Our Ethiopian odyssey (7): Axum
Day 5 (Wednesday) was a non-travelling day with all our time spent in Axum and environs, so it was much less challenging than the previous day – but now two of our group were too unwell to come out.
The Kingdom of Axum arose in the 4th century BC, grew rapidly to be a power that vied with that of the Greece of Alexander and the Eastern Roman Empire, reached a peak in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, and then in mysterious circumstances declined in the 7th century AD and fragmented as other regional centres – like Lalibela – rose as regional powers. So the Kingdom of Axum had nearly 800 years of glory and was the seat of an empire that extended across the Red Sea to Arabia, traded with India and China, and had its own alphabet and notational system. Today it is a dusty town of just 70,000.
We left the hotel at 8.30 am which might have been to miss the other tourists (but there were hardly any) or to miss the hottest part of the day (but it heated up rapidly) or just to give us time to see as much as possible.
We started with the nearby field of locally-sourced granite stelae. Nobody is sure if the precise date and actual purpose of the stelae but they appear to be pre-Christian and their orientation facing south suggests a worship of the sun. They were broughtb to the attention of the wider world by the German archaeologist Enno Littman in 1906.
The largest stela known as the Great Stela, measuring more than 33 metres tall, lies in gigantic pieces. It is believed to weigh an astonishing 520 tons and it was never actually erected. Two other large stelae are still standing next to the fallen one. The first, standing at 21 metres, is called King Ezana’s Stela and has been in place since its erection (although it now has support from a sling) and therefore has been a traditional feature of the site. The other, reaching 25 metres, is called the Rome Stela and is a new element of the site, since the Italians returned it in 2007 (they found it in three pieces during the occupation and took it to Rome for reconstruction and erection there).
Altogether there are around 100 smaller stelae, most fallen but a good number still standing. As well as these imposing stelae, we visited a couple of tombs and an archaeological museum, before being served in an outside corner with a small cup of black, freshly-roasted coffee.
Opposite the field of stelae is the Church of St Mary of Zion. The oldest church in Africa was the first St Mary of Zion Church originally built around the 4th century. Emperor Fasilidas replaced it with a newer church in the mid 17th century and a much much newer church was built in 1965.
We were all able to visit the modern church but only the men were allowed to look inside the 17th century church. In between the two is a modern chapel which allegedly houses the famous and sacred Ark of the Covenant. None of us were able to enter this chapel, let alone see the Ark, because absolutely nobody is permitted to see this ancient artefact except the very old monk and his designated younger successor who serve as the chapel’s custodians. In fact, some of us have viewed the movie “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” in which a final scene suggests that actually the Ark is hidden in a secret huge American government warehouse.
Also in this complex of buildings is a small museum housing crowns, vestments and other possessions of various emperors and distinguished personages.
It was time for lunch which was taken at the nearby Yeha Hotel in Axum. We sat outside on a large veranda and enjoyed fish (fried and tasty) and fruit (a yellow-skinned orange).
After lunch, we drove past what the locals know as Mai Shum and others call the Bath of the Queen of Sheba. It is like a very small reservoir where people wash domestic items and of course it has nothing to do with the Queen but it is used once each year for a special ceremony to to mark the baptism of Christ. A little further and protected in a small stone hut is something called King Ezana’s Stone or Inscription. It was discovered by three farmers in 1981 and it is a stone block carrying a message from the 3rd century king in three languages (Greek, Geez and Sabean). Back in the mini bus, Dawit gave Roger an English translation of the lengthy inscription and he had to read it aloud over the vehicle’s microphone.
We continued up the rockiest and roughest track in Christendom to our next destination: the Tombs of King Kaleb and his son Gebre Meskel. The first has three chambers and the second five, but grave robbers stripped out the contents long ago. As we drove up the track and as we returned down it, several young children ran alongside us in bare feet, somehow managing both to keep up with us and to avoid cutting themselves. They wanted to impress us – and they certainly did.
Next stop – just outside town – was the Palace of the Queen of Sheba which can be viewed from a raised platform as well as at ground level. Like the bath, the palace actually has nothing to do with the Queen except an appealing name. In fact, the elaborate structure, which was only discovered in 1967, is believed to be the accommodation for a 7th century Axumite official.
We had one more visit, partly because Dawit wanted to show us where the stone for the stelae came from and partly we suspect because he wanted to give us a bit more exercise up a rocky slope. The location was a quarry outside the town – one of five – where the granite (nepheline syenite) was found and somehow transported in huge blocks into the town. It was about 4.30 pm when we returned to our hotel after eight hours of fascinating study of different elements of Axumite life.