File:Axumite Window Detail, Bet Emmanuel, Lalibela, Ethiopia (3322714693).jpg
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Like windows in other 13th century rock-hewn churches at Lalibela, this window resembles the top of an Axumite obelisk. This window offers a particularly good example of the fascinating asymmetric detail found in the ledges on each side of the opening. This detail is found on exterior windows and on the capitals and pilasters inside many of the churches in Lalibela, though seldom as well-preserved and precisely executed as in the window shown above. The cropped version of this photo below shows the asymmetric design in greater detail. Conventional wisdom holds that some of the details carved into stone buildings mirror the separate structural components of earlier edifices built from different types of materials. For example, the cube-shaped details below the window at the top of the frame might represent the wooden support beams from an earlier generation of structures. In Bet Emmanuel, which is carved from solid rock, the cubes are part of the material that forms the entire church. What I don't know, and what I'm hoping a viewer can answer, is whether the asymmetric ledges are: 1. vestiges of a former construction method; 2. vestiges of a structural element that once had a function; or 3. purely aesthetic or symbolic. If the asymmetry is symbolic, what does it mean? If the differences between the ledges reflect a past function, what was that function? And, if the asymmetry reflects former construction methods, what were they? ========================================================According to the Bradt Guide Ethiopia by Phillip Briggs (4th ed., November 2005), "Bet Emmanuel is a 12m-high [39' 4"] monolith - the only church of this type in the southeast cluster - and it is considered by art historians to be the finest and most precisely worked church in Lalibela, possibly because it was the private church of the royal family." "The exterior of the church imitates the classical Axumite wood-and-stone built-up church typified by Yemrehanna Kristos outside Lalibela. An ornamental frieze of blind windows dominates the church's interior." |
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Axumite Window Detail, Bet Emmanuel, Lalibela, Ethiopia
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| Author | A. Davey from Where I Live Now: Pacific Northwest |
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This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on 5 October 2012 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date. |
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| current | 17:51, 5 October 2012 | | 2,199 × 1,900 (1.68 MB) | File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr by User:Elitre |
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