Axum (Aksum) Stele ~ Ethiopia travel pictures

Northern Stele Park

In April 2005, there's one more of the ancient obelisks on view, as Italy returned the Rome Stele taken from these fields in 1937. Due to the massive weight weight of the stele, it was cut into three 60-ton sections and flown to Aksum in a Russian-built cargo plane, one of two in the world large enough to handle the job. The 24.6 metre (81-foot) Rome Stele is thought to be 2,000 years old, and is one of Ethiopia's national treasures. And there's more: Under a parking lot on what was the stele's original site, a vast funerary chamber was recently discovered, believed to be a royal necropolis (See UNESCO News for details.)

There are more than 120 stele in this, the largest of the Aksum stele fields, located just north east of the town. All told, there are more than 176 stele, in three such parks. According to our guide, only 2 percent have been excavated. He cited the reasons as partly due to this area's proximity to Eritrea and the current political situation, and partly due to lack of funding. Aksum's well-preserved stele are each carved from a single block of granite -- the finer the carving, the more elaborate the funerary chamber they are thought to mark.

Abandoned Stele Dig

One excavation appeared to be underway (under the roof of a sun shade in the photo), but our guide said no work had been done for some time. "Some archaeologists came and started to work, then left. Then, a few years later, another archaeologist came and worked for a while, but he left a year or so ago." As we wandered around the abandoned dig, a weasel scavenged among the dry underbrush, and lizards skittered in the sunlight.

Great Stele of Aksum

Though the Great Stele, in the Central Stele Park, appears to have fallen, there is doubt that it was ever upright. Most likely it fell as it was being erected. It is thought that this stele fell close to two thousand years ago, around the time that Christianity was introduced to this area.

Great Stele close up

At 33 metres (108 feet), the Great Stele is the largest monolith ever sculpted, says UNESCO, on their web site.

Queen of Sheba Baths

More accurately termed a reservoir, the Queen of Sheba Baths are a few kilometres north of Aksum, almost abuting the northeast corner of the Northern Stele Park. Aksum served as the Queen of Sheba's capital in the 10th century BC, and the Baths are still in daily use. The low water level indicates it's the dry season.

Steps to Queen of Sheba's Baths

From our position near the road outside the fence, we could see women doing laundry. Laundry is dried in in the strong sunlight, which acts as a bleach to removes impurities. These are the only steps leading into the Baths. They are located to the lower right of the view in the above photo.

women at Queen of Sheba Baths

I don't know about you, but I think it's amazing to be able to wash your clothes at the Queen of Sheba's Baths. The Queen of Sheba. Let it sink in a minute. 'Sheba', I was told, is Amharic for 'powerful king'.

Dungur is the Queen of Sheba Palace

Remnants of Queen of Sheba's Palace lie in a barren, desert like field located several miles west of Askum, past the Gudit Stele Field.

This view is west from the palace compound walls.

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More pictures of Ethiopia

Addis Ababa * Gonder

Bahir Dar * Aksum