Obelisk of Axum
Encyclopedia
The Obelisk of Axum is a 1,700-year-old, 24-metres (78-foot) tall granite
stele/obelisk
, weighing 160 tonne
s, in the city of Axum
in Ethiopia
. It is decorated with two false doors at the base, and decorations resembling window
s on all sides. The "obelisk" ends in a semicircular top part, which used to be enclosed by metal frames.
The obelisk, properly termed "stele" or the native "hawilt/hawilti" (as they do not end in a pyramid), was carved and erected (with many other stelae) in the city of Axum
(in modern-day Ethiopia
), probably during the 4th century A.D. by subjects of the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian civilization. Erection of stelae in Axum was a very old practice (today it is still possible to see primitive roughly carved stelae near more elaborated "obelisks"), probably borrowed from the kushitic kingdom of Meroe
. Their function is supposed to be that of "markers" for underground burial chambers. The largest of the grave markers were for royal burial chambers and were decorated with multi-story false windows and false doors, while nobility would have smaller, less decorated ones. While there are only a few large ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones in various "stelae fields".
The last stele erected in Axum was, likely, the so-called King Ezana's Stele
, in the 4th century A.D.
King Ezana (c.321 – c. 360), indeed, helping the work of his childhood tutor Frumentius, introduced Christianity in Axum, precluding the pagan practice of erecting burial stelae (it seems that at the feet of each obelisk, together with the grave, there was present a sacrificial altar).
In the course of time, many of these stelae fell to the ground due to: structural collapse (as, likely, the case of the Great Stele, measuring 33 m), possibly immediately after their erection; earthquakes (Axum is in a seismical zone); or "iconoclastic" fury of islamic emir Ahmad Gragn
, during Ethiopian-Adal War
from 1529-43. This emir destroyed Axum, burnt churches and probably also ordered the destruction of the stelae. In 19th century, of the three major "royal" stelae, only King Ezana's Stele
remained erected, as suggest the painting "Sight of Axum" of Henry Salt
(1780–1827).
In particular, the today so-called Obelisk of Axum, collapsed and broke into three parts as a result of one of the three possible causes aforesaid. In these conditions, it was found by Italians soldiers at the end of 1935, after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia
. In 1937, it was looted as prey of war and moved to Rome by the Fascist regime, which wanted to commemorate the conquest of Ethiopia and the birth of the ephemeral "new Roman empire" (see Italian Empire
), which actually lasted for only 5 years (5 May 1936 marshal Badoglio entered Addis Ababa; 5 May 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie reentered Addis Ababa). The stele had fallen in the 4th Century and had broken into five pieces which were transported by truck along the tortuous route between Axum and Massawa (it took five trips over a period of two months) to the port of Massawa. It arrived via ship in Naples
(on a boat called Adua), on March 27, 1937. Then it was transported to Rome, where it was reassembled and placed on October 28, 1937 in Porta Capena
square, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the March on Rome
, in front of the Ministry for Italian Africa (later the headquarters of the United Nations
's Food and Agriculture Organization
) and the Circus Maximus. These operations were coordinated by Ugo Monneret de Villard. Together with the obelisk of Axum, also arrived in Italy the bronze statue of the Lion of Judah
, symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, which was exposed in front of Termini railway station.
One source also suggests that emperor Haile Sellassie, after hearing of these technical difficulties (and of the enormous costs necessary to overcome them), decided to grant the stele to the city of Rome, as a gift for the "renewed friendship" between Italy and Ethiopia. This assertion, however, remains very controversial and was not recognized by successive authorities. In 1972–73, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu asked the Italian government to return the stele to Ethiopia. Another controversial arrangement, according to some sources, seems to be that Italy could keep the stele in exchange for the construction of a hospital in Addis Ababa (Saint Paul's Hospital) and for the cancellation of debts owed by Ethiopia. In any case, after the fall of the Mengistu regime, the new Ethiopian government asked anew for the return of the stele, finding a positive answer from the then president of the Italian republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
, in April 1997.
The first steps in dismantling it were taken in November 2003, with the intent to ship the stele back to Ethiopia in March 2004. However, the repatriation project encountered a series of obstacles: the runway at Axum Airport
was considered too short for a cargo plane carrying even one of the thirds into which the stele had been cut; the roads and bridges between Addis Ababa
and Axum were thought to be not up to the task of road transport; and access through the nearby Eritrea
n port of Massawa
– which was how the stele originally left Africa – was impossible due to the strained state of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Another reason for the delay in returning the stele from Italy to Ethiopia in 2004 was because of Italy's claim of not having the money to pay for the transportation. Attempt to get help from the United States was unsuccessful as Americans claimed that their planes were tied up in the war in Iraq. Numerous attempts by Professor Richard Pankhurst
, who spearheaded the campaign to return the stele, remained unsuccessful until an American-Ethiopian threatened the Italian government with the option of raising the money on the Net.
The runway at Axum airport was then upgraded especially to facilitate the return of the stele. The dismantled stele remained sitting in a warehouse near Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport
, until 19 April 2005 when the middle piece was repatriated by use of an Antonov An-124
, amidst much local celebration. The second piece was returned on 22 April 2005, with the final piece returned on 25 April 2005. The stele remained in storage while Ethiopia decided how to reconstruct it without disturbing other ancient treasures still in the area (especially King Ezana's Stele). By March 2007 the foundation had been poured for the re-erection of the stele near King Ezana's Stele, structurally consolidated in this occasion. Reassembly began in June 2008, with a team chosen by UNESCO
and led by engineer Giorgio Croci (who had also surveyed its dismantling in 2003) and the monument was resurrected in its original home and unveiled on 4 September 2008.
When it was reassembled in 1937 three steel
bars were inserted per section, however this caused the Obelisk to be hit and damaged by a thunderbolt
during a violent thunderstorm
over Rome, on 27 May 2002. In the new reconstruction the three sections are fixed together by a total of eight aramid
fiber (Kevlar
) bars: four between the first and second and four between the second and third sections. This arrangement guarantees structural resistance during earthquakes and avoids the use of steel
, so as not to again make the stele a magnet for lightning (and to avoid rust
).
Several other similar stelae/obelisk
s exist in Ethiopia and Eritrea, such as the Hawulti
in Metera. Like the Obelisk of Axum, the other stele have a rectangular base with a false door carved on one side.
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
stele/obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
, weighing 160 tonne
Tonne
The tonne, known as the metric ton in the US , often put pleonastically as "metric tonne" to avoid confusion with ton, is a metric system unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. The tonne is not an International System of Units unit, but is accepted for use with the SI...
s, in the city of Axum
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
in Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
. It is decorated with two false doors at the base, and decorations resembling window
Window
A window is a transparent or translucent opening in a wall or door that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material like float glass. Windows are held in place by frames, which...
s on all sides. The "obelisk" ends in a semicircular top part, which used to be enclosed by metal frames.
History
Axum
Axum or Aksum is a city in northern Ethiopia which was the original capital of the eponymous kingdom of Axum. Population 56,500 . Axum was a naval and trading power that ruled the region from ca. 400 BC into the 10th century...
(in modern-day Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
), probably during the 4th century A.D. by subjects of the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian civilization. Erection of stelae in Axum was a very old practice (today it is still possible to see primitive roughly carved stelae near more elaborated "obelisks"), probably borrowed from the kushitic kingdom of Meroe
Meroë
Meroë Meroitic: Medewi or Bedewi; Arabic: and Meruwi) is an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east of the Kabushiya station near Shendi, Sudan, approximately 200 km north-east of Khartoum. Near the site are a group of villages called Bagrawiyah...
. Their function is supposed to be that of "markers" for underground burial chambers. The largest of the grave markers were for royal burial chambers and were decorated with multi-story false windows and false doors, while nobility would have smaller, less decorated ones. While there are only a few large ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones in various "stelae fields".
The last stele erected in Axum was, likely, the so-called King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele is the central obelisk still standing in the Northern Stelae Park in the ancient city of Axum, in modern-day Ethiopia. This stele is probably the last erected one and the biggest of those remained unbroken...
, in the 4th century A.D.
King Ezana (c.321 – c. 360), indeed, helping the work of his childhood tutor Frumentius, introduced Christianity in Axum, precluding the pagan practice of erecting burial stelae (it seems that at the feet of each obelisk, together with the grave, there was present a sacrificial altar).
In the course of time, many of these stelae fell to the ground due to: structural collapse (as, likely, the case of the Great Stele, measuring 33 m), possibly immediately after their erection; earthquakes (Axum is in a seismical zone); or "iconoclastic" fury of islamic emir Ahmad Gragn
Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi
Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Ghazi "the Conqueror" was an Imam and General of Adal who invaded Ethiopia and defeated several Ethiopian emperors, wreaking much damage on that kingdom...
, during Ethiopian-Adal War
Ethiopian-Adal War
The Ethiopian–Adal War was a military conflict between the Ethiopian Empire and the Adal Sultanate from 1529 until 1559. The Imam Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi came close to extinguishing the ancient realm of Ethiopia, and converting all of its subjects to Islam; the intervention of the...
from 1529-43. This emir destroyed Axum, burnt churches and probably also ordered the destruction of the stelae. In 19th century, of the three major "royal" stelae, only King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele
King Ezana's Stele is the central obelisk still standing in the Northern Stelae Park in the ancient city of Axum, in modern-day Ethiopia. This stele is probably the last erected one and the biggest of those remained unbroken...
remained erected, as suggest the painting "Sight of Axum" of Henry Salt
Henry Salt (Egyptologist)
Henry Salt was an English artist, traveller, diplomat, and Egyptologist.-Biography:Salt, the son of a physician, was born in Lichfield. He trained as a portrait painter, first in Lichfield and then in London under Joseph Farington and John Hoppner. In 1802 he was appointed secretary and...
(1780–1827).
In particular, the today so-called Obelisk of Axum, collapsed and broke into three parts as a result of one of the three possible causes aforesaid. In these conditions, it was found by Italians soldiers at the end of 1935, after the Italian conquest of Ethiopia
Second Italo-Abyssinian War
The Second Italo–Abyssinian War was a colonial war that started in October 1935 and ended in May 1936. The war was fought between the armed forces of the Kingdom of Italy and the armed forces of the Ethiopian Empire...
. In 1937, it was looted as prey of war and moved to Rome by the Fascist regime, which wanted to commemorate the conquest of Ethiopia and the birth of the ephemeral "new Roman empire" (see Italian Empire
Italian Empire
The Italian Empire was created after the Kingdom of Italy joined other European powers in establishing colonies overseas during the "scramble for Africa". Modern Italy as a unified state only existed from 1861. By this time France, Spain, Portugal, Britain, and the Netherlands, had already carved...
), which actually lasted for only 5 years (5 May 1936 marshal Badoglio entered Addis Ababa; 5 May 1941 Emperor Haile Selassie reentered Addis Ababa). The stele had fallen in the 4th Century and had broken into five pieces which were transported by truck along the tortuous route between Axum and Massawa (it took five trips over a period of two months) to the port of Massawa. It arrived via ship in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
(on a boat called Adua), on March 27, 1937. Then it was transported to Rome, where it was reassembled and placed on October 28, 1937 in Porta Capena
Porta Capena
The Porta Capena was a gate in the Servian Wall near the Caelian Hill, in Rome, Italy according to Roman tradition the sacred grove where Numa Pompilius and the nymph Egeria used to meet. It was one of the main entries to the city of Rome, since it opened on the Appian Way...
square, commemorating the 15th anniversary of the March on Rome
March on Rome
The March on Rome was a march by which Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's National Fascist Party came to power in the Kingdom of Italy...
, in front of the Ministry for Italian Africa (later the headquarters of the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
's Food and Agriculture Organization
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations is a specialised agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger. Serving both developed and developing countries, FAO acts as a neutral forum where all nations meet as equals to negotiate agreements and...
) and the Circus Maximus. These operations were coordinated by Ugo Monneret de Villard. Together with the obelisk of Axum, also arrived in Italy the bronze statue of the Lion of Judah
Lion of Judah
The Lion of Judah was the symbol of the Israelite tribe of Judah in the Book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible .-Lion of Judah and Judaism:...
, symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, which was exposed in front of Termini railway station.
Its return to Ethiopia
In a 1947 UN agreement, Italy agreed to return the stele to Ethiopia, obviously with the other prey of war, the Lion of Judah. Instead of the latter, which was actually returned in 1967, after the 1961 visit of emperor Haile Selassie in Italy, little action was taken to return the stele for more than 50 years, also in consequence of the considerable technical difficulties related to such a transport.One source also suggests that emperor Haile Sellassie, after hearing of these technical difficulties (and of the enormous costs necessary to overcome them), decided to grant the stele to the city of Rome, as a gift for the "renewed friendship" between Italy and Ethiopia. This assertion, however, remains very controversial and was not recognized by successive authorities. In 1972–73, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu asked the Italian government to return the stele to Ethiopia. Another controversial arrangement, according to some sources, seems to be that Italy could keep the stele in exchange for the construction of a hospital in Addis Ababa (Saint Paul's Hospital) and for the cancellation of debts owed by Ethiopia. In any case, after the fall of the Mengistu regime, the new Ethiopian government asked anew for the return of the stele, finding a positive answer from the then president of the Italian republic Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro
Oscar Luigi Scalfaro , Italian politician and magistrate, was the ninth President of the Italian Republic from 1992 to 1999, and is currently a senator for life...
, in April 1997.
Axum Airport
Axum Airport is an airport in Axum, Ethiopia . Located at an elevation of 2108 meters above sea level, this airport has one asphalt runway 2400 meters long by 45 wide...
was considered too short for a cargo plane carrying even one of the thirds into which the stele had been cut; the roads and bridges between Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa is the capital city of Ethiopia...
and Axum were thought to be not up to the task of road transport; and access through the nearby Eritrea
Eritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
n port of Massawa
Massawa
Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa Massawa, also known as Mitsiwa (Ge'ez ምጽዋዕ , formerly ባጽዕ is a city on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. An important port for many centuries, it was ruled by a succession of polities, including the Axumite Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate,...
– which was how the stele originally left Africa – was impossible due to the strained state of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Another reason for the delay in returning the stele from Italy to Ethiopia in 2004 was because of Italy's claim of not having the money to pay for the transportation. Attempt to get help from the United States was unsuccessful as Americans claimed that their planes were tied up in the war in Iraq. Numerous attempts by Professor Richard Pankhurst
Richard Pankhurst (academic)
Richard Keir Pethick Pankhurst OBE is a British academic with expertise in the study of Ethiopia.-Early life and education:...
, who spearheaded the campaign to return the stele, remained unsuccessful until an American-Ethiopian threatened the Italian government with the option of raising the money on the Net.
The runway at Axum airport was then upgraded especially to facilitate the return of the stele. The dismantled stele remained sitting in a warehouse near Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport
Leonardo da Vinci International Airport
Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport , also commonly known as Fiumicino Airport, is Italy's largest airport with 36.3 million passengers served in 2010, located in Fiumicino, 35 km from Rome's historic city centre....
, until 19 April 2005 when the middle piece was repatriated by use of an Antonov An-124
Antonov An-124
The Antonov An-124 Ruslan is a strategic airlift jet aircraft. It was designed by the Ukrainian SSR's Antonov design bureau, then part of the Soviet Union. It is the world's largest ever serially-manufactured cargo airplane and world's second largest operating cargo aircraft...
, amidst much local celebration. The second piece was returned on 22 April 2005, with the final piece returned on 25 April 2005. The stele remained in storage while Ethiopia decided how to reconstruct it without disturbing other ancient treasures still in the area (especially King Ezana's Stele). By March 2007 the foundation had been poured for the re-erection of the stele near King Ezana's Stele, structurally consolidated in this occasion. Reassembly began in June 2008, with a team chosen by UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
and led by engineer Giorgio Croci (who had also surveyed its dismantling in 2003) and the monument was resurrected in its original home and unveiled on 4 September 2008.
When it was reassembled in 1937 three steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
bars were inserted per section, however this caused the Obelisk to be hit and damaged by a thunderbolt
Thunderbolt
A thunderbolt is a discharge of lightning accompanied by a loud thunderclap or its symbolic representation. In its original usage the word may also have been a description of meteors, or, as Plato suggested in Timaeus, of the consequences of a close approach between two planetary cosmic bodies,...
during a violent thunderstorm
Thunderstorm
A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm, a lightning storm, thundershower or simply a storm is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere known as thunder. The meteorologically assigned cloud type associated with the...
over Rome, on 27 May 2002. In the new reconstruction the three sections are fixed together by a total of eight aramid
Aramid
Aramid fibers are a class of heat-resistant and strong synthetic fibers. They are used in aerospace and military applications, for ballistic rated body armor fabric and ballistic composites, in bicycle tires, and as an asbestos substitute. The name is a portmanteau of "aromatic polyamide"...
fiber (Kevlar
Kevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
) bars: four between the first and second and four between the second and third sections. This arrangement guarantees structural resistance during earthquakes and avoids the use of steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, so as not to again make the stele a magnet for lightning (and to avoid rust
Rust
Rust is a general term for a series of iron oxides. In colloquial usage, the term is applied to red oxides, formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen in the presence of water or air moisture...
).
Several other similar stelae/obelisk
Obelisk
An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top, and is said to resemble a petrified ray of the sun-disk. A pair of obelisks usually stood in front of a pylon...
s exist in Ethiopia and Eritrea, such as the Hawulti
Hawulti (monument)
The Hawulti is an Aksumite era obelisk located in Matara, Eritrea. It bears what has been described as the oldest known example of the old Ge'ez script .- Description :...
in Metera. Like the Obelisk of Axum, the other stele have a rectangular base with a false door carved on one side.
External links
- Obelisks of Axum-North Ethiopia
- Obelisk arrives back in Ethiopia (BBC News)
- Ethiopia starts restoring obelisk (BBC News]
- The Axum Obelisk (Ethiopian Embassy in the UK)
- UNESCO says Axum obelisk to be put up before start of Ethiopian rainy season, People's DailyPeople's DailyThe People's Daily is a daily newspaper in the People's Republic of China. The paper is an organ of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China , published worldwide with a circulation of 3 to 4 million. In addition to its main Chinese-language edition, it has editions in English,...
, 30 October 2005