Pastor Stan Felder and the Herodian Blocks at Yeha
On our October, 2010 trip to Ethiopia, we visited a Sabean (Sheba) Temple that was built in 700BC. It is only a 2 hour drive from Axum. Soon thereafter it was converted to a Jewish Temple. In around 600AD, the then Jewish Temple was used as a Christian Church. Even the baptismal pool remains today. Pastor Stan Felder above points out the Herodian style stones. The Portuguese father Francisco Alvares, whose book was written before 1540 mentioned the “large handsome tower, a royal affair, all of well hewn stone” … “belonged to Candace or Kandake”. Candace means Queen in Ethiopia’s history.
It is important to note that this temple has Herodian style stones. It is the only building in Ethiopia that we have seen these stones. We will be traveling again to see a site on a mountain top above Axum that today is a church, at one time was a temple which is said to also have these unique stones. In Israel, the only places you find the ‘famous’ Herodian masonry is on the retaining walls around the Temple Mount and in Hebron.
Could Herod have copied stones made from a Jewish Temple in Ethiopia? The Queen of Sheba and her son Menelek and the first born of the Priests of the House of David may have transferred the use of the unique stones when they were sent to Ethiopia. Join us on a Christian discovery tour of Ethiopia and see the treasures hidden in this lovely land. Email us at info @ livingpassages.org.