Ethiopia31, Axum - The Lost Kingdom

1
ETHIOPIA
31
Axum - the Lost Kingdom
1
2
Gondar Atse Tewodros Airport
Gondar Atse Tewodros Airport
AxumEmperor Yohannes IV Airport
Ethiopian Airlines
3
Statue of Aste Yohannes (Emperor Yohannes IV) at
the airport in Axum
Gondar Atse Tewodros Airport
4
Statue of Aste Yohannes (Emperor Yohannes IV)
5
Abba Pentalewon Monastery around Axum
6
The airport is located 5.5 km to the east of the
city
7
Axum is now a tourist town with a population of
66,800 residents
8
Delonix regia, Royal Poinciana or Flamboyant
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
Ethiopia is called the land of Thirteen Month of
Sunshine. The Ethiopic calendar has twelve
months of thirty days plus five or six epagomenal
days, which comprise a thirteenth month. The
Ethiopian is a solar calendar that has more in
common with the coptic calendar, and a gap of
seven to eight years between the Ethiopian and
Gregorian calendars results from an alternative
calculation in determining the date of the
Annunciation. (The year 2014 is 2006 in Ethiopian
calendar)
12
(No Transcript)
13
Ethiopia, like most countries in Africa, is a
multi-ethnic state. According to the 2019
revision of the World Population Prospects, the
total population was 109,224,414 in 2018
(compared to 18,434,000 in 1950) The average
age was 25
14
(No Transcript)
15
Situated in the highlands of northern Ethiopia,
Aksum symbolizes the wealth and importance of the
civilization of the ancient Aksumite kingdom,
which lasted from the 1st to the 8th centuries
AD. The kingdom was at the crossroads of Africa,
Arabia and the Greco-Roman World, and was the
most powerful state between the Eastern Roman
Empire and Persia. The ruins of the ancient
Aksumite Civilization covered a wide area in the
Tigray Plateau. The most impressive monuments are
the monolithic obelisks, royal tombs and the
palace ruins dating to the 6th and 7th centuries
AD. Several stelae survive in the town of Aksum
dating between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD.
16
Axum - Northern Stelae Field or Northern Stelae
Park - Entrance hewn out of stone
17
Axum - Northern Stelae Field or Northern Stelae
Park
18
Axum - Northern Stelae Field
Axum - the Lost Kingdom, no other town occupies a
more important position and represents more glory
in the history of the country than does Axum. The
massive ruins of Aksum date from between the 1st
and the 13th century A.D. The monolithic stelae
were erected during the third and fourth
centuries A.D. as funerary markers for deceased
members of its elite. Aksum was inscribed on the
World Heritage list in 1980
19
Visitors today can marvel at giant obelisks and
stone stelae, made of single pieces of granite
with identical decorations. The biggest of them,
now fallen, is nearly 33 meters high and weighs
500 tons, making it the largest monolith in the
world
20
(No Transcript)
21
Broken remains of the Great Stele, possibly the
largest monolithic stele that ancient human
beings ever attempted to erect
22
The 33-metre-long 3.84 metres wide, 2.35 metres
deep, weighing 520 tonnes Great Stele, believed
to have fallen and broken during construction
23
Axum - Broken remains of the Great Stele
24
The stelae are believed to mark graves and would
have had cast metal discs affixed to their sides,
which are also carved with architectural designs.
Their function is supposed to be that of
"markers" for underground burial chambers. The
largest of the grave markers were for royal
burial chambers and were decorated with
multi-story false windows and false doors, while
lesser nobility would have smaller, less
decorated ones. While there are only a few large
ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones
in various "stelae fields". The last stele
erected in Axum was probably the so-called King
Ezana's Stele, in the 4th century CE.
25
King Ezana (c. 321 c. 360), influenced by his
childhood tutor Frumentius, introduced
Christianity to Axum, precluding the pagan
practice of erecting burial stelae (it seems that
at the feet of each obelisk, together with the
grave, there was also a sacrificial altar). The
last stele erected in Axum was probably the
so-called King Ezana's Stele
26
24-metre 20.6 metres high above the front
baseplate, 2.65 metres wide, 1.18 metres deep,
weighing 160 tonnes, King Ezana's Stele
Axum Obelisk and King Ezana's Stele
27
In 1937, a 24-metre tall, 1,700-year-old Obelisk
of Axum, was broken into five parts by the
Italians and shipped to Rome to be erected. The
obelisk is widely regarded as one of the finest
examples of engineering from the height of the
Axumite empire. Despite a 1947 United Nations
agreement that the obelisk would be shipped back,
Italy balked, resulting in a long-standing
diplomatic dispute with the Ethiopian government,
which views the obelisk as a symbol of national
identity. In April 2005, Italy finally returned
the obelisk pieces to Axum amidst much official
and public rejoicing Italy also covered the 4
million costs of the transfer. UNESCO assumed
responsibility for the re-installation of this
stele in Axum, and by the end of July 2008 the
obelisk had been reinstalled. It was unveiled on
4 September 2008
28
The Obelisk of Axum is 24.6 metres high, 2.32
metres wide, 1.36 metres deep, weighing 170
tonnes was removed by the Italian army in 1937,
and returned to Ethiopia in 2005
29
Three more stelae measure 18.2 m high 15.8 m
high and 15.3 m high. The Gudit Stelae to the
west of town, unlike the northern area, are
interspersed with mostly 4th century tombs
30
Cordia africana is planted as a shade tree in
coffee plantations, and as roadside tree,
ornamental shade tree and boundary marker
31
As early as 1790, the Scottish traveler James
Bruce (1730-1794) narrated that the then Wanzey
(now known as Cordia africana) was a tree under
which the Abyssinian king was chosen, and from
whose wood was the king's scepter made. C.
africana is one of Ethiopia's remarkable
multipurpose trees with a variety of economic,
ecosystem, and social benefits. Its yellow fruit
is edible
32
Wanza tree, Cordia africana
33
The so-called mausoleum has a monumental portal
(hewn from a single slab of granite) marking the
tombs entrance and is carved with the stelaes
curious false-door motifs. The portal leads into
a passageway with 10 chambers. In total the tomb
covers some 240 sq metres. Part of the tomb was
disfigured at some unknown date by robbers, who
succeeded in digging through 1.5m of solid masonry
34
In 1972 the unique Tomb of the False Door was
discovered and is thought to date around the 4th
century AD. Above the stairs descending into the
tombs chamber was a stone slab carved with a
false door almost identical to those found on the
stelae
35
Complex in structure, its stone blocks are also
larger and more finely dressed than those found
in some other tombs. Comprising an antechamber
and inner chamber, its surrounded on three sides
by a passage. Look for the iron clamps fixing
blocks of stone together like giant staples.
36
Judging from the lengths to which the grave
robbers went to gain access, its thought to have
contained objects of great value. A single stone
base that held the sarcophagus can still be seen
The Tomb of the False Door
37
All of the tombs excavated to date had been
pillaged by robbers, so very little is known
about Aksumite burial customs or the identities
of those buried. Amazingly, about 90 of the
field hasnt yet been dug, so no matter where you
walk, theres a good chance theres an
undiscovered tomb with untold treasures beneath
38
(No Transcript)
39
(No Transcript)
40
(No Transcript)
41
(No Transcript)
42
The dome of the new Cathedral of Our Lady Mary of
Zion
43
(No Transcript)
44
Axum - Northern Stelae Field or Northern Stelae
Park
45
Coffee is the gift of Ethiopia to the world..
It originated in the province of Kaffa from
witch the name coffee comes Ethiopia is one of
the oldest and biggest exporters of coffee in the
world There are 600 coffee tree varieties
46
Coffee ceremony and shopping zone
47
Coffee ceremony and shopping zone
48
(No Transcript)
49
(No Transcript)
50
(No Transcript)
51
Shopping time
52
(No Transcript)
53
(No Transcript)
54
(No Transcript)
55
Text Internet Pictures Sanda Foisoreanu
Sanda Negrutiu Jean
Moldovan Daniel Scradeanu
Alin Samochis
Internet All  copyrights  belong to their
 respective owners Presentation Sanda
Foisoreanu
2014/20
Sound Aster Aweke - Nafkot