Axum Tourist Information
Although its very early history is unknown, the importance of Axum dates back to the tenth century, when it was made the capital of the Queen of Sheba.
Located in the northern province of Tigray, Axum is a small town surrounded by dry hills and fields. Under the surface of this town lie centuries of splendor and pageantry of it's glorious past. And today, one can still see remnants of the temples, fortresses and elaborate palaces that illustrate the power Axum Obelisks and wealth of the ancient Axumite people.
It is generally believed that Axum was first established by immigrants from southern Arabia a few centuries before Christ, and by first century AD, Axum was the capital of the vast and powerful Axumite kingdom, which dominated the crossroads of Africa and Asia for almost a millennium.
The Axumites introduced Ethiopia's first written language, Ge'ez, and gave Ethiopia its first organized religion-Christianity-in the forth century AD.
The people of Axum also built seven monolithic obelisks, each made out of a single piece of granite, and three of which still remain today. (One of the obelisks is now standing in Rome, Italy, where it was brought from Axum by the fascist dictator Mussolini, in 1937. The Ethiopian people are still patiently awaiting the return if this obelisks to Axum.) The largest of the stelae-measuring over 33 meters and the largest in the world-has fallen and now lies in broken segments next to the only obelisks that remains standing (in Axum). Ironically, what was made by hand many centuries ago is beyond the capabilities of modern technology to repair today.
Perhaps the greatest mystery if this ancient city is the legend that here is the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant-a claim connected in Ethiopian tradition to legends of King Solomon and the Queen of Sebe, whose son Menelik is said to have brought the Ark to Axum some 3000 years ago and established the Solomic dynasty of which Haile Selassie was the last reigning emperor. The Ark is housed in a well-guarded sanctuary chapel, which one may approach, but never hope to enter. On Epiphany the people of Axum carry a replica of the Ark in a procession.
Axum also has the ruins of the Queen of Sheba's palace (Taakha Maryam), and a huge water reservoir hewn out of solid rock, known as the Queen of Sheba's bath. Finally, outside of the city stands an obelisk, much older than in the Park of the Stelae, which is thought to mark the grave of the Queen of Sheba.
© by Ethiopian Embassy
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