Qualla: Obelisk of Axum https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:29 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Obelisk of Axum https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum Obelisk of Axum: Introduction https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit Allamiro, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the local languages of northern Ethiopia, the towering stone is not called an obelisk at all. In Tigrinya it is hawelti. In Ge'ez, the ancient liturgical language of Ethiopian Orthodox Christianity, it is also hawelti. What stands in Axum today, 24 meters tall and weighing 160 tons, is a grave marker from the 4th century CE - a royal stele carved by the subjects of the Kingdom of Aksum, one of the great trading empires of the ancient world. It took more than sixty years of diplomatic wrangling, a runway upgrade, and an Antonov An-124 cargo plane to bring it home.

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Image: Allamiro | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Obelisk of Axum: Markers for the Dead https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit Livingpassages, CC BY-SA 4.0. In the steles fields of Axum, hundreds of stone pillars rise from the earth. Most are small, rough, unmarked - graves of ordinary people. A few are enormous and carved with false doors and rows of windows that mimic multi-story buildings, markers for royal burial chambers below. ...

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Image: Livingpassages | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-markers-for-the-dead.mp3 0:06 2 full Obelisk of Axum: The Theft https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit user:Lalupa, Public domain. Mussolini's Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935 and proclaimed its empire two years later. In 1937, as part of the looting that accompanied the occupation, Italian engineers cut the stele into three sections and trucked them piece by piece along the difficult road from Axum to the por...

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Image: user:Lalupa | Public domain

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-the-theft.mp3 0:06 3 full Obelisk of Axum: The Long Road Home https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit O.Mustafin, CC0. Emperor Haile Selassie visited Italy in 1961. The monument to the Lion of Judah, also looted, was returned in 1967. The stele stayed. For more than fifty years Ethiopia asked and Italy demurred, citing technical difficulties that were real but also convenient. The runway at Axum ...

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Image: O.Mustafin | CC0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-the-long-road-home.mp3 0:06 4 full Obelisk of Axum: What the Stone Remembers https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit Allamiro, CC BY-SA 4.0. To stand before the Obelisk of Axum today is to read three kinds of history at once. The phonolite surface, quarried nearby and carved with what look like windows of a nine-story tower, speaks of the wealth and ambition of a 4th-century African kingdom that traded with Rome, Arab...

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Image: Allamiro | CC BY-SA 4.0

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-what-the-stone-remembers.mp3 0:06 5 full Obelisk of Axum: Flight Context https://qualla.com/obelisk-of-axum/ Photo credit Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5. Located at 14.13°N, 38.72°E in Ethiopia's Tigray region, on a high plateau at approximately 2,100 meters elevation. Axum Airport (HAAX) serves the town. The stelae park is visible near the town center on clear days. Recommended viewing altitude FL200-300. Mountainous terrain to the west (Simien Mountains), Eritrean border approximately 25 nautical miles north. Expect haze in dry season (November-May), better visibility during rainy months.

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Image: Ondřej Žváček | CC BY 2.5

]]> Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/s/f/e/8/obelisk-of-axum-wp/sfe8-obelisk-of-axum-flight-over-axum.mp3 0:06 6 full