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Published: April 6th 2012
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We got to the bus station in Debark for 8.30 a.m. to make sure we got a spot on the bus going from Gonder to Axum. After a bit of a scramble once the bus arrived, I managed to get us two tickets. The bus set off around 9.30 a.m. and as soon as we left Debark we began a slow, winding descent down the mountains. The views were incredible, but it wasn't the most comforting sight when you looked out the window and saw the bus wheel inches from the edge of a sheer cliff face. Any mistake from the driver and we would have been rolling down a couple of thousand feet!
The driver negotiated all of the hairpin bends all the way down, but then we had to do the same in reverse as we went up the next mountain and then down the other side. It was at this stage that we reached an incredibly dusty stretch of road and the bus was quickly full of dust. After 7 and half hours we reached Shire, where we had to change to a minibus to take us to Axum, where we arrived at about 8 o'clock and
got to the Bazen Hotel that night.
Axum is a small, compact town with a pretty good atmosphere. It was also considerably warmer here, as it was at a lower altitude. Axum is one of, if not the most, historically significant places in Ethiopia. The Axumite Empire, which existed between the 1st and 7th centuries A.D., was one of the most important and technologically advanced civilisations of the era.
Of what remains, the Axum Stelae field is the prime attraction. This is a field with about 75 stelae, which are basically giant, long blocks of stone effectively acting as tombstones. The largest one still standing is 23m high and is accredited to King Ezana. The largest one lies collapsed in several pieces on the ground. The second largest one was carved into three pieces and robbed by the Italians during their occupation in the 1930's and reassembled in the Piazza in Rome. The Italians only returned it in 2005 and it now stands in the stelae field.
There are many other tombs, churches and other sights of historical significance in and around Axum. We checked out the Trilingual Tablet, inscribed under King Ezana and praises God for
his help in the conquest of Yemen. It also warns that anybody who dares to move it will suffer an untimely death, so it remains where it was found, with a hut built around it.
We also visited the Tombs of Emperor Kaleb and King Basen. King Basen was ruling over Axum at the time of Christ's birth and he is supposed to be one of the three wise men to bring gifts. These tombs' significance are greater than the impression they leave on you today. They are something like those in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, Egypt, but not nearly as grand or decorated.
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