More Adventures in Africa: Axum Part 2

On Sunday, we had a guided tour of the main historic sights in Axum. Historians agree that the Axumite Kingdom was an advanced civilization and an important world trading force between the 1st and 7th centuries AD. However many of the stories about the early Axumite period (back as far as the Queen of Sheba around 1000 BC) are unsubstantiated. When you read this, remember that this is the Ethiopian version of events. Most of it is undocumented and historians disagree with much of it. Nevertheless, it is fascinating!

We started at the stelae field. There are about seventy five stelae of various shapes and sizes. The main ones of interest are two large erect ones and one even larger one which has fallen to the ground. These were erected by kings as tombs. They each have representations of a door and the number of windows representing the number of people buried under each. They were erected during the third century. The third largest built by King Ezana is 23 meters high, weighs about 350 tons, consists of one slab of stone. It looks like it’s tilted and is held up by guide wires. However experts now think it was erected at this angle and is safe. The second largest is 26 meters high. Its builder is unknown. When Italy invaded Ethiopia, Mussolini had the stele cut into three pieces and taken to Italy. A few years ago, Italy agreed to return the stele to Ethiopia. The largest one was 33 meters high and its pieces weigh 500 tons. It was built by 3^rd century King Remhai. It either toppled almost immediately or was destroyed by Queen Yodit several centuries later. The mystery is how the massive stones, all in one piece, were moved to the stelae field from a quarry 5 km away. Ethiopians say the stones were moved by elephants using rollers. Maybe that’s why there are no more elephants in Ethiopia! These stelae are inscribed with symbols of moons and suns and ibex. The site had a very informative museum with some of the artifacts found there.

We walked past what is known as the Queen of Sheba’s swimming pool. It is a reservoir with massive steps leading down to it which is still used for swimming by locals..

We went to see a stone tablet found in the 1980s in a local field. It is inscribed in three languages -- Greek, Geez (the ancient language of this region) and Sabaen -- and commemorates King Ezana’s conquest of Yemen (where Sabaen was spoken) in the 3^rd century.

Next were the tombs of the 6^th century Emperor Kaleb and his son Gebre Meskel. They are found on a hilltop close to the Eritrea border. Kaleb was never buried there as he converted to Christianity and he became a reclusive monk before he died.

After lunch in a traditional restaurant, we visited the Queen of Sheba’s Palace. Whether this is really the Queen of Sheba’s Palace is heavily disputed as no-one seems to agree when it was built. It is now in ruins but the sturdy structure and drainage system is amazing for its time. It had at least 50 rooms.

The Ethiopian legends about the Queen of Sheba are fascinating. She is believed to have lived around 1000 BC in Axum. She heard about King Solomon in Jerusalem and went to visit him. He wanted to marry her as she was very beautiful but she declined. In revenge, he fed her spicy food but wouldn’t give her any water. In the middle of the night, she snuck out to find water and he seduced her. She went back to Ethiopia and had Solomon’s son, Menelek. When Menelek became an adult, he went to Jerusalem to meet his father and stayed for several years. When he returned to Ethiopia, Solomon sent a thousand people from each of the 12 Israel tribes with him. Menelek secretly was given or stole the Ark of the Covenant from Solomon and took it back to Ethiopia. This story is used to explain why there were many Jews in Ethiopia prior to the airlift to Israel (in the 1990s), why the Axumites claim that the Ark of the Covenant is hidden in one of their churches, why Axum is called the second Jerusalem and why there is a more or less unbroken line of Ethiopian leaders called the Solomonic dynasty from Menelek to Haile Selassie.

Across from the alleged palace of the Queen of Sheba is a field planted with tef (a local grain) and filled with stelae. This is very representative of the status of all of these antiquities found in this area. Local farmers and archaeologists are constantly unearthing buildings and relics from the 7th century AD to over 2000 years ago but farmers are still using the fields where they are found and people are still living in houses over them.

The final stop of the day was the Tomb of Balthazar, who was allegedly one of the Magi present at the birth of Jesus.