Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is an Oriental Orthodox church in Ethiopia that was part of the Coptic Church until it was granted autocephaly by the Coptic pope in 1950. Tewahido is an Ethiopian word meaning "being made one"; it is related to the Arab term tawhid.After Eritrea became an independent country, the Tewahedo Church granted autocephaly in turn to the Eritrean Orthodox Church.
It claims its origins from Philip the Evangelist (Acts of the Apostles Chapter 8). It became the established church under Emperor Axone in the 4th Century. Its liturgy is based on the Ge'ez language.
The church in Axum claims to possess the original Ark of the Covenant. According to tradition, Menelik I brought it to Ethiopia after visiting his father King Solomon. Outsiders are not allowed to view it, in accordance with the Bible accounts of the dangers of doing so for non-Levites. Of course this has caused scholars to heavily doubt the veracity of the claim.