Despite the colourful legends, this large reservoir wasn’t where Sheba played with her rubber duck. It was an important reservoir rather than a swimming pool or gargantuan bath. Nobody is totally sure of its age, but it’s certainly been used as a water source for millennia. Its large size is even more impressive considering it’s hewn out of solid rock. It’s also known as Mai Shum, which translates to ‘Chief’s Water’.
Sadly, the outer portion of the bowl was coated with concrete in the 1960s, making it look more like a modern trough than an ancient relic. It’s used for Timkat celebrations, just like Fasiladas’ Bath in Gonder.
