http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpSJoxTs7s4
Asmara Marathon Mai-Bela ኣስመራ ማራቶንማይ-በላ House of Life Maison de La VieMemory of Queen of Sheba www.mlv-hol.net ዋርሳይ ኣትሌቲክስAsmara,Eritrea www.mlv-hol.net ዋርሳይ ኣትሌቲክስ
This special video of Marathon is dedicated for the history of the city of Asmara . It is the first ever held entirely in the city of Asmara with the participation of the war handicaps the Un members and young and adult runners of the city. We called the Marathon Maie Bela, since the river used to flow in the middle of the city and is the main reason of the founding of the city by the Queen of Sheba 3000 years ago, making it one of the oldest cites in the world. The city is marked by three significant dates in its history. The first is 1000 BCE, the time of the reign of the Queen of Sheba, her empire extended on both side of the Red sea including Eritrea, Ethiopia & Yemen of today. The main theme of the Marathon is Mie-Bela, which means she had cried for water. The delivery place of The Queen of Sheba is found in the city of Asmara itself. The Queen delivering her son Menelik I(David II) cried for water while in labor beside a river. Since, the same river is named as Maie-Bela. The city of Asmara was found three thousand years ago by the Queen of Sheba herself on both side of this holy river. The fate of the river is sealed 1st by the Italians planting brick factory at its source for the building the Great Cathedral at the center of the city. Later the Military regime of Ethiopia did not made a proper sewerage system for the city and used it as waste discharge and sealed it with cement definitively. Today the same river continue to be sealed by the new government of the country used as a main discharge of the city’s waste.The 2nd date is 13th century AD, when four rival clans fought against each other for the control of the city at the fall of the Zagwe Dynasty in 1273 at the reestablishment of the Solomonic dynasty in the Shoan highland of today’s Ethiopia at the city called Ankober. This left the four clans namely the Gheza Gurtom, Gheza Shelele, the Gheza Serenser and Gheza Asmae fought for its control. Their wives declared armistices after meeting in the church of Bale Egzabhier which is found on the hill of the source of river Mie Bela, which is celebrated every 29th of ancient Enoch’s (Geez) calendar.It is made in the similitude of the old city of Jerusalem. It has four gates, the ester one is closed like the sealed gold gate of Jerusalem. Around the golden gate of this church there is a cemetery in parallel to the valley of the dead in Jerusalem whidh is going to be opened at the coming of the Messiah in the last days of Shello. Thus the four sister made a peace and the city took the name Asemre meaning made peace from Hebrew word Lishomre to keep peace later the name was given as Asmara by the Italians. Till today the area is called arabate Asmara or the four Asmara in the memory of the four sisters who named it at the source of the holy water mai -Bela. The late emperor Haile Selassie, Negus had built a stale one like Axum on the top of the hill in the memory of Jerusalem. At the place of the delivery of Menelik he used to sacrifice 60 cows every year in the area called Stazega since he is the 226th king from the son of the queen of Sheba who was delivered on the river side. There existed to this day after being bombarded by the Communist regime of Mengistue Haile Mariam in mid 80’s.The third Important day in the history of the city is that of the Italian naming it as Asmara and moved their capital from Masswa port after making peace with the King of Kings Menelik II at his victory at Adwa in Ethiopia.We have dedicated the marathon to the history of the city and especially the founder Queen of Sheba three thousand years ago- Mie Bela . By Prof. Muse Tegegne