Before Rome fell, before Islam was born, the Aksumite Empire was one of the world’s four great powers — alongside Rome, Persia, and China. Its capital, Axum (also spelled Aksum), is today a quiet town of 50,000 people in northern Ethiopia, but the stones it left behind speak of extraordinary greatness.
The Obelisks
Axum’s famous stelae — towering granite obelisks weighing up to 520 tonnes — were carved over 1,700 years ago as funerary markers for the city’s elite. The tallest standing stele reaches 23 metres. One, the Axum Obelisk, was looted by Mussolini in 1937 and stood in Rome until it was returned to Ethiopia in 2008 — a homecoming celebrated as a national triumph.
The Ark of the Covenant
Axum’s famous stelae — towering granite obelisks weighing up to 520 tonnes — were carved over 1,700 years ago as funerary markers for the city’s elite. The tallest standing stele reaches 23 metres. One, the Axum Obelisk, was looted by Mussolini in 1937 and stood in Rome until it was returned to Ethiopia in 2008 — a homecoming celebrated as a national triumph.
