Axum is a city in northern Ethiopia named after the Aksumite kingdom, a maritime and trading power that dominated the region from about 400 BC. e. until the X century A. D. e. Medieval sources sometimes referred to this kingdom as "Ethiopia".
The main Aksumite monuments are the steles, the purpose of which remains a mystery to this day …
According to some sources, the total number of stelae in Aksum and its immediate environs is more than one hundred and seventy pieces. Only a couple of massive monoliths stand out from the entire mass of local, poorly worked, relatively small stones.
The most impressive stelae are located in the city itself. Although here the overwhelming majority are almost unworked monoliths, sometimes of very modest size. But there are also very impressive specimens.
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Also impressive, of course, is the broken stele, the weight of which is estimated at 500 tons. The pedestal of this stele disappeared without a trace … Its length as a whole was 33.5 m.
But the most "famous" stele is a 24-meter obelisk weighing 180 tons that has survived to this day. In 1937, after the capture of Ethiopia by fascist Italy, the Aksumite 24-meter obelisk was cut into three parts by Italian soldiers and taken to Rome. Contrary to the UN recommendation (1947), Italy opposed the return of the obelisk, which sparked a lengthy diplomatic controversy. Ethiopia considers the obelisk a national treasure. In April 2005, Italy returned the obelisk to Axum and paid the shipping costs of $ 4 million. UNESCO set about re-installing the stele. In June 2008, the lower part of the obelisk was installed, and in July they completed the installation of all three fragments of the stele … The obelisk was installed on a hill, which was turned by ancient builders into a three-tiered platform made of massive slabs.
This is how the stele looks from different angles:
There is also a "smaller copy" of it, 21 meters high and weighing 120 tons, installed nearby.
The installation of the stele, even in parts, required the involvement of the most powerful modern construction equipment.
The obelisks are made of solid blocks of bluish basalt - one of the hardest rocks. Moreover, such basalt had to be delivered to Axum on purpose, since the nearest outcrops of this rock are located a few kilometers from the city.
Officially, the steles date back to the first centuries of our era. However, in Aksum itself there is a legend according to which they were erected by the giant cyclops who knew how to melt stone. They poured it into long wooden molds, and when the stone cooled down, they cut it, polished it, and then turned it into giant steles.
The most important mystery remains, first of all, why and how such a huge weight was moved.
According to local legends, it was to Aksum that the Queen of Sheba returned after her trip to King Solomon. Historians are still arguing about the reality of the existence of this queen in antiquity. However, local guides proudly demonstrate to tourists the “pool of the Queen of Sheba” - a deep and vast body of water carved into solid rocks.
Aksum is also notable for being the last place mentioned in connection with the Ark of the Covenant. Some believe that the Ark is still there.
Other structures and artifacts of Aksum are practically unknown to the general public, among which there are sometimes those that cause associations with amazing objects not only from other countries, but also from other continents.
Right next to the broken stele there is a semi-underground structure, which absolutely does not combine with its masonry of fine rubble with the stele itself. Even ceiling blocks of several tons make a miserable impression in comparison with the stele.
Another underground structure, which can usually be called a "tomb", is located a little to the side. It is done much better from a fairly well-crafted block.
Here the use of the technology of fastening the blocks with metal ties is striking. Moreover, the shape of the ties is typical not so much for more or less close Egypt (where this technology is also found, but the notches have a different shape), but for Tiahuanaco in Bolivia!..
Much more impressive are the ruins of the structure, which are also located not far from the broken stele, but on the other side. The walls of the structure are practically broken, but it is clear that earlier they formed a kind of raspberry of rectangular blocks and were covered with a single slab.
Archaeologists have called this construction "the sanctuary". But who and why needed a sanctuary with a monolithic roof measuring about 100 square meters (16m x 6m) and weighing about 300 tons!?.. Where and how was this monolith delivered?!..
You can also draw some analogies with ancient buildings in Latin America and the stele itself.
Below in the photo, the ruins of structures in Byblos, a Phoenician city near Beirut, the capital of Lebanon (above) and the ruins of structures in Machu Picchu, located on the territory of modern Peru at the top of a mountain range at an altitude of 2450 meters above sea level (right).
All these mysteries once again show how little modern science knows about our past, often attributing everything inexplicable and incomprehensible to it on the massive religious insanity of ancient peoples …
Author: ZigZag