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

The Obelisk of Axum is a 1700-year-old, 24-metre (78-foot) tall granite obelisk, weighing over 100 tonnes, carved in or around the 4th century by the Axumite Kingdom, an ancient Ethiopian culture. It was looted from the town of Axum (in modern-day Ethiopia) 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. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (900x495, 186 KB) Summary The Northern Stele Park at the town of Axum, Ethiopia. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (900x495, 186 KB) Summary The Northern Stele Park at the town of Axum, Ethiopia. ... Axum, properly Aksum, is a city in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, located at 14°07. ... The Luxor obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris An obelisk is a tall, thin, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramidal top. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... The Axumite Kingdom, also known as the Aksum Kingdom, was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from circa the 5th century BC to become an important trading nation by the 1st century AD. It converted to Christianity in 325 or 328 (various sources). ... Axum, properly Aksum, is a city in Tigray, northern Ethiopia, located at 14°07. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Italy Ethiopia Commanders Strength 800,000 (only ~330,000 mobilized) 100,000 (some ill-equipped) Casualties 15,000 16,000 {{{notes}}} The Second Italo-Abyssinian War, also called the Rape of Ethiopia, lasted seven months in 1935-1936. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC mythical, 1st millennium BC Region Latium Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... United Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... FAO emblem With its headquarters in Rome, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that works to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living; to improve the production, processing, marketing, and distribution of food and agricultural products; to promote rural development; and... 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ...

After years of pressure, the Italian government agreed, in April 1997 to return it; the first steps in dismantling the obelisk and shipping it home were 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. 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December A timeline of events in the news for November, 2003. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December Deaths • 08 Abu Abbas • 20 Queen Juliana • 28 Peter Ustinov • 30 Alistair Cooke More March 2004 deaths Ongoing events EU Enlargement Exploration of Mars: Rovers Haiti Rebellion Israeli-Palestinian conflict Occupation of Iraq Same-sex marriage in... Map of Ethiopia highlighting Addis Ababa (in red). ... Massawa in the 19th century Massawa or Mitsiwa (15° 36′ 33″ N 39° 26′ 43″ E) is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. ... Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport (IATA: FCO, ICAO: LIRF), also known as Fiumicino International Airport, is Italys largest airport, with over 28 million passengers in the year 2004. ... April 19 is the 109th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (110th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Antonov An-124-100 The Antonov An-124 Ruslan (NATO reporting name: Condor) is the largest aircraft ever mass produced, and was, until the advent of the Antonov An-225, the largest aircraft in production. ... April 22 is the 112th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (113th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... April 25 is the 115th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (116th in leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... January 10 is the 10th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Several other similar obelisks exist in Ethiopia and Eritrea like the Hawulti in Metera. The 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. The Luxor obelisk in the Place de la Concorde in Paris An obelisk is a tall, thin, four-sided, tapering monument which ends in a pyramidal top. ... The Hawulti is an Aksumite era obelisk located in Matara, Eritrea. ... Matara (or Metera), is an archeological site in Eritrea (a few kilometers south of Senafe), it was a major Aksumite & Pre-Aksumite City. ... In geometry, a rectangle is a defined as a quadrilateral polygon in which all four angles are right angles. ...

The Obelisk of Axum has two false doors and decorations on all sides.

See also

• Axumite Kingdom

The Axumite Kingdom, also known as the Aksum Kingdom, was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from circa the 5th century BC to become an important trading nation by the 1st century AD. It converted to Christianity in 325 or 328 (various sources). ...

External links

• Obelisk arrives back in Ethiopia (BBC News Story)
• The Axum Obelisk (Ethiopian Embassy in the UK)
• UNESCO says Axum obelisk to be put up before start of Ethiopian rainy season, People's Daily, 30 October 2005