File:Sparkling Holy Water Collection Bowl at the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab (3421979343).jpg
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DescriptionSparkling Holy Water Collection Bowl at the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab (3421979343).jpg |
As I mentioned in an earlier description, the Ethiopian Christian Orthodox Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab near Lalibela, Ethiopia, nestles under a thick ledge of overhanging rock. A mountain - not yet deforested - rises above the monastery, and a deep valley falls away below the monastery's niche. In other words, the monastery lies within a natural watershed. So, it's not entirely surprising that water drips through the rock ledge that forms the ceiling of the shallow cave in which the monastery was built. What's utterly astonishing is that much of the floor space in the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab is given over to a basin filled with rock bowls placed under drips in the church ceiling. I searched the Web extensively, and wasn't able to learn much about this amazing feature other than the water collected there is used as holy water. This is a close-up shot of one of the stone collection bowls. I took the photo in natural light, then processed it gently to bring out the details and the colors. Algae and minerals have combined to produce surfaces of astonishing beauty. I think the water that falls from the ceiling is laden with minerals, and over the years these basins have been in place (decades? centuries? millenia?), the minerals in the water built up around the edges of the basins, helping define their shapes. For example, the material forming basin's oval opening, which overhangs the surface of the collected water, was probably formed by the mineral residue from millions or billions of drops of water. If you're interested in my wild speculations about this fascinating feature, please refer back to the description that accompanies the first photo in this series. |
Date | |
Source |
Sparkling Holy Water Collection Bowl at the Church of the Monastery of Na’akuto La’ab
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Author | A. Davey from Where I Live Now: Pacific Northwest |
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This image, originally posted to Flickr, was reviewed on 5 October 2012 by the administrator or reviewer File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske), who confirmed that it was available on Flickr under the stated license on that date. |
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Date/Time | Thumbnail | Dimensions | User | Comment | |
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current | 17:53, 5 October 2012 | 2,364 × 1,719 (1.41 MB) | File Upload Bot (Magnus Manske) (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr by User:Elitre |
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Camera manufacturer | NIKON CORPORATION |
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Camera model | NIKON D70 |
Exposure time | 1/90 sec (0.011111111111111) |
F-number | f/1.4 |
ISO speed rating | 400 |
Date and time of data generation | 15:41, 2 November 2007 |
Lens focal length | 50 mm |
Pixel composition | RGB |
Orientation | Normal |
Horizontal resolution | 72 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 72 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop CS3 Macintosh |
File change date and time | 15:41, 2 November 2007 |
Exposure Program | Manual |
Date and time of digitizing | 15:41, 2 November 2007 |
APEX exposure bias | 5 |
Maximum land aperture | 1 APEX (f/1.41) |
Metering mode | Pattern |
Light source | Unknown |
Flash | Flash did not fire |
DateTime subseconds | 00 |
DateTimeOriginal subseconds | 00 |
DateTimeDigitized subseconds | 00 |
Color space | 0 |
Sensing method | One-chip color area sensor |
Custom image processing | Normal process |
Exposure mode | Manual exposure |
White balance | Auto white balance |
Digital zoom ratio | 1 |
Focal length in 35 mm film | 75 mm |
Scene capture type | Standard |
Scene control | None |
Contrast | Normal |
Saturation | Normal |
Sharpness | Hard |
Subject distance range | Unknown |