Aksum (Axum)
Enquire NowAksum was the capital of the ancient Aksumite Empire, one of history’s four great powers. It grew rich by controlling Red Sea and ivory trade routes between Africa, Arabia and the Greco-Roman world. UNESCO named it a World Heritage Site in 1980. The town is famous for its towering carved obelisks and ancient royal tombs. It also holds deep spiritual meaning as Ethiopia’s oldest Christian site, home to the reputed resting place of the Ark of the Covenant. Most visitors fly in, and many time their trip around the Meskel festival each September.
Aksum, sometimes spelled Axum, was the centre of the Aksumite Empire, one of the four great powers of the ancient world alongside Rome, Persia and China. Positioned at the crossroads of Africa, Arabia and the Greco-Roman world, the Aksumite Kingdom dominated trade in the Horn of Africa for over a thousand years, controlling the ivory trade from Sudan and patrolling the Red Sea coast to secure trade routes stretching all the way to Yemen. The site was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1980.
The ruins of this civilisation spread across a wide area of the Tigray Plateau. Today, visitors can explore massive rock obelisks, impressive royal tombs, ruined palaces, and the reputed bath of the Queen of Sheba, known locally as May Shum. The Stelae Field is the centrepiece of the site: the tallest standing obelisk rises over 23 metres, intricately carved to resemble a nine-storey building, and stands at the entrance to the main field. Nearby lies an even larger obelisk, roughly 33 metres long, which toppled and shattered, likely while it was being raised, and still lies where it fell.
Aksum is also considered the spiritual heart of Ethiopian Christianity. The Cathedral of Tsion Maryam (Mary of Zion) traces its origins to the 4th century, making it Ethiopia’s oldest church, though the current building was rebuilt in the 17th century by Emperor Fasilidas after the original was destroyed. Adjacent to it stands the Chapel of the Tablet, which Ethiopian Orthodox Christians believe holds the Ark of the Covenant, said to have been brought to Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik I, son of King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Historians have also drawn on a trilingual stone tablet inscribed in Greek, Sabaean and Ge’ez, left by King Ezana, to piece together Aksum’s history.
Getting there typically means flying, with daily connections from Addis Ababa, Gondar and Lalibela, since the overland journey from Addis Ababa runs over 1,000km. Local guides can be arranged at the Aksum Guides Association near the central stelae field, and the town comes alive each September for Meskel, an Ethiopian Christian festival marking the finding of the True Cross with a large bonfire in front of the stelae and cathedral.