Legend is that Noah's great-grandson settled in this region, and began a long line of monarchs in this region, ending with the most colorful of all, the Queen of Sheba, who ruled in the 11th to 10th centuries, B.C. She was considered one of the greatest rulers and was believed to own a fleet of ships and a large number of camels, and traded with places as far away as India. She also was said to have visited King Solomon in Jerusalem during her reign, from whom she bore a son, Menelik I, who was to be the first in a long line of descendants of Solomon who ruled Ethiopia, through the reign of Haile Selassie (see previous posts in Addis Ababa).
Upon our arrival, we headed first to the site of the oldest Christian sanctuary, the Cathedral of Tsion Maryam (Saint Mary of Zion) founded in the fourth century. Axum is regarded as the home of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian religion, and Ethiopia is the only African country that embraced Christianity with a gradual conversion from Judaism up to the fourth century. Christianity in other African countries was introduced as a part of the colonization of those countries, much later on.
The original Christian sanctuary was reported to have first been destroyed by Queen Yodit in the 10th century, while another act of destruction was reported to have occurred in the 16th century. Due to the believed destruction by Queen Yodit, women are not allowed to visit the newly built sanctuary...one of the men in my group snapped this photo of the outside for me (very mundane looking building), but then my battery died when he got inside (curse of the queen?).
Noone, not even the men, are allowed to enter this building within the compound....
....which, according to legend, houses the Ark of the Covenant (hmm, no one bothered to tell Harrison Ford). As the story goes, the son of the Queen of Sheba, Menelik I, at the age of 22, went to Israel to visit his father, King Solomon. He stayed for three years, learning the law of Moses. He could have succeeded King Solomon, but instead decided to return to Ethiopia. Solomon sent him home with a large entourage from the tribes of Israel, including the son of the high priest, who decided that they should take the Ark of the Covenant. Both Menelik as well as King Solomon were at first angry, but then had dreams that this was to be, and so they allowed it. And supposedly, the Ark remains in Ethiopia today, guarded by a single monk. Upon his return, the Queen of Sheba turned her throne over to Menelik, which began the long, slightly broken, rule of the Solomonic dynasty. (I'll have to read the book called, The Sign and the Seal, which tries to confirm that the Ark is in fact here in Ethiopia, although most historians are not in the least convinced).
The above building serves as a backdrop for many wedding photos, which were being taken during our visit...the bride seemed very uncomfortable in her traditional costume, rented for this event...
Adjacent to the original sanctuary, is this large, modern, circular church, built by Haile Selassie in the 1960's...
...which we were told is the largest church in Ethiopia and is decorated with many wonderful wall paintings...
....note that in these paintings, the faces that are a full front view represent the holy ones, while the profiled faces represent the unholy....
...but the most interesting item housed here is an old manuscript (but I forgot to write down how old!....maybe Janet will remember). They brought it out and very carefully turned the pages so that we could view it...it is written in the ancient religious language of Ge'ez. There were many painted pictures throughout, such as this one...
We then headed slightly out of town to the north, to an area where some excavation has taken place. Tombs have been discovered for Emperor Kaleb (sixth century) and his son, underneath the site or their palace, which no longer exists, but it is unclear as to whether or not they were ever buried here...(below is the tomb believed to have been built for Kaleb)...
It is believed that Kaleb lived out his life in a nearby monastery and that his body was instead buried there...
Another important discovery in this area was this stone, dated to the 4th century, which contains three languages (Sabaean, Greek and Ge'ez), and was unearthed by a farmer. The inscription includes a warning that anyone who moves the stone will die...it stands where it was found...
Here are a couple of photos of the people from this northern region going about their daily chores ....
Another important site in Axum is the obelisk, or stelae, park, seen here from our lunch restaurant on the hill overlooking the town..
....we later visited the park to see the obelisks....this one is 23 meters high, and is one solid block of granite. Noone is sure as to how this was erected due to its height and weight.
This one is assumed to have fallen right after construction, due to the base being too small to withstand the weight of 500 tons. This would have been taller than the tallest obelisk in Egypt (at a height of 33 meters), if it had remained standing...
Our final stop in Axum was at the site which Ethiopians purport to be that of the Queen of Sheba palace, although this has not been authenticated, but it is believed to pre-date the Christian era. The foundation indicates a structure containing 50 rooms and a sophisticated drainage system...
Tomorrow we head to the Simien Mountains.
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Location:Axum, Ethiopia
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