Aksum

Aksum (አክሱም) is a riddle waiting to be solved. Did the Queen of Sheba really call the town’s dusty streets home? Does the Ark of the Covenant that holds Moses’ 10 Commandments reside in a small Aksum chapel? Is one of the Three Wise Men really buried here? And what exactly do those famous stelae signify?

Dr Neville Chittick once described Aksum (often incorrectly spelled Axum) as ‘the last of the great civilisations of Antiquity to be revealed to modern knowledge’. Yet even today, despite being one of the most important ancient sites in sub-Saharan Africa, this Unesco World Heritage site has revealed only a tiny fraction of its secrets, and an exploration of its ruined tombs and palaces is sure to light a spark of excitement.