The Obelisk of Axum, also called ḥawelti Akhsum in Tigrinya and Ye’Åksum ḥāwelt in Amharic, is a tall stone monument from the 4th century CE. It stands 24 meters (about 79 feet) high and is made of a type of rock called phonolite. The obelisk weighs 160 metric tons (about 160 long tons or 180 short tons) and is located in the city of Axum in Ethiopia. It has two fake doors at the bottom and decorations that look like windows on all sides. The top of the obelisk is shaped like a half-circle and was once covered by metal frames.
History
The 'obelisk,' also called a stele, is found in the city of Axum in modern-day Ethiopia. In local languages, it is called hawelti in Tigrinya and hawelti in Geʽez. These steles were likely carved and placed by people living in the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian civilization, during the 4th century CE. Building steles in Axum was a long-standing tradition. They were used as markers for underground burial chambers. The largest steles marked royal tombs and had decorative false windows and doors, while smaller ones marked the tombs of lesser nobles. Today, only a few large steles remain standing, but hundreds of smaller ones can be found in areas called "steles fields." Some steles are still roughly carved, while others are more elaborate. The last stele built in Axum was the King Ezana's Stele, created in the 4th century AD.
King Ezana, who lived from about 321 to 360 CE, was influenced by his teacher Frumentius. He introduced Christianity to Axum, which stopped the older practice of building burial steles. It is believed that each stele had a sacrificial altar near its base.
Over time, many steles fell due to reasons like structural failure, earthquakes (Axum is in an area where earthquakes happen), or damage from battles during the Ethiopian–Adal War between 1529 and 1543. By the 19th century, only King Ezana's Stele remained standing. It was shown in a drawing by Henry Salt and a photograph by Mabel Bent. Salt later brought the design of the Axum obelisk to England, where it inspired the Nelson Monument in Portsmouth.
During Italy's occupation of Ethiopia in 1937, King Ezana's Stele was taken to Italy as war spoils. The monolith was cut into three pieces and transported by truck to the port of Massawa, then shipped to Naples, arriving on March 27, 1937. In Rome, it was restored, reassembled, and placed in front of the Ministry for Italian Africa and the Circus Maximus. The obelisk was unveiled on October 28, 1937, to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the March on Rome. The project was led by Ugo Monneret de Villard.
A bronze statue of the Lion of Judah, a symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, was also taken to Italy and displayed near Rome's Termini station.
In 1947, Italy agreed to return the stele to Ethiopia, along with the Lion of Judah monument. The Lion of Judah was returned in 1967, but the stele remained in Italy for over 50 years due to technical challenges in moving it. Some sources suggest Emperor Haile Selassie, after learning about the costs and difficulties, gave the stele to Rome as a gift for improved relations between Italy and Ethiopia. However, this claim is not widely accepted. Colonel Mengistu Haile Mariam, who overthrew the emperor in 1974, asked Italy to return the stele. Some sources say Italy could keep the stele in exchange for building a hospital in Addis Ababa and forgiving Ethiopia's debts. After the Mengistu regime fell, Ethiopia requested the stele's return, and Italy agreed in 1997 under President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro.
In 2003, the stele was dismantled under the supervision of Giorgio Croci, a professor from Rome. Plans to return it to Ethiopia in 2004 faced obstacles, including a short runway at Axum Airport, poor roads, and political tensions with Eritrea. The runway was later upgraded. The first piece was returned on April 19, 2005, using a large cargo plane. The other pieces followed on April 22 and 25, 2005. The operation cost Italy $7.7 million.
The stele was stored in Ethiopia while the government decided how to rebuild it without harming nearby ancient sites, including King Ezana's Stele. By 2007, the foundation for the new stele was built, and reconstruction began in 2008 with a team led by UNESCO and Giorgio Croci. The monument was re-erected near King Ezana's Stele and unveiled on September 4, 2008.
When the stele was reassembled in Rome in 1937, steel bars were added for support. In 2002, lightning struck the stele during a storm, causing damage. In the new reconstruction, eight special fibers (Kevlar) were used to hold the pieces together. This design helps the stele withstand earthquakes and avoids using steel, which could attract lightning or rust.
Other similar steles and obelisks exist in Ethiopia and Eritrea, such as the Hawulti in Metera. Like the Axum obelisk, these structures have a rectangular base with a carved false door on one side.
3-D laser scanning
The Zamani Project uses terrestrial laser-scanning to create 3D models of cultural heritage sites, making a historical record. In 2006, the project documented parts of the Axum Stelae Field using this method.