Friday 1st April 2005

BBC Two's Around the World in 80 Treasures heads to Ethiopia

The BBC Two series Around the World in 80 Treasures presented by Dan Cruickshank features Ethiopia in a forthcoming episode to be broadcast next week.

The details of the episode are below.

Around the World in 80 Treasures - "Jordan to Ethiopia"
Broadcast on Monday 4th April at 9:00 pm

Repeated on Saturday 9^th April at 7.20pm

Dan Cruickshank goes in search of the Arc of the Covenant, the legendary gold box which held the Ten Commandments. His journey takes him from Jordan to the Holy Land of Israel and Palestine and finally to Ethiopia, Africa's Garden of Eden.

From start to finish this leg of his journey has the atmosphere of an endurance test. The astonishing city of Petra, so fine and intricate in its decoration yet carved directly out of the rock face, must be reached by donkey along a precipitous gorge; then Dan must get past the Guardian Monk of Ethiopia, who allows no-one to pass, and he must climb the vertical cliff face at Debre Damo to reach the treasures hidden inside the monastery on top of the mountain.

Along the way Dan encounters prehistoric skyscrapers and the most powerful king in Africa: King Lalibela. His ultimate prize is unexpected: to be cleansed of all shame by an ancient relic that wields its mystical powers beneath the Star of David. But what of the Arc of the Covenant?

ENDS