New home for ancient manuscripts

Where do you find the world’s oldest Christian manuscripts? Specialists say that they are in Ethiopia.Two illustrated gospels that date to fifth-century found in the Abba Gerima monastic complex, seven kilometers away from the northern town of Adwa, are possibly the earliest surviving illustrated Christian manuscripts, according to experts.The rare treasures that represent a unique survival of an early Christian text in Ethiopia, predating all others by more than 500 years, are hoped to make the Abba Gerima monastery one of the country’s main touristic attractions. A museum is now under construction on the site to preserve the treasures and scheduled to open June 2012.