Yeha Temple of the Moon
The oldest standing building in Ethiopia is located in the village of Yeha: the Yeha Temple of the Moon. This is a tower built in the Sabaean style, and dated through comparison with ancient structures in South Arabia to around 700 BC.
Although not radiocarbon dated, the Great Tower is similar in style to structures in South Arabia around 700 BC, which makes it the oldest standing building of Africa South af the Sahara. Its “excellent state of preservation” has been attributes to its rededication – perhaps as early as the sixth century AD.
Debre Damo (Tigrinya: ደብረ ዳሞ) is the name of a flat-topped mountain, or amba, and a 6th-century monastery in Tigray, The mountain is a steeply rising plateau of trapezoidal shape, about 1000 by 400 m in dimension. It sits at an elevation of 2216 m above sea level. It is north-west of Adigrat, in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the Tigray Region, close to the border with Eritrea.
The monastery, accessible only by rope up a sheer cliff, 15 m high, is known for its collection of manuscripts and for having the earliest existing church building in Ethiopia that is still in its original style, and only men can visit it. Tradition claims the monastery was founded in the 6th century by Abuna Aregawi.
