The young woman participating in a service at Addis Ababa also wears distinctly Ethiopian religious garments. Up through the Middle Ages, the Ethiopian Christian church celebrated the Sabbath on Saturdays. In a complex of royal buildings constructed in Gondar in the 17th century by the Christian King Fasiladas, is a bath designed for ritual purification, built to the exact specifications found in the book of Leviticus. Ethiopian Christians still practice circumcision and have dietary restrictions similar to many Jews. And at the center of their worship is the Ark of the Covenant.
Every Ethiopian church keeps hidden in a holy inner chamber a replica of the ark.
Many Ethiopians also believe that the original ark has been lying quietly for centuries in a church in their northern city of Axum. At the same time, Ethiopia's Jews practice a unique brand of Judaism strongly marked by Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity. Many wear crosses on their foreheads and hands. They ordain priests and nuns. Much of their liturgy derives directly from the Ethiopian Christian church.