This guide to the famous rock churches of Lalibela in Ethiopia is the only book that explores the deeper mystical purpose implied in its artworks and cultural context.*Tour these extraordinary underground sanctuaries, and see how to read their architecture* Learn of rare reports about Lalibela from travelers in earlier centuries* Read actual texts from the Life of King Lalibela, describing how his 3-day mystical sleep inspired him to build these ten buildingsDiscover:* Ancient Egyptian sun-god beliefs embedded in Lalibela's cosmic view of Christianity* The Church of the Virgin Mary is actually a sanctuary dedicated to a new form of the Egyptian goddess Isis* A carving of Three Beasts, opponents of spirituality, echoing Dante's Divine Comedy and the Egyptian Book of the Dead* Apocalyptic carvings kept secret in the crypt, according to travelers' reports* Christ as a sun god, and carvings of the solar Akeru deity from Egypt* Allusions to the Odes of Solomon and to Melchizedek* Medhanie Alem; the sanctuary dedicated to the global Community of Goodwill* Why rumours about Lalibela and the Templars are false.