Aksum

We took another time-saving flight north to Aksum, near the border with Eritrea. Aksum was once the center of a great civilisation dating back as early as 400BC and was the powerful capital of an extensive empire for nearly 1000 years. The town is covered in sites containing carved granite obelisks or stelae looking like giant rock needles. Amazingly sculpted from single pieces of granite some of the stelae are over 30m tall, weigh more than 500 tonnes and have been standing erect for over 1500 years! Many have actually succomb to the forces of gravity and one of thebiggest ones is now propped up with the aid of a kind of sling, but they are still quite a sight.

Although the towering stelae intice your eyes skyward, there is even more to be seen at ground level, or should I say below ground level. 98% of Aksum's treasures remains buried under ground in hundreds of unopened tombs. A few of the tombs have been excavated and you can actually descend into them. It's amazing how sophisticated the brick work is and how well preserved they are considering they date back to the 3rd century. Other sights here include an stone tablet inscribed in 3 languages dating back to 330 AD and most importantly for Ethiopian pilgrims is the church of St Mary of Zion which contains a small chapel in which most Ethiopians believe is where the legendary Ark of the Covenant resides. However nobody is allowed remotely near the chapel, let alone feast eyes on the Ark. Mmmm.