Axum - home of the Ark of the Covenant

South Stelae Field Axum

off to church - Axum

Axum - or Aksum - is at the very heart of Ethiopian history. Home to the Aksumite empire with a ruling dynasty allegedly descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba - spiritual home of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and home, it is said, of the Ark of the Covenant  - kept closely guarded in the Chapel of the Tablet in the compound of Maryam Tsion (St Mary of Zion church - the Old Cathedral - site of Ethiopia's first church - built on site of a former pagan shrine- and access denied to women - see also below).
Axum is therefore a very old and a very holy city, not immediately apparent as we approached last night in the dark wanting only our hotel, a meal, a drink and a rest.

Street scene Axum

In the mausoleum South Stelae Field

Detail of Remhae's Obelisk

For a start it has the tallest stelae or obelisks dating back to the third and fourth centuries, made of sandstone out of single blocks and curiously carved. What were they for? Probably they marked royal graves. Unique multi storey tower constructions with realistic carved doors and windows could represent their royal palaces or their "symbolic stairway to heaven."? How on earth were they erected into position? Probably by elephants, it is usually thought nowadays. In the South Stelae Park we saw:

Remhai's obelisk - the largest at 33 metres - shattered into five blocks across the ground - some say as it was erected. In total it weighs 520 tonnes. Who knows what skeletons may lie beneath?! Note the carved windows and door at the base.

Tomb of the False Door

Ezana's Stele is 23 metres tall with nine storeys of windows with a door at the base.

Inside the new cathedral Axum

The Roman Stele was taken in bits to Rome in the Italian occupation and was returned back to Axum in 2005. It has to be supported by a very ugly contraption.

Then there was the Tomb of the False Door - where we see blocks held together with metal clamps - and can appreciate the advanced skills of the original engineers.

And the ten funerary chambers off each side of a dark corridor in the underground Mausoleum

Chapel of the Tablet

First we had been to the Mai Shum reservoir - Bath of the Queen of Sheba - a water storage cistern of unknown age - but probably dating back at least to the seventeenth century - used still as a main water supply for the city -

Women going down to collect water at the Bath of
the Queen of Sheba

Funerary chamber within the Mausoleum

and a free swimming pool for all the local children - but of especial significance at the celebration of the Ethiopian Orthodox Epiphany or Timquat - when the replica Arks of the Covenant from all the local churches are taken in procession to Abuna Aregawi church south of the reservoir. The day after, at the Baptism of Christ, the spring water nearby is sprinkled over the people. Some of these nearby springs are said to have healing properties and have been visited for this purpose by Christians and Muslims alike for a very long time.

Then there is the Ark of the Covenant itself said to be in the Chapel of the Tablet in the cathedral compound across the road from the stelae field. In the same compound are two cathedrals - women are not allowed in the first so we all visit the second more modern one, built in the 1960s by the emperor Haile Selassie who opened it jointly with HM Queen Elizabeth.

We also went in the small Museum in the church compound near the Chapel of the Tablet - we have to leave all belongings in lockers outside the door and really didn't have enough time to examine all the artefacts, including ancient crowns, crosses and other church relics. I could have stayed a little longer than the allocated half hour. But don't confuse this with the Axum Museum near the South Stelae Park which it would seem is a must visit to really fully explain the stelae, but sadly we had no time for it. I did however buy a superb book on Axum - published by Arada Books -A Comprehensive Guide to Aksum and Yeha which I would suggest is a must for anyone who wishes to really make the most of their visit to this incredibly important historical city.

Panoramic view inside the New Cathedral Axum

Scene of Axum from south stelae Field towards 

There are many more sites to visit in Aksum but time presses on and we have to catch our flight to Lalibela - the first turbo-prop I have flown in for many years. Every day brings new and even more amazing experiences - the rock hewn churches of Lalibela we are soon to see are incredible…

Ethiopia - the road to Axum

We continue on our journey after lunch in Wukro - with a long trip in prospect as we head North towards Adigrat where we will turn West to Axum and our next overnight stop…

oxen threshing the grain

We climb even higher into the mountains. The landscape seems softer here, prettier somehow. There are many more cacti now, and farm compounds with families out in force harvesting grain, and threshing it with the help of their cattle. These animals are driven round and round in a small circle, tethered together, trampling the stalks, the women continually brushing the resulting separated grain back into the centre of the pile. There are also simple hand held ploughs drawn by oxen in the surrounding fields - a timat is the area of land that two oxen can plough in a day.

grain threshing with oxen

We drive through a patch of quite hard rain. The villagers in the small communities we pass through run for cover and seem disconsolate - although they clearly need rain - just not at harvest time! The rain season was too dry this last year which has seriously affected yields.

We approach Adigrat, standing at nearly 2500 metres. Small flocks of sheep and goats guarded by the roadside await sale and slaughter. The road ahead goes on to Eritrea - we turn left towards Axum.

We climb again - it is a dramatic hairpin road but of good quality. Many lorries on the road are carrying quarried rock presumably for more road improvements further ahead. There is much road building in process - much being undertaken by the Chinese, we are told. Some of the quarrying in the small quarries we pass looks manual and extremely hard work but the lads always have time to give us a cheery wave as we drive by. Later along the road we see donkeys with metal buckets strapped across their backs, weighed down with some of these heavy rocks. 

Debre Damo Monastery in the distance

We reach the summit, stopping soon for a stunning view - amazing terraced slopes and sheer drops. We drive for some while along the top of this valley, looking down for many miles on this amazing scenery to our right - the sun coming out from behind the clouds in time for us to fully enjoy the panorama. Many children, some very young, are walking back from school - in this sparsely populated countryside some of them clearly have quite a journey each day. The little ones wave cheerfully as we drive by. We cross a very wide river - the river bed largely dried up - but still a large group of women are finding enough pools of water in which to do their washing - before spreading it all over the nearby bushes to dry in the sun.

stunning scenery

the Adwa mountains

Just past Bizet we spy 

in the far distance Debre Damo Monastery, perched on its 3000 metre high amba, or flat- topped mountain. Founded in the sixth century by one of the monks collectively known as the Nine Saints, (who brought Christianity to Ethiopia from Syria and beyond), it is pretty impregnable. Even after a very long drive by hired vehicle or an arduous hot walk from the main road, the final hurdle is to be hauled up the last 15m high cliff via two leather ropes, one around your waist which is hauled up by the priest at the top, the other you use yourself to assist with the climb. Women are strictly not allowed. Can't say I'm sorry!

Most of the villages seem to have a circular stone wall enclosure within which there is a water pump - children pump water while women gather around no doubt to exchange the local gossip.

sun set behind Adwa mountains near Axum

We are now in the stark granite Adwa mountains - jutting into the sky like teeth - and at Inticho, with just over an hour still to drive, we stop for a panoramic view and for a much needed leg stretch.

early morning hotel view of the renowned Stelae Park

Finally after four tiring but immensely fascinating hours of drive we thankfully arrive at our hotel for the night set high on the outskirts of Axum overlooking the Stelae Field and its famous obelisks. Tomorrow we will explore this further as well as visit the reputed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant in the Cathedral Church of St Mary of Zion. 

Ethiopia - Abraha we Atsbeha rock hewn church

locals gathered after worship in traditional
white robes as we approached Abraha we Atsbeha

You have to remember with these rock hewn churches that they are quite literally carved out of the sandstone rock in the cliff faces where they nestle - and it is difficult to imagine the extraordinary skills required of the craftsmen. Why did they do it? Where did they start? How did they choose the sites? What happened to all the rock literally chiselled and hacked out from the inside of the rocks, leaving just the arches and columns and cupolas and sometimes beautifully detailed crosses and other carvings on walls and ceilings?

Abraha we Atsbeha entrance to the courtyard

 And these are not dead and boring artefacts of a bygone age. They are living spiritual homes for hundreds and hundreds of devout worshippers who walk, often many miles, to attend services, as their forefathers have done since the churches were built, most at least by the 16th century, many much earlier even than that. And that is just for an ordinary day - for special feast and other holy days the crowds will be huge - as we experience a little later into our pilgrimage.

the last few steps up to Abraha we Atsbeha
courtyard entrance

once within the courtyard - the more recent white
Italian portico over the original church
porch - note the original church is part of the rock face itself

Adam and Eve

one example of beautiful church murals

the devil in chains - wall mural
note the angels looking in all directions - God looks
at us all wherever we are

 We leave Wukro Chirkos and after a coffee break in Wakru (amazing - the locals seem to quite willingly give up all their seats on the street side patio outside the restaurant to accommodate our group!) we make our way in the coach for 45km along what the guide book describes as a well-maintained and scenic dirt road. Scenic it certainly is - the views are stunning all the way along - but it is very twisty and bumpy and almost more than some of our group can stomach. But wow the destination is worth it.

Mary suckling the baby Jesus

This church is regarded by many to be the finest in Tigrai, simply for its wonderfully exotic and colourful wall and ceiling murals, depicting the complete history of the Ethiopian Christian Church. The church itself is much older than its murals, tradition saying that it was excavated in AD335-40 by the 4th century twin emperors Abraha and Atsbeha to whom the church is dedicated. Their mummified bodies are said to be in a box in the Holy of Holies within the church. Who knows? A priest tried to check the contents of the box and was so severely burnt on his hands that no-one has dared to further investigate!

more wall murals within church

One could study these murals for a very long time but sadly we do not have this luxury - we have to find lunch back in Wakru before a very long drive ahead of us - albeit a fabulously scenic and fascinating one - to reach Axum and our hotel for the night ... to explore Ethiopia's most historically and archaeologically important town - site of its earliest church and spiritual home of its unique Christian tradition.

outside the church a priest studies in the shade
with fabulous view beyond