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 buildings Discover: * 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.