AXUM

The ancient city of Axum it lies on the plateau of Tigray in the northern Ethiopia and one of World Heritage Sites for Ethiopia.

This city was the capital of an important Empire between the first and ninth century. However archaecological vestiges of earliest date have been recently discovered on Bieta Giyorgis hill, north-west of the town and at Kidane Mehret on the road to Kaleb grave.Until now, monophysite Christianity of the eastern Mediterranean reached Ethiopia during the reign of Emperor Ezana( c.303-c.350) and Emperor Ezana became the first ruler of Ethiopian to accept Christianity, now Axum is the religious capital of the Christians of Ethiopia and evidence also exists of a close cultural exchange across the Red See became enshrined in Ethiopian legend in the persons of Makeda The Queen of Sheba and the Israelite king Solomon their legendary union was said to have produced Menelik royal Dynasty called the Solomonic dynasty.

This site known for its extraordinary monolithic stelae and its palaces. The most significant remains are:

• the main stelae field, a pre-christian cemetery with the fallen and broken stele, over 33 metres high and the large dolmen-like structure called Nefas Mawcha
• the large open-air water cistern known as May Shum
• the grave of king Caleb
• the ruins of two ancient churches dating from 6th century, on the Bieta Giyorgis hill
• the large buildings at Enda Semon, Enda Mikael and Taakka Maryam.
• The Dungur �palace�, the best preserved of the large mansions.

Other features of the town include St Mary of Zion church, built in 1665 and said to contain the Ark of the Covenant (a prominent twentieth century church of the same name neighbours it), archaeological and ethnographic museums, the Ezana Stone written in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Ancient Greek in a similar manner to the Rosetta Stone, King Bazen's Tomb (a megalith considered to be one of the earliest structures), the so-called Queen of Sheba's Bath (actually a reservoir)and sixth century Dungur palaces, the monasteries of Abba Pentalewon and Abba Liqanos and the Lioness of Gobedra rock art.

The Aksumite kingdom and the Ethiopian Church

The kingdom of Axum had its own written language called Ge'ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks, the oldest of which (though much smaller) date from 5,000-2,000 BC.[3] This kingdom was at its height under king Ezana, baptized as Abreha, in the 300s (which was also when it officially embraced Christianity).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten Commandments are inscribed.[5] This same church was the site Ethiopian emperors were crowned for centuries until the reign of Fasilides, then again beginning with Yohannes IV until the end of the empire. Axum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. Significant religious festivals are the T'imk'et Festival (known as the Epiphany in western Christianity) on 7 January and the Festival of Maryam Zion in late November.

Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion

The Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion (�Re-ese Adbarat Kidiste Kidusan Dingel Maryam Ts�iyon� in the languages of Ethiopia) of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the most important and the oldest church of Ethiopia. The original church is believed to have been built during the reign of Ezana, the first Orthodox Christian emperor of Ethiopia, during the fourth century AD.

The church is in the town of Axum in Tigray Province. Since its founding during the episcopacy of Frumentius (known in Ethiopia as Abune Selama Kesatay Birhan or "Our Father of Peace the Revealer of Light") the Church of Mary of Zion has been destroyed and rebuilt at least twice. Its first destruction occurred at the hands of Queen Gudit during the 11th century. Its second destruction occurred in the 16th century at the hands of Ahmad ibn Ibrihim al-Ghazi after which it was rebuilt by the Emperor Gelawdiwos, and then further rebuilt and enlarged by Fasilides during the 1600s. The dome and bell tower of the new Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion, built by Emperor Haile Selessie in the 1950s