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| On the way to Axum from Lalibela |
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| Axum airport |
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| Close up view of Axum from hotel |
Visit to Northern Ethiopia is incomplete without a visit
to Axum (Aksum), the earlier day capital of Ethiopia, center of business mainly
with Ancient India and Roman Empire. Axumite king minted their own coins to
facilitate business. The city which we see today is mainly post 1st
century. Old civilization lies buried deep in earth. Being in seismic zone the
old civilization of Axum must have got buried in the womb of mother earth.
Geeze an ancient language from which Amharic (National
language of Ethiopia) is evolved, is the main language of this whole region.
A German Archeologist along with his team did much of
excavation on the hills and what he discovered is an amazing maze of tombs of
kings and nobles, pottery, coins, beads etc.
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| Casks carved from solid rocks in the excavated tombs |
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| Deep secrets in dark catacombs |
As I had stated in my pervious blog, I will not go into
historical and archeological facts as I am expert in neither of the two, but
will dwell more on the places which make Axum a must see.
The beautiful churches which have the old handwritten
bible, Monasteries which are open only to male members of the society.
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| One of the oldest church of Ethiopia |
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Church close up view
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One of the many depiction of history of church
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| Ancient handwritten Bible |
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Derez, gireesh and our guide
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| Burial chambers of Kings |
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| A huge slab of stone at excavation site (raised by then King with Geeze inscriptiopn) |
The carved symbols on the rock hard stones,
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| Symbols carved on different tombs walls |
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| Symbols carved on different tombs walls |
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| Symbols carved on different tombs walls |
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| Symbols carved on different tombs walls |
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| Symbols carved on different tombs walls |
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| Exavation site with more and more symbols |
The walls
made with interlocking of stones, totally without using any type of binding
agent (mortar),
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| Walls of tombs and burrial chambers yet strong , great masonary |
The inter connected maze of tombs and rooms 20-30 ft. under the
earth, so well designed to preserve the mummies as well as the valuables buried
along with the dead kings and nobles.
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| Intercombing of tombs( exavation site) |
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| While excavation long pipes were added for airation in the deep dugup sites of tombs |
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| Exavation site where 20-30 ft, deep maze of tombs are found |
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| Exavation site which has 20-30 ft. deep interwoven chambers |
It makes one wonder how at that time somebody could
conceptualize, design and execute such an intricate thing without any
sophisticated machines and technology. Well it certainly falsifies the claim
that Africa was not developed and had no great scientific, architectural knowledge;
if that would have been so, how could they mint their own coin, make such
fabulous tombs, obelisks, palaces etc.
The museum of Axum is yet in natal state as they are
slowly building it to store and display the exhibits giving a peep to the rich
culture, art, craft and history.
The Obelisk or stele as they are called in Ethiopia, are
huge pillars beautifully decorated with carved false doors at the bottom and
windows on all sides. It is said that King Ezana built the largest of the
obelisk which stands 90 meters above the ground. The obelisks were raised by
kings and emperors over the burial sites over the graves. One such site is open
to public and one can go under the obelisk and see the magnificent place.
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| Steles |
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| Main Obelisk of Axum |
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| Near a fallen Stele |
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| One of the many other smaller sites of stele |
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| A catacomb beneath a stelewhich has fallen |
The obelisk of King Ezana is largest one and was found by
Italian soldiers fallen to the ground and in broken state (probably earth quake
caused it). They took it as war booty. But later due to intervention by Emperor Haile Selassie and Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam of communist regime, talks to repatriate King Ezana’s Stele were initiated but it could be brought successfully without any precondition to Axum. Due to persistent effort of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his teams along with the other luminaries. It was a day of jubilation for Ethiopians, especially for Axumites. I was told by our escort Derez that national holiday was declared and celebrations were organized on the day King Ezana’s stele was erected after bringing it back from Italy.
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| King Ezana's Stele |
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| Stelle like pillar (New) in Oldest Church in Axum |
Since the modern city of Axum is developed over the old buried
city thus there are many cultivated lands under which the lost civilization is
waiting to be excavated and the archeological valuables to be brought out so
that the lost city can be found again and have its proud place under the sky
not deep in the earth.
Walking through the place I could see the pottery items,
some beads peeping from the ground and was told that this place is literally
littered with such things, many Ethiopians do not know the value of these
items. They are the poor villagers who are concerned about their farm land
being taken away if the whole Axum is declared a world heritage site.
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| Artifacts embedded on earth people walking on them |
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| Farming over Lost civilization (Ancient Axum) |
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| Farming over Lost civilization (Ancient Axum) |
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| Pillars raised by then King with Geeze inscriptiopn |
Government of Ethiopia is trying to find a way which will
allow them to excavate the place but also know the importance of the cultivated
land above the lost civilization. Villagers need to do farming and grazing
their beasts for the living. Hope one
day an agreement will be reached with Axumites and the real full scale exaction
will take place to bring the glorious past of Axum from the darkness of the earth
to the open sunlight for everybody to see and earn Ethiopia specially the
Axumites the much needed foreign currency.
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| These sites are very common in Axum (Mounds of excavated tombs) |
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| These sites are very common in Axum (Mounds of excavated tombs) |
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| These sites are very common in Axum (Mounds of excavated tombs) |
Dungur / Addi Kilte is supposed to have the arch of
covenant and the palace of Queen Sheeba. There is a palace stretching to vast
expanse replete with courtyard, queen’s chambers, small atrium and meets every
requirement of then royalty. The green
expanse in and around it makes a very pleasant place to visit.
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Outside These sites are very common in Axum (Mounds of excavated tombs) site
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Hearth at Queen Sheeba's Palace
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Just opposite the palace of Queen Sheeba are the
cultivated lands where one can see the stele of plain stones jutting above the
ground ranging from 2 feet to 20 feet. These are burial ground of lesser nobles
where the villagers do farming. These fields are called “Stele fields”. These
stele fields can be seen all over while travelling from one village to other in
Axum.
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| Stele Fields |
We saw the little boys and girls selling the ancient
coins for a pittance (even that pittance is a huge sum for them), which
actually have a great value as they are of tremendous historical importance.
It is with the help of united nation that all historical
places have now been maintained with great care. Much is required to be done as
far as excavation and preserving this old lost civilization is concerned. Stele
fields, ancient cities in Axum are falling prey to farming, modern civilization
and ignorance of locals about the importance of this great historical legacy.
The hotels in Axum are more in number as compared to Lalibella.
From budget hotels to luxury hotels all can be found there. We stayed in a
place which gave us bird’s eye view of Axum.
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| View of Axum from hotel |
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| Great view of Axum from hote |
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| Hotel Sit out |
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Wonderful paintings from the local artists
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The stay was comfortable, the staff courteous and the
hotel very neat and hygienically maintained. What I liked best about the hotel
was the greenery was so well preserved that the habitat of various species of
birds and small animals remained unharmed. We could see the birds, squirrels
and many other small creatures, roaming freely without any danger to them or
the residents of the hotel.
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| We love to nest here |
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Not only humans we also love this hotel
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Thank you Binham Mekonnen
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