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This article is about the city of Axum. For the kingdom, see Kingdom of Axum
Axum, properly Aksum, is a city in northern Ethiopia. Located in the Mehakelegnaw Zone of the Tigray Region near the base of the Adwa mountains, this town has a latitude and longitude of . It was the centre of the Axumite Kingdom, which emerged around the time of the birth of Jesus and declined after the 7th century due to unknown reasons, but contributed to the shift of the power centre of the Ethiopian Empire further inland.
Based on figures from the Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Axum has an estimated total population of 47,320 of whom 20,774 were males and 21,898 were females. Seventy-five percent of the people in the city are members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The remainder of the population is Sunni Muslim and P'ent'ay (Protestant and other non-Orthodox Christians).
Axum is served by an airport (ICAO code HAAX, IATA AXU).
Due to its historical value, in 1980 UNESCO added its archeological sites to its list of World Heritage Sites.
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The Axumite kingdom and the Ethiopian Church
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The kingdom of Axum had its own written language called Ge'ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks, the oldest of which (though much smaller) date from 5,000-2,000 BC Significant religious festivals are the T'imk'et Festival (known as the Epiphany in western Christianity) on 7 January and the Festival of Maryam Zion in late November.
In 1937, a 24-meter tall, 1700-year-old obelisk standing in Axum was cut into three parts by Italian soldiers and shipped to Rome to be re-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. It is due to be re-erected in late 2006. * UNESCO has assumed responsibility for the re-installation of this stele in Axum.
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Axum and Islam
Although Axumite Muslims have attempted to build a mosque in this most holy of Ethiopian towns, Orthodox residents, and the emperors of the past have replied that they must be allowed to build an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Mecca (officially Makkah) if the Muslims are to be allowed to build a mosque in Axum.
The connection of Axum with Islam is very old. According to ibn Hisham, when Muhammad faced oppression from the Quraish clan, he sent a small group that included his daughter Ruqayya and her husband Uthman ibn Affan, whom Ashama ibn Abjar, the king of Axum, gave refuge to, and protection to, and refused the requests of the Quraish clan to send these refugees back to Arabia. These refugees did not return until the sixth year of the Hijra (628), and even then many remained in Ethiopia, eventually settling at Negash in eastern Tigray.
There are different traditions concerning the effect these early Muslims had on the ruler of Axum. The Muslim tradition is that the ruler of Axum was so impressed by these refugees that he became a secret convert. On the other hand, one Ethiopian tradition states that one of the Muslim refugees who lived in Ethiopia during this time converted to Orthodox Christianity, thus becoming the first known convert from Islam to Christianity. Worth mentioning is a second Ethiopian tradition, that on the death of Ashama ibn Abjar, Muhammed is reported to have prayed for the king's soul, and told his followers, "Leave the Ethiopians in peace, as long as they do not take the offensive."
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Sites of interest
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The major Aksumite monuments in the town are stelae; the largest number lie in the Northern Stelae Park, ranging up to the 33 metre-high Great Stele (believed to have fallen during construction) and the tallest standing 24m high King Ezana's Stele. Another stele looted by the Italian army was only returned to Ethiopia in 2005 and is due for reinstallation. They are believed to mark graves and would have had cast metal discs affixed to their sides, which are also carved with architectural designs. The Gudit Stelae, unlike the northern area, are interspersed with mostly fourth century tombs.
Other features of the town include St Mary of Zion church, built in 1665 and said to contain the Ark of the Covenant (a prominent twentieth century church of the same name neighbours it), archaeological and ethnograpic museums, the Ezana Stone written in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Ancient Greek in a similar manner to the Rosetta Stone, King Bazen's Tomb (a megalith considered to be one of the earliest structures), the so-called Queen of Sheba's Bath (actually a reservoir), the fourth century Ta'akha Maryam and sixth century Dungur palaces, the monasteries of Abba Pentalewon and Abba Liqanos and the Lioness of Gobedra rock art.
Local legend claims the Queen of Sheba lived in the town.
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Sister cities
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Further reading
Yuri M. Kobishchanov. Axum (Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator). University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979. ISBN 0-271-00531-9
Stuart Munro-Hay. Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. ISBN 0-7486-0106-6 online edition
Stuart Munro-Hay. Excavations at Aksum: An account of research at the ancient Ethiopian capital directed in 1972-74 by the late Dr Nevill Chittick London: British Institute in Eastern Africa, 1989 ISBN 0-500-97008-4
Sergew Hable Sellassie. Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 Addis Ababa: United Printers, 1972.
African Zion, the Sacred Art of Ethiopia. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.
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