Axum, Tigrai
Obilisks in Axum
December 28 and 29, 2006
Axum, Tigrai
Somehow I never learned about Ethiopia at Church in religion class or in history class, however as I've seen that past few days- this is where a lot of history took place. Briefly here is what I saw (I'll send some photos):
1.stelae field full of obelisks dating back to the 3rd century, made of granite reaching some 33 m high, weighing over 500 tons and brought from a quarry somehow from over 4km away on a nearby mountain.
2. The ruins of what would have been an amazing palace… believed to belong to the Queen of Sheba (did you know she's Ethiopian?) in 7th century AD.
3. Tablets written in both Sabean, Ge'ez and ancient Greek… I forget the dates but the tablet records the political history of the time some hundreds of years before Christ.
4. Artifacts that were believed to be use in sacrificial ceremonies- corpse cleaning, animal blood cups, etc.
5. Ancient carvings on a boulder
6. King's tombs- made of granite from a far away mountain, incredibly built underground- no idea how- others were carved out of the underground rocks.
I'm not doing it justice… but amazing!
Unfortunately my trip was a bit tainted by unknowledgable, money hungry guides. I go really fed up with being screwed out money and expected to pay outrageous prices- The houses are amazing, circular stone. multi-story buildings. I went to look at an old one and the owners charged me 20 birr and then the friend was appalled that I didn't give her 20 birr also ( I gave her 4)!
One day however I met a nice High school girl who invited me to her house for coffee. She opened the gate to reveal a huge courtyard with coffee plants and other plants growing. One corner had clay benches emerging from the clay wall. A sheet hung above us to shade us from Axum's sun. I sat on goat hide, we talked, she made popcorn and coffee traditionally… good times. I'm learning that I prefer not to have a guide- I'd rather skip the ancient obelisks and have coffee with the locals!
Axum, Tigrai
Somehow I never learned about Ethiopia at Church in religion class or in history class, however as I've seen that past few days- this is where a lot of history took place. Briefly here is what I saw (I'll send some photos):
1.stelae field full of obelisks dating back to the 3rd century, made of granite reaching some 33 m high, weighing over 500 tons and brought from a quarry somehow from over 4km away on a nearby mountain.
2. The ruins of what would have been an amazing palace… believed to belong to the Queen of Sheba (did you know she's Ethiopian?) in 7th century AD.
3. Tablets written in both Sabean, Ge'ez and ancient Greek… I forget the dates but the tablet records the political history of the time some hundreds of years before Christ.
4. Artifacts that were believed to be use in sacrificial ceremonies- corpse cleaning, animal blood cups, etc.
5. Ancient carvings on a boulder
6. King's tombs- made of granite from a far away mountain, incredibly built underground- no idea how- others were carved out of the underground rocks.
I'm not doing it justice… but amazing!
Unfortunately my trip was a bit tainted by unknowledgable, money hungry guides. I go really fed up with being screwed out money and expected to pay outrageous prices- The houses are amazing, circular stone. multi-story buildings. I went to look at an old one and the owners charged me 20 birr and then the friend was appalled that I didn't give her 20 birr also ( I gave her 4)!
One day however I met a nice High school girl who invited me to her house for coffee. She opened the gate to reveal a huge courtyard with coffee plants and other plants growing. One corner had clay benches emerging from the clay wall. A sheet hung above us to shade us from Axum's sun. I sat on goat hide, we talked, she made popcorn and coffee traditionally… good times. I'm learning that I prefer not to have a guide- I'd rather skip the ancient obelisks and have coffee with the locals!
(L)Stairs leading into one of the mysteriously built, underground tombs
This photo (R) cost me 10 birr!!
posted by Tricia at
11:35 PM
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