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Next Society Event: 13th Jun 2012 - Lecture - In the footsteps of Napier: to Magdala, via the Beshilo ravine and the King's Road - John Macfarlane
7:00pm, Room B102 (Brunei Building), SOAS, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG - Public lecture (all welcome)
In November 2011, John Macfarlane together with his wife and two friends, travelled south from Adigrat, searching out several of the camp sites used during the 1867-8 British Abyssinian campaign. After crossing the Jitta gorge, they arrived at Cheher perched on the rim of the Dalanta plateau for their first glimpse of Magdala amba.
With their guide, donkey men, 13 donkeys, 4 mules, 3 armed guards and 2 cooks, they set out on a 5 night trek through mountainous and remote country to Magdala. After a hard and rocky 4000 foot descent, they waded the Beshilo river to follow the King’s road, eventually leading up to Aroje plateau (the site of a major battle on Good Friday, 1868). After trekking to the Affijo plateau, Fala and Sellasie ambas, they made their final camp on the the Salamge plain, before climbing onto Magdala via the Koket Bir gulley, to explore the amba and its wonderful church. Using copies of old maps, sketches and photographs, comparison could be made with the views of 150 years ago, bringing alive the campaign descriptions. The remoteness of the area and the friendliness of the people, many of whom were harvesting, allowed a close and privileged glimpse of their hard way of life, which added further to the interest and adventure of the trip.
John Macfarlane has had a long term fascination with Ethiopia and the story of Magdala, Theodore, Napier and the 1868 Abysinnian campaign. This was fuelled by several educational visits to Ethiopia when he was Professor of Respiratory Medicine at Nottingham University.