It is located about 150 km southeast from Asmara, in the historical district of bet metäé ቤት መጣዕ in the present-day Debub region, in a part formerly known as the province of Akkälä Guzay, close to the border with and near the village of Ham (or Aham).
[5][3] This very ancient monastery is said to have been founded by the missionary Abbunä Libanos (or Mäṭṭaˁ or Meta or Matewos or Yəsrin) in the late fifth or early sixth century, within a hundred years of the conversion of the Horn of Africa Aksum Empire to Christianity.
A story in Täˀammərä Maryam (Miracles of Mary) says that miraculous water dripped from the ceiling of this monastery's churches.
According to oral tradition, the mummified skeleton remains found in the monasteries of Eritrea are bodies of religious individuals that inhabited them.
But according to the oral tradition, the practice might have been introduced by about between the fifth and eight centuries CE together with the monks who were coming to Eritrea from the Middle East via Alexandria to expand Christianity.