The Lord and His Mother sleeping in 😴 Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #BabyJesus #joseph #salome #sleepingin #HappyNewYear2026 #africanart

May the prayers of Our Holy Lady the Twofold Virgin Mary the God-Bearer (እግዝእትነ፡ ቅድስት፡ ድንግል፡ በ፪ማርያም፡ ወላዲተ፡ አምላክ፡) carry you through the coming year as She carried Lord Jesus on Her back ❤️ Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #BabyJesus #HappyNewYear2026 #africanart

መጽአ፡ ውስተ፡ ዓለም፡ ወዓለሙኒ፡ ኢክህለ፡ ጸዊሮቶ፡ ጾረቶ፡ ወአግመረቶ፡ ማርያም፨ "He came into the world, but the world could not carry Him. Mary (– on the contrary –) carried and contained Him!" Merry Christmas! 🎄💫 Ethiopia, 14th–15th c. #StMary #BabyJesus #nativity #merrychristmas #geez #africanart

When you're looking at a Ge'ez manuscript and all of a sudden it is looking back at you… 👀 Ethiopia, 18th c. #geez #manuscript #magic #africanmagic #africanart

In Ethiopian 🇪🇹 and Eritrean 🇪🇷 iconography, the Holy Trinity (ቅድስት፡ ሥላሴ፡) is traditionally depicted as three men with white hair and white beards blessing the observer Ethiopia, 18th c. #trinity #god #blessing #africanart

Heads to the right, heads to the left! Ethiopia, 18th c. #beheading #head #violence #africanart

So simple, yet it captures the dragon's facial expression so perfectly! 🐉 Ethiopia, 17th–18th c. (?) #saint #george #dragon #africandragon #drawing #africanart

በከመ፡ ደመርከ፡ ሥጋ፡ ወልድከ፡ ውስተ፡ ሥጋ፡ ዚአነ፡ ወበከመ፡ ቶሳሕከ፡ ደመ፡ መሲሕከ፡ ውስተ፡ ደመ፡ ዚአነ፡ ከማሁ፡ ደምር፡ ፈሪሆተከ፡ ውስተ፡ አልባቢነ፡ ወስነ፡ አምልኮትከ፡ ውስተ፡ ሕሊናነ። Ethiopia, 18th c. #qiddase #eucharist #eotc #africanchristianity #africanart

Holy women 👩🏾‍🦱 Ethiopia, 17th c. #saints #topless #africanwomen #icon #africanart

One unsurprising but lovely feature of Ethiopian-Eritrean Christianity is that monkeys occasionally play a prominent role in the stories about the saints 🐒 Ethiopia, 18th c. #monkey #africanchristianity #afticanart

ወባሕቱ፡ አሌ፡ ለክሙ፡ ለአብዕልት፡ እስመ፡ ሰለጥክሙ፡ ትፍሥሕተክመ፨ "But woe to you, O rich ones, for you have received your joy in full!" (Lk 6:24 according to the Ge'ez text) Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #kings #rich #hell #fire #africanart

"Let me just purify your lips with this piece of blazing coal real quick" 🔥 Ethiopia, 18th c. #ezekiel #prophet #michael #archangel #coal #africanart

Ethiopian and Eritrean depictions of the flight to Egypt frequently include Salome, the midwife who was present at Christ's birth, carrying a mesob (መሶብ፡), a basked for storing injera 🇪🇹🇪🇷 Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #StMary #BabyJesus #joseph #salome #injera #mesob #africanart

The fear of the demons! 🤺 Ethiopia, 19th c. (?) #angel #sword #africanart

Young Christ hanging out with his homies Ethiopia, 18th c. #JesusChrist #YoungChrist #friendship #africanyouth #africanart

"What are you staring at?" 🦁 Ethiopia, unknown date (16th c.?) #lion #saint #mural #africanart

"Keep slaying, queens! 👑" Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #StMary #queen #crown #africanart

St Samuel of Waldǝbbā on a deep purple background hits hard 🦁 Ethiopia, 19th c. #saint #samuel #waldebba #lion #ethiopiansaint #africansaint #africanart

ከመ፡ ፍሕሶ፡ ቀይሕ፡ ከናፍርኪ፡ ጽጌ፨ ስዉጠ፡ ስርናይ፡ ከርሥኪ፡ ወሕፁር፡ በጽጌ፨ "Like a scarlet thread are your lips, O Flower – your belly is a heap of wheat, surrounded by flowers!" 💐 Ethiopia, 19th–20th c. #StMary #BabyJesus #icon #geez #africanart

"Just checking in…" Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #bishop #africanart

"OMG!" 🫢 Ethiopia, 15th c. #luke #evangelist #gospel #scribe #africanart

*hihihi* 😊 Ethiopia, 16th c. #saint #apostle #jacob #matthias #africanart

One thing I love about Ethiopian-Eritrean art is the unexpected details that sometimes appear. In this baptism scene, for example, half the space is filled by trees with the caption "How branches overshadowed (the River) Jordan" 🌿 Ethiopia, AD 1400/1401 #JesusChrist #baptism #africanart

Have you heard about the nun Sophia who got pregnant, and then St Mary sent angels to remove the baby from the nun's womb before she was punished? (Don't worry, the baby got a good new home 👶🏾) Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #nun #baby #angel #miraclesofmary #africanart

It takes a special kind of trust to lie there calmly with your prayer rope when St Michael the Archangel starts wielding his sword… ⚔️ Ethiopia, 19th c. (?) #michael #archangel #patron #sword #prayerrope #africanart

"Who's a good boy?! 😀🦮" Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #dog #goodboy #twitterdogs #miraclesofmary #africanart

✌🏾 Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #StMary #VirginMary #sick #blessing #africanart

"Please, take off your shoes, Sir" Ethiopia, 19th c. (?) #moses #michael #burningbush #archangel #barefoot #africanart

Birds kissing on a heart-shaped leaf 💚🌿 Ethiopia, 14th c. #birds #twitterbirds #kiss #africanart

"We've got our eyes on you, pal" Ethiopia, 18th c. #StMary #VirginMary #BabyJesus #icon #africanart

Fun fact: The Ge'ez word ሐመር፡ (ḥamar), "ship" is possibly related to Arabic حمار (ḥimār), Hebrew חמור (ḥămôr), and Syriac ܚܡܪܐ (ḥmārā), which all mean "donkey". Are ships the "donkeys of the ocean"? 🌊 ‎Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) ⁦‪#ship‬⁩ ⁦‪#donkey #ocean‬⁩ ⁦‪#etymology‬⁩ ⁦‪#geez‬⁩ ⁦‪#africanart‬⁩

"The things we do for love…" Ethiopia, 18th c. #JesusChrist #savior #crownofthorns #kweratareesu #africanart

"I'm gonna show you the deadliest karate moves" 🥋 Ethiopia, 15th c. #paul #saint #apostle #karate #africanart

ነአምን፡ ሕማሞ፡ ለዘኢየሐምም፡ ተገምረ፡ ዘኢይትገመር፡ ኃጢኣተነ፡ ነሥአ፡ ዘአልቦ፡ ኃጢኣት፡ ዓርገ፡ ወልድ፡ በስብሐት፡ ውስተ፡ ሰማያት፨ Ethiopia, 15th c. #JesusChrist #ascension #yared #geez #africanart

Baby Jesus playing Simeon the God-Receiver's beard 👴🏽 Ethiopia, 19th c. #BabyJesus #simeon #beard #beardedmen #mural #africanart

"People say I'm here just to fill up the blank space, but I think there must be a deeper meaning to my existence…" Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #humanoid #geez #ethiopianmanuscript #africanart

When St Michael the Archangel brings you a letter and it just goes on and on and on… 📨 Ethiopia, 20th c. #michael #archangel #letter #shepherd #sheep #africanart

"Hello there, newest successor!" 🦁 /St Peter Ethiopia, 15th c. #peter #apostle #pope #leo #leoxiv #africanart

A leopard chair (🐆) and a dolphin book stand (🐬) – yeah! ✌🏾 Ethiopia, 6th c. (?) #saint #mark #evangelist #leopard #dolphin #abbagarima #lateantiquity #christianart #africanart

The Israelites eating manna in the desert 🍽️ Ethiopia, 20th c. #israelites #oldtestament #manna #africanart

ወነሥኡ፡ ሥጋሁ፡ ለኢየሱስ፡ ወገነዝዎ፡ በመዋጥሕ፡ ዘስንዶናት፡ ምስለ፡ አፈው፡ በከመ፡ ሕገ፡ አይሁድ፡ ዘከመ፡ ይገንዙ። And they took Jesus' body and wrapped it in strips of linen with spices according to the law of the Jews for how to wrap. (Jn 19:40) Ethiopia, 18th c. #JesusChrist #shrouding #goodfriday #africanart

ወነሢኦ፡ ብሒአ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ይቤ፡ ተፈጸመ። ወአጽነነ፡ ርእሶ፡ ወመጠወ፡ ነፍሶ። When he had received the vinegar, Jesus said, "It is finished." And he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (Jn 19:30) Ethiopia, 18th c. #JesusChrist #crucifixion #goodfriday #fasika2025 #easter2025 #africanart

አስመ፡ ይቤ፡ ዛቲ፡ ዕለት፡ በዓለ፡ እግዚአብሐር፡ ሆሣዕና፡ በአርያም፡ ቡሩክ፡ አንተ፡ ንጉሠ፡ ፳ኤል፨ "For He said: 'This day is a feast of the Lord!' Hosanna in the highest heaven! Blessed are you, King of Israel!" Ethiopia, 1400–1401 AD #JesusChrist #hosanna #donkey #palmsunday #africanart

St Mary (سيدتنا مريم العذراء) practicing her Arabic reading skills when St Gabriel the Archangel suddenly appears… 💐 ‎Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) ⁦‪#StMary‬⁩ ⁦‪#gabriel‬⁩ ⁦‪#arabic‬⁩ ⁦‪#flowers‬⁩ ⁦‪#annunciation‬⁩ ⁦‪#africanart‬⁩

Blessings from the ብሉየ፡ መዋዕል፡ ("The Ancient of Days")! Ethiopia, 15th c. #ancientofdays #god #blessing #icon #africanicon #africanart

Gold ink, blue ink, red letter framing – such an absolute masterpiece of 14th-century Ethiopian manuscript production! 😍 Ethiopia, 14th c. #gold #goldink #geez #africanmanuscript #dawit #miraclesofmary #africanart

Metal Jesus! 🤘 Ethiopia, 13th c. #JesusChrist #ascension #fourlivingcreatures #blessing #medievalart #africanart

When you think the mast of your ship is breaking, but it's just St Gabriel the Archangel steering you to a safe haven ⛵️ Ethiopia, 17th–18th c. #gabriel #archangel #ship #sailors #africanart

Sometimes you find the most unexpected things drawn on the empty flyleaves of Ge'ez manuscript 🫣 Ethiopia, 19th c. (?) #man #flyleaves #scribbles #africanart

"I'm walking on demons, woooah, And don't it feel good!" 🎶 Ethiopia, 18th c. (?) #demons #king #katrinaandthewaves #africanart