Aksum

Aksum is located on a plateau in the far north of Ethiopia near the Eritrean border. It lies about 150 km south of Asmara and a similar distance from the Red Sea coast. It was once the centre of a great civilisation, the Aksumite Kingdom, which stretched from southern Egypt to the Gulf of Aden (including territory in southern Arabia), south to the Omo River, and west to the Kushite Kingdom of Meroë. Its wealth was based on trade with places as far afield as ancient Greece, Egypt and Asia, with Aksumite ships sailing as far as Sri Lanka. Although the city was established several centuries before Christ, its prosperity and influence was at its greatest between the 1st and 10th centuries AD, and it is during this period that most of the city’s remarkable monuments were built.
The calm city of today belies its historical importance and interest to visitors. The most famous landmarks are the enormous obelisk-like stone stelae, up to 33m high, that stand – or lie broken where they fell – above a collection of unexcavated tombs. Elsewhere are the monumental 6th century tombs of Kings Kaleb, Gebre Meskel and Bazen, and the remains of a 6th to 7th century Palace. Two other notable sights are the Churches of Saint Mary of Zion where – in common Ethiopian belief – the Ark of the Covenant is kept; and a 4th century pillar, known as King Ezana’s Inscription, which is the Ethiopian equivalent of the Rosetta Stone, inscribed in Sabaean, Greek and Ge’ez (the predecessor of Amharic).
Yeha Temple
The Yeha Temple, also known as the Great Temple of Yeha, is possibly the oldest standing building in Ethiopia, dating back, it is thought, to around 700 BC. The temple harks back to the earliest religions of the area and contains some Judaic artefacts, perhaps giving some credence to claim of the early dynasty of their descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
Yeha is thought to have been the pre-aksumite capital of Ethiopia, and the Yeha Temple dates to this period, particularly 700 BC during the reign of D’mt. The temple was built in honour of the moon god Almougah in the Sabean style, which was common across sub-Saharan Africa.
Archaeologists also believe the Yeha Temple was repurposed in the 6th century AD as a Christian church and St Abuna Aftse monastery – a theory which would explain its fantastic state of preservation – as the religion spread through the region. A remarkable aspect of the Yeha Temple is that it was constructed without the use of mortar.
Other places of interest at Yeha include a burial ground and ruined buildings containing, amongst other things, some interesting square columns. There have been some archaeological digs in the area, dating back to the early 1950’s.