Iconic Image

Ethiopian Icon

On a flying visit to Addis Ababa a few years back I was staying close to a little back street shop full of intriguing antiquities. One afternoon the owner showed me around, taking his carefully wrapped wooden and goatskin icons out of their wrappings one by one. My favourite was a wooden tower with numerous windows and doors each opening on to a different biblical scene, but it was huge and very expensive, so I bought this lovely little one.

Later we had ingera with delicious sauces (no meat as it was fasting season).