Obelisk of Axum

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The Obelisk of Axum in Rome in 2002.

The Obelisk of Axum is a 1700-year-old, 24-metre (78-foot) tall granite obelisk, weighing over 100 tonnes. It is decorated with two false doors at the base, and decorations resembling windows on all sides.

The obelisk was carved and erected in the town of Axum (in modern-day Ethiopia) during the 4th century by subjects of the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian civilization. It was looted from Axum by the Italian army in 1937, after the Italian conquest of Abyssinia, and taken to Rome to stand in front of the Ministry for Italian Africa (later the headquarters of the United Nations's Food and Agriculture Organization). In a 1947 UN agreement, Italy agreed to return the obelisk, but little action was taken to implement the agreement for 50 years.

The Northern Stelae Park in Axum, with the King Ezana's Stele at the centre and the Great Stele lying broken.

After years of pressure, the Italian government agreed, in April 1997 to go through with its promise to return the obelisk. The first steps in dismantling the obelisk taken in November 2003, with the intent to ship the obelisk back to Ethiopia in March 2004. However, the repatriation project encountered a series of obstacles: the runway at Axum Airport was considered too short for a cargo plane carrying even one of the thirds into which the obelisk had been cut; the roads and bridges between Addis Ababa and Axum were thought to be not up to the task of road transport; and access through the nearby Eritrean port of Massawa – which was how the obelisk originally left Africa – was impossible due to the strained state of relations between Eritrea and Ethiopia.

The runway at Axum airport was then upgraded especially to facilitate the return of the obelisk, the heaviest object to ever be transported by air. The dismantled obelisk remained sitting in a warehouse near Rome's Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport, until Tuesday, 19 April 2005 when the middle piece was repatriated by use of Antonov An-124, amidst much local celebration. The second piece was returned on Friday, 22 April 2005, with the final piece returned on Monday, 25 April 2005. As of January 10, 2006 [1], the obelisk is in storage as Ethiopia decides how to reconstruct it without disturbing other ancient treasures still in the area.

Several other similar obelisks exist in Ethiopia and Eritrea, such as the Hawulti in Metera. Like the Obelisk of Axum, the other obelisks have a rectangular base with a false door carved on one side. Elements like small windows and disk patterns decorate the shaft up to the top. The obelisk ends in a semicircular top part, which used to be enclosed by metal frames. The structure may symbolize a tower leading to heaven.