Ethiopia (April-May 2015)
4. Axum to Maryam Wukro
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Return to main Ethiopia April-May 2015 webpage
To see the map below
with a better resolution in another tab, click here.
To see all the waypoints in Google Earth, click here (.kmz file).
This page covers the visit of Aksum and the section of the red path
between waypoints 48 and 71.
I spent two nights in
Axum, where I visited most of the usual touristic sites.
View over modern Axum
from the Abba Libanos monastery.
New building under
construction in downtown Axum, or the art of erecting straight walls with
twisted scaffolds. Note how the wood bars in the scaffold are interlocked with
almost no bolts, nails or wires. Totally amazing!
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The atmospheric main
plaza of Axum. The plaza was being renovated when I visited. It will probably
look nicer, but it may lose much of its character.
Sewing services on
the plaza.
Granite stelae in the
main stelae field of Axum. They were carved and erected during the 4th century
AD. The high stela in the middle is known as the Roma Stela. It is the highest
standing stela in the field (26m) and weighs more than 160 tons. Under the
Italian occupation it was cut into three pieces and moved to Roma; it was
returned to Axum in 2005. The high stela on the right is the Ezana Stela (23m). The shattered stela lying on the ground
is known as the Great Stela and is the largest stela in the field (33m). The
stelae were cut from a quarry located 4km away from the field. The door on the
left, under the Great Stela, leads to underground tombs known as the Mausoleum.
The Roma Stela and
its false door.
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The Mausoleum
(excavated in the mid-1990s) under the Great Stela.
King Remhai′s tomb. Note how large the stone blocks are
and how well they fit together. The roof of the vault on the right consists of
a single slab.
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A stone ruler above
King Remhai′s tomb. Not easy to move it around.
Church of Tsion Maryam, near the main stelae field. The church was
built by Emperor Fasilidas, the founder of Gondar.
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Woman carrying a ″Paris
je t′aime″ bag near Tsion
Maryam Church!
Left: Queen of Sheba′s
Bath. Right: Stone known as the Ezana Inscription. Ezana was an Aksumite king in the 4th century
AD. The Ezana Inscription is a kind of Rosetta Stone: the same story that celebrates Ezana′s
victories is inscribed in Greek, Sabean and Geez
scripts in Greek and Geez languages.
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King Kaleb′s
tomb on a hill 2km north of Axum′s center. Like King Remhai′s
tomb, it is made of huge stone blocks that fit together well, but here some of
the blocks are self-locking non-rectangular blocks.
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Smaller stelea in the Gudit stelea field west of Axum (named after Queen Gudit).
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Monastery of Abba Pantaleon, located on a sharp hill dominating Aksum.
Paintings in the Abba
Pantaleon Monastery.
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Priest showing old
treasures (crosses, crowns, and religious books) from Abba Pantaleon
Monastery.
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Adwa mountains seen from the monastery.
I went from Axum to
Adwa by bus. Gebru and Gebrehiwet absolutely
wanted to host me for an injera lunch in their home town. There (at Gebru′s
home) I had my best injera meal ever, as well as excellent traditional
Ethiopian coffee.
Some
members of Gebru′s family.
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We
all spent one night in Adwa, before resuming the trek toward Yeha.
Typical
rock formation soon after leaving Adwa.
An unusual scenery in
Tigray: a large (artificial) lake, the water reservoir for both Adwa and Axum.
The
area north of Adwa is populated by a mix of Christians and Muslims. Below, Christian
women and a Muslim farmer.
A valley inhabited by
many members of Gebru′s family.
To reach Yeha we had to cross a small mountain range. During the
ascent we had a sweeping view as far as Eritrea.
Painting on a small
church.
Jagged mountains as
we were getting closer to Yeha..
Large temple in Yeha. The temple, which is dedicated to the God Almaqah, was built during the 7th century BC.
Its 14m-high walls consist of 52 layers of limestone ashlars (some measuring
more than 3m in length) that fit together remarkably well. Unfortunately, the
view suffers much from the scaffolding erected for restoration.
Small stelae in the
cemetery in front of the temple′s entrance.
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The west wall of the
Church of Abuna Aftse next
to the old temple.
Stylized ibexes from
an old frieze embedded in the church′s west wall. (Yeha
was founded by Sabaen settlers from the south-west of
the Arabian Peninsula, where ibex was a sacred animal.)
Stones engraved with
inscriptions in Sabaean writing stacked in a room
near the church.
We set our 10th
camp in Yeha slightly below the ancient temple
(waypoint 53).
Leaving Yeha toward the south-east across the Adwa Mountains on a
cloudy day.
Typical landscapes of
the Adwa Mountains.
A big fig tree. We
set our 11th camp in a small village nearby (waypoint 60).
A nicely built well
near our camp.
Leaving our 11th
camp on a sunny day, with the Axum Mountains in the background.
Along the trail.
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Yet another rock ourcrop.
Taking a short rest.
The path then
descended toward the next valley trough a steep escapment.
Cliff below the
escarpment.
Farm.
Nebelet Tower. (Its location
is marked with an orange pin in the map at the top of the page.)
Our 12th
camp (waypoint 69),set in view of the Nebelet Tower,
in the evening (first photo below) and on the next morning (second photo, with Gebrehiwet preparing pankakes for breakfast!)
View of Nebelet Tower and other cliffs from our camp in the
morning.
Nearby church on our
way to the rock-hewn church of Maryam Wukro.
Other views of Nebelet Tower along the way.
Sections of the
trip (click on the
links below to access the corresponding webpages):
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2.
Maryam Hibeti to Abba Yohanni
and Gabriel Wukien
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3. Gabriel Wukien
to Axum via Damo Gellila
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6. Abuna Gebre
Mikael and Debre Tsion Abuna Abraham
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7.
Hawzen to Medhane Alem Adi Kasho via Abreha we Atsbeha
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