Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Ark of the Covenant=== [[File:Ark of the Covenant church in Axum Ethiopia.jpg|thumb|The Chapel of the Tablet at the [[Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion]] is said to house the original [[Ark of the Covenant]].]] The Ethiopian Church claims that one of its churches, [[Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion|Our Lady Mary of Zion]], is host to the original [[Ark of the Covenant]] that [[Moses]] carried with the [[Israelites]] during the [[The Exodus|Exodus]]. Only one priest is allowed into the building where the Ark is located, ostensibly due to biblical warnings of danger. As a result, international scholars doubt that the original Ark is truly there.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Throughout Ethiopia, Orthodox churches are not considered churches until the local bishop gives them a ''[[tabot]]'', a replica of the original Ark of the Covenant.<ref name="E_Af1868-1001-21">{{Cite web | title=tabot | url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Af1868-1001-21 | access-date=2024-01-31 | quote=Curator's comments… The Tabots remain in the Qeddest Qeddusan and are only brought out of the churches at festival times or in times of calamity, in order to pray for divine help. When they leave the Queddest Qeddusan they are carried on the heads of priests, veiled from public view by richly decorated cloths. Ornate silk umbrellas are held over the Tabots as a sign of respect.|website=[[British Museum]]}}</ref><ref name="lisantewahdo">{{Cite web | title=The Ark of Covenant | date=2021-12-01 | url=https://www.lisantewahdo.org/index.php/english/teachings/item/1191-the-ark-of-the-covenant | website=The Official Website of Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church | access-date=2024-02-02 }}</ref> The ''tabot'' is at least six inches (15 cm) square, and it is made of either [[alabaster]], [[marble]], or wood (see [[acacia]]). It is always kept in ornate coverings on the altar.<ref name="E_Af1868-1001-21" /> Only priests are allowed to see or touch the ''tabot''.<ref name="lisantewahdo" /><ref name="mk-2023">{{Cite web | title=Liturgical Worship, Part Three: Unique Features of Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church | url=https://eotcmk.org/e/unique-features-of-ethiopian-orthodox-tewahedo-church/ | publisher=[[Mahibere Kidusan]] | website=Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Sunday School Department | access-date=2024-02-02 | author=Habtamu Teshome | date=2023-01-16 }}</ref> In an elaborate procession, the ''tabot'' is carried around the outside of the church amid joyful song on the feast day of that particular church's namesake.<ref name="E_Af1868-1001-21" /> On the great Feast of [[Timkat|T'imk'et]], known as [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] or Theophany in Europe, a group of churches send their ''tabot'' to celebrate the occasion at a common location where a pool of water or a river is to be found.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/ethiopian-epiphany-01491 | title=Ethiopian epiphany | date=2019 | access-date=2024-02-07 | publisher=[[UNESCO]]}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page