When it was time to get out of Addis Ababa, I visited the far north of Ethiopia, actually only 30 miles south of the Eritrean border. Here rests the ancient city of Axum. These ruins were once the capital of the large Axum empire that spanned as far east as Arabia and as far north as Sudan. In modern times Axum has become a small town on Ethiopia’s map in regards to population, but it still remains the country’s holiest city. As a matter of fact, Axum has such strong Christian roots that non-Christian religions are forbidden from building any place of worship within 30 km of the city.
The enormous tree above was one of my first views of Axum as I entered the city by bus. It has some special meaning, but I wasn’t able to find out any details.
I also passed this man leading a small pack of camels.
I saw some interesting wildlife in the area as well. I’ve seen plenty of lizards in Ethiopia, but the blue tail on this one got my attention.
I also wasn’t expecting to see a squirrel here in Africa!
Queen of Sheba’s Palace
Axum became an important city around 1000 BCE, when Queen Sheba ruled the area. According to the Bible, Queen Sheba traveled to Israel and met King Solomon. There they conceived a child who would later grow up to become King Menelik, King of the Axumite kingdom. Before he was actually a king, at the age of 17 Menelik traveled to Israel to meet his father, King Solomon. His father asked him to become the next King of Israel and was disappointed when his son declined and instead returned to Ethiopia and ruled the Axum empire. The photos above show the remains of Queen Sheba’s palace.
With most of the upper sections of Queen Sheba’s palace destroyed by time, the easiest way to understand what the palace looked like is by the replica above. A small museum nearby had the replica on display along with other historical information about the region.
Immediately across the street from Sheba’s palace are the ruins of an ancient cemetery. Supposedly underneath one of these large fallen obelisks is the Queen’s tomb.
Obelisks of Axum
The ancient Axumite kingdom that followed built more impressive structures, most notably the giant obelisks of Axum. The 70-foot (21-meter) obelisk above is known as King Ezana’s Stela. Ezana’s Stela remains both one of the most impressive and best preserved.
In the roughly 1,700 years since their erection, several of the enormous stelae have fallen, such as the Great Stele shown above. The obelisks were made to mark the burial chambers of the royal family and were essentially giant tombstones.
I had read about the obelisks before online and even seen them on TV once, but I never realized how large the burial chambers directly underneath them were. The underground chambers shown above were discovered only a few decades ago by archaeologists. Here they found the remains of previous kings, along with coins, gold, and other treasures that were left with the dead, similar to what the Egyptians did with their pharaohs.
King Kaleb’s Tomb
King Ezana was recognized as the first Christian monarch of Axum. This marked the start of Christianity for the city, and all kings who followed maintained their faith. The best-known King of Axum, named Kaleb, ruled in the 6th century, about 200 years after King Ezana. The photos above show King Kaleb’s burial chamber, which is reached by taking some dark stone steps deep underground. He was believed to be buried in one of the sarcophagi along with his wife. Ethiopia has three major versions of Christian crosses throughout its history. The cross used in the 6th century looks more like a plus than the traditional Christian cross seen in modern times.
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion
Axum’s most religious site is a complex of churches that includes the original and the new Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. The church above is the original church, believed to have been built during the time of Ezana.
The small church above is called the Chapel of the Tablet and is where many believe the original Ark of the Covenant to be held. According to their history, after King Menelik had visited King Solomon in Israel, King Solomon requested Menelik to stay and rule Israel after him. Having already promised Queen Sheba that he would return to Axum to rule, Menelik declined. According to Ethiopian tradition, the Ark of the Covenant ultimately came with him to Ethiopia.
Today a single monk guards it for life. He is rarely seen outside of the Chapel of the Tablet, and even in those rare moments he never leaves the fenced area. He will continue guarding it like this until his death.
These photos show a ceremony that was taking place when I visited.
No one is allowed to enter the church with the Ark of the Covenant in it, but I was allowed to enter the original church and was shown some of the religious paintings that have somehow retained their color over the centuries. They are covered by enormous curtains when there is no service in order to protect them from the sun. One of the paintings above depicts a story from the Bible about how a man tamed a lion that had killed one of his donkeys.
Here you can see the new Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion. In the 1950s, the new modern church was built by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie. I visited during the month of March when many religious ceremonies were taking place due to Lent. Many people spend all day at the church, and when it’s time for them to go home they hold a service and walk around the church three times before leaving until the next day.
According to some members of the church, I was lucky to be visiting this time of year because the Bible shown above is normally stored in a museum. Since they were using it during their Lent service, they allowed me to look at it and see a few pages. The Bible is claimed to be over a thousand years old; it is definitely one of the oldest books I’ve ever seen still in use.
Simien Mountains
Leaving the dry lands of Axum, I headed out to Gondar and passed by some of Ethiopia’s most beautiful scenery, known as the Simien Mountains. These mountains are some of the highest in Africa, with Ras Dejen being the country’s highest point at 4,533 meters, or 14,872 feet. The dramatic and rugged scenery of the mountains provides a haven for wildlife, including some endemic animals such as the Ethiopian wolf and the Walia ibex. I wish I had been able to do a week-long camping trip in the outdoors here or even hike to the top of Ras Dejen. Some photos of Ethiopian wildlife and the outdoors even seem to resemble parts of North American deciduous forests.
Many of Ethiopia’s mountains have been turned into farms. You can see the ridged lines along the mountain above where crops are being grown.
Fires are also used to help prepare fertile soil for a new generation of crops. Sadly, most of Ethiopia used to be covered by dense forests, but now only a small percentage of its woodland remains. There is an effort underway to restore many of the forests, and such a project seems very challenging, so I’m not too optimistic. Hopefully it will be successful, but until then much of the country will remain bare, a similar story to Haiti.
Road to Gondar
During my road trip I passed through many small towns such as the one above. Most towns were quiet and seemed like they were going through ordinary village life.
I did get a photo of a dust tornado that had caught the attention of several little kids. If you ever pass through small villages in Ethiopia and have empty plastic bottles, the kids here will love you for them. Often when I came to a stop somewhere, kids would run up to the car and ask for any empty bottles and would run away screaming with joy if I had one to give away.
Also while driving in the north, I passed several abandoned tanks from Ethiopia’s wars. I’m not sure of the era of the tank above, but I’d assume it was from Ethiopia’s Second Italo-Ethiopian War, which occurred in the 1930s. Italy won the conventional war and occupied Ethiopia, although Ethiopian resistance continued. The war is also remembered because Italy used chemical weapons during the fighting, including mustard gas and phosgene.
The tank above is more modern, perhaps from the more recent war with Eritrea.
