Mifsas Bahri

Mifsas Bahri 12°34′37″N 39°28′49″E / 12.57694°N 39.48028°E / 12.57694; 39.48028 is an archaeological site in the Tigray region of Ethiopia.

The stone building at Mifsas Bahri viewed toward the north

Mifsas Bahri, Tigray, Ethiopia, pier capital perhaps produced in the 7th century CE, surface find, Heidelberg-Mekelle Expedition, 2013

Sign written in Tigrinya, Amharic and English. Protected monument.

This highland site contains the ruin of a substantial building constructed of bright red dressed ashlar which may date as early as the Aksumite period, more likely its late phase. Lying 200 m west of the shore of Lake Hashinge, the site came to the attention of antiquities authorities in 1997 as a result of alleged exploitation of its building stone on the part of the local population (Tekle Hagos 2001). In 2013 a group led by Paul A. Yule from Mekelle University and Heidelberg University began to investigate the site (Yule-Wenig 2013). Curiously, the site lies 100 km south of the next site attributeable to the Aksumite cultural assemblage (Wuqro), thus far south of the main site distribution. The building at Mifsas Bahri is a church, to judge from the orientation, masonry excellence and architectural relief sculpture. Preliminarily, the building appears to have undergone three phases including a squatter occupation.

Historical reconstruction and local tradition had it that it was destroyed in the 1540s by the mixed forces of Aḥmad ibn Ibrahīm al-Ġazī. This contradicts a few recent unpublished radiocarbon dates, which suggest a building and construction considerably earlier. Excavation confirmed the presence of a monumental stone building some 20 m x 35 m in surface area. According to local sources the church was named Gebre Menfes Kidus.

References

• http://www.tigraitourism.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=134&Itemid=56&Itemid=1
• https://uni-heidelberg.academia.edu/paulyule
• Tekle Hagos, Archaeological Rescue Investigations in Southern and Eastern Tigray Administrative Zones, Annual of the Federal Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH, 2001), sene EC1994, 9–14 (Amharic).
• http://heidicon.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/pool/mifsas_bahri_project
• M. Gaudiello–C. Hilbrig–S. Partheil–P. A. Yule, Mifsas Baḥri, Fourth Preliminary Internal Field Report, 2016 Season, http://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/propylaeumdok/volltexte/2016/2898

Fessehe Berhe–M. Gaudiello–M. Hazarika–C. Hilbrig–A. Mortimer–S. Partheil–Tsehay Terefe–S. Yilmaz–Yohannes Gebre Selassie–P. A. Yule, Mifsas Baḥri, Third Preliminary Internal Field Report, 2015 Season, https://uni-heidelberg.academia.edu/paulyule

• W. Arnold–S. Degenhardt–Fessehe Berhe–B. Gabriel–M. Gaudiello–M. Hazarika–Hiruy Daniel–Yohannes Gebre Selassie–P. Yule, Field Report for Mifsas Baḥri, Second Preliminary Internal Report, 2014.

URL: https://uni-heidelberg.academia.edu/paulyule

• P. Yule–S. Wenig, Excavations at Mifsas Bahri, Tigray Province, A Study of Ethiopian Heritage First Preliminary Report, 2013, internal report, https://uni-heidelberg.academia.edu/paulyule