Aksum

Axum, properly Aksum, is a city in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, located at 14°07.475′N 38°43.975′E near the base of the Adoua mountains. It was the center of the Axumite Kingdom, which emerged around the time of the birth of Jesus and declined in the 12th century due to the shift of the power center of the Ethiopian Empire further south. Seventy-five percent of the people in the city are Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The remainder of the population is Sunni Muslim and P'ent'ay.

Due to its historical value, the ruins were included by UNESCO, in 1980, in the list of World Heritage Sites.

The kingdom of Axum had its own written language called Ge'ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks. The kingdom was at its height under king Ezana, baptized as Abriha, in the 300s AD (which was also when it officially embraced Christianity).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed. This same church was the site Ethiopian emperors were crowned for centuries until the reign of Fasilidos, then again beginning with Yohannes IV until the end of the empire. Axum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. Significant religious festivals are the T'imk'et Festival (known as the Epiphany in western Christianity) on 7th January and the Festival of Maryam Zion in late November.

In 1937, a 24-meter tall, 1700-year-old obelisk standing in Axum was cut into three parts by Italian soldiers and shipped to Rome to be re-erected. The obelisk is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of engineering from the height of the Axumite empire. Despite a 1947 United Nations agreement that the obelisk would be shipped back, Italy balked, resulting in a long-standing diplomatic dispute with the Ethiopian government, which views the obelisk as a symbol of national identity. In April 2005, Italy finally returned the obelisk pieces to Axum amidst much official and public rejoicing. It is due to be re-erected in November 2005. UNESCO will be responsible for the re-installation of this stele in Axum.

The major Aksumite monuments in the town are stelae; the largest number lie in the Northern Stelae Park, ranging up to the 33 metre-high Great Stele (believed to have fallen during construction) and the tallest standing 24m high King Ezana's Stele. Another stele looted by the Italian army was only returned to Ethiopia in 2005 and is due for reinstallation. They are believed to mark graves and would have had cast metal discs affixed to their sides, which are also carved with architectural designs. The Gudit Stelae, unlike the northern area, are interspersed with mostly fourth century tombs.

Other features of the town include St Mary of Zion church, built in 1665 and said to contain the Ark of the Covenant (a prominent twentieth century church of the same name neighbours it), archaeological and ethnograpic museums, the Ezana Stone written in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Ancient Greek in a similar manner to the Rosetta Stone, King Bazen's Tomb (a megalith considered to be one of the earliest structures), the so-called Queen of Sheba's Bath (actually a reservoir), the fourth century Ta'akha Maryam and sixth century Dungur Palaces, the monasteries of Abba Pentalewon and Abba Liqanos and the Lioness of Gobedra rock art.

Local legend claims the Queen of Sheba lived in the town.

The city is also home to a small airport.