No less iconographically important than the cross is the circle. In nature, Ethiopia’s intensely volcanic landscape includes perfectly round crater lakes, such as this one near Bishoftu. In much church architecture, concentric circles form three zones, the outer for the congregation, the middle for communicants, and the inner sanctum solely for priests, while ceiling circles, as here in Bet Maryam, beam down heavenly light. And in fortified towns like Harar, great walls ring a mudbrick maze of narrow streets. Posing in a cobblestone passage, eyes averted from the camera, this tattooed Oromo woman wears a head cloth with the bold dots and circles favored by her ethnic group.
Green Crater Lake
Circles
Harar woman