The Camelot of Africa

Erica and I flew over the Nile River on our way from Addis Ababa to Gonder, which is in northwest Ethiopia. Gonder was the capitol city of Ethiopia from about 1500-1850 and among the donkeys and horse drawn carriages and village markets, there is evidence of its international importance. We visited the palace complex which houses six castles, a library, turkish baths, and lion cages. Or I should say used to house, as a number of the buildings were damaged first by Italian occupation in the 1930's, then by British bombing raids intended to oust the Italians. The castles mix design elements seen in Portuguese, Italian, and Moorish buildings and were built by the succession of kings (and a queen) who ruled Ethiopia at that time.

One of the kings built the turkish bath on a recommendation from a French physician, who had been imported to Ethiopia to help cure the king of scabies. (Something I may need by the time I get home...)

Another king had a bell hanging outside of the castle door that could be rung by any citizen who needed the king's intercession. According to lore, one day a peasant tied his donkey up near the bell and went off to a bar to get some food and drink. The donkey was lame and tired and holding a very heavy load. He got tangled in his rope and kicked the bell while struggling to get free. The king sent men to respond to the bell and when he was told that the donkey had kicked the bell, he stated "perhaps the donkey needs some justice" and asked that it be brought to his court. The king inspected the donkey and found that it was lame and underfed and had sores on its back under the heavy load. He had his men go out to find the owner and the king told him "you are treating your donkey very poorly. Now you will need to hold this heavy load on your back and wait while the donkey drinks and eats its fill." The king then instituted animal rights laws, forbidding people from putting a load on a donkey with a sore back and also forbidding them from carrying chickens upside down.

Unfortunately, the chicken upside down law did not last. I think every fourth person on the street here is walking around with a chicken like it's a fashion accessory, often dangling by its feet. They bind two chickens together at a time for easier carrying...the record I've seen so far is a person carrying six chickens in one hand in such a fashion.