Archaeological sights in Ethiopia
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Aksum
Sprawling, dusty, and rural - Aksum is modest almost to a fault. On first sight, it's hard to imagine that the town was ever the site of a great civilisation. Yet Aksum is one of Ethiopia's star attractions.
Littered with massive teetering stelae, ruins of palaces, underground tombs (most still undiscovered) and inscriptions rivalling the Rosetta stone itself, the town once formed part of the Aksumite kingdom. It has a vibrancy, life and continuing national importance very rarely found at ancient sites. Pilgrims still journey to Aksum and the great majority of Ethiopians believe passionately that the Ark of the Covenant resides here.
Though no longer a wealthy metropolis,…
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Ancient Quarries of Aksum
Near the Lioness of Gobedra, at a site on Gobedra Hill known as Wuchate Golo, are the Ancient Quarries of Aksum, the birthplace of the famous stelae. Mystery still surrounds the tools that were used by the master craftsmen of Aksum, but you can see clearly, in one area, the process by which they cut the hard stone from the rock. After the intended break was mapped out, a row of rectangular sockets were cut.
Wooden wedges were next inserted into the sockets and made to expand either by the use of water, by percussion or by hammering in metal wedges, which caused the rock to fracture. In another place, you'll see a stele almost completely freed from the rock, but strangely …
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Ta'akha Maryam
Early excavations revealed that Ta'akha Maryam was a magnificent palace, probably dating from the 4th or 5th century AD. Unfortunately, much of the stone was removed and what remained was obliterated when the Italians cut a road straight through it. Today, little more than a few piles of rubble and a couple of dressed stone blocks remain, strewn on either side of the road.
Covering a vast area of some 120m by 80m and encircled by huge stone walls, Ta'akha Maryam would have been far larger than medieval European palaces of the time, and contained at least 50 rooms.
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