity long before the missionaries arrived. Its people carved subterranean churches out of solid ...

The festival’s curious blend of saintliness and savagery, paganism and piety, is typical of the ancient, isolated Ethiopian Church, which has managed to keep Christianity alive in its corner of ...

But, the 29 th of Cheshvan is a Jewish holiday – the festival of Sigd, an Ethiopian Jewish festival. “Sigd” means “prostration” in Ge’ez, an ancient Ethiopian liturgical language.

Worshippers kiss the holy Gospel during service at Re'ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025.

FILE - This Oct. 16, 2017, file photo, shows one of the 12th century churches carved from stone in Lalibela, Ethiopia. The architectural marvels are one of the country's most magical attractions ...

Congregants attend an hours-long service at Re’ese Adbarat Debre Selam Kidist Mariam Church, an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo church, in Washington, D.C., Saturday, April 5, 2025.