MAAZA MENGISTE: When I see this book, what I see is a centuries-old relationship between the written word and religion. These religious texts were the primary expression of writers in Ethiopia until more modern times.

My name is Maaza Mengiste. I was born in Ethiopia, and I am an Ethiopian/American writer.

Ethiopia has had a deep history of literature, of writings. It has been steeped in the written word as a way to preserve the memories of different empires, of different rulers.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO (NARRATOR): In the sixth century, Ethiopians started translating the gospel into Geʽez—one of the oldest written languages in the world, and which remain the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

MAAZA MENGISTE: This has been the way that religion was passed down. Priests could read this and could then provide interpretations of the Bible to their congregations. Writing in Ethiopia has been deeply, intricately connected with its religions, whether it's Arabic or whether it’s Geʽez or Amharic.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO: The tradition of illuminating, or artistically rendering the people and narratives from a religious text, also points to something beyond words.

MAAZA MENGISTE: When I see the drawings next to the writings, it tells me that there is another layer that’s happening here. These drawings are seeking to affirm something that is outside of language. It’s a connection that has no real words, and I think that the intricateness of these drawings, the richness of the colors, the golds, the reds, they are, in a sense, trying to reflect visually what it might mean to have an epiphany.