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The Chapel of the Tablet

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion (Amharic Re-ese Adbarat Kidiste Kidusan Dingel Maryam Ts’iyon) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important church of Ethiopia. The original church is believed to have been built during the reign of Ezana, the first Orthodox Christian emperor of Ethiopia, during the fourth century AD, and has been rebuilt several times since then.

The church is in the town of Axum in Tigray Province. Since its founding during the episcopacy of Frumentius (known in Ethiopia as Abune Selama Kesatay Birhan or "Our Father of Peace the Revealer of Light") the Church of Mary of Zion has been destroyed and rebuilt at least twice. Its first recorded destruction occurred at the hands of Queen Gudit during the 11th century. Its second destruction occurred in the 16th century at the hands of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi, after which it was rebuilt by the Emperor Gelawdewos, then further rebuilt and enlarged by Fasilides during the 1600s.

St. Mary of Zion was the traditional place where Ethiopian Emperors came to be crowned. And indeed, if an Emperor was not crowned at Axum, or did not at least have his coronation ratified by a special service at St. Mary of Zion, he could not be referred to by the title of "Atse".^{[citation needed]}

The dome and bell tower of the new Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, built by Emperor Haile Selessie in the 1950s

In the 1950s the Emperor Haile Selassie built a new modern Cathedral next to the old Cathedral of Our Lady Mary of Zion that was open to both men and women. The old church remains accessible only to men, as Mary, symbolized by the Ark of the Covenant resting in its chapel, is the only woman allowed within its compound.

Reportedly, the Ark was moved to the Chapel of the Tablet adjacent to the old church because a divine 'heat' from the Tablets had cracked the stones of its previous sanctum. This new chapel was built at the expense of Emperor Haile Selassie's wife, Empress Menen. It remains a significant center of pilgrimage for Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, especially during the main Festival of Maryam Zion on 30 November (21 Hidar on the Ethiopian calendar).

St. Mary of Zion claims to contain the original Ark of the Covenant. According to tradition, the Ark came to Ethiopia with Menelik I after visiting his father King Solomon. Only the guardian monk may view the Ark^[1], in accordance with the Bible accounts of the dangers of doing so for non-Kohanim. This lack of accessibility, and questions about the account as a whole, has led foreign scholars to express doubt about the veracity of the claim. The guardian monk is appointed for life by his predecessor before the predecessor dies. If the incumbent guardian dies without naming a successor, then the monks of the monastery hold an election to select the new guardian. The guardian then is confined to the chapel of the Ark of the Covenant for the rest of his life, praying before it and offering incense.

• Stuart Munro-Hay (2005), The Quest for the Ark of the Covenant, Ch.6

1. ^ Smithsonian magazine investigates the Ark