Ark of the Covenant and the Obelisk at Axum in Ethiopia

Learning from ancient art about aXuM- #Art, #Education, #Symbols and Signs https://www.artof4elements.com/tag/divine

The Obelisk of Axum (ሓወልቲ ኣኽሱም) and #divine Ark of the Covenant

Wisdom of Gods

Ancient #Art by Nataša Pantović

The Obelisk of Axum (ሓወልቲ ኣኽሱም) is a 400 AC, 24 metre obelisk, weighing 160 tonnes, now in the city of Axum in Ethiopia. The obelisk or Hawelt in Ge'ez in Axum was a "marker" for underground burial chambers. The largest were for royal burial chambers. In Ethiopia there are only a few large ones, and hundreds of smaller ones in various "stelae fields". Near the top of the stele a small house like object is carved in relief, claimed by Ethiopians to house the original Ark of the Covenant.

Salt and Havell (1809) The Obelisk at Axum

In the 19th century, of the three major "royal" stelae, only this one, King Ezana's Stele remained erect, visible in the print "The Obelis of Axum" of Henry Salt (1780–1827).

Salt and Havell (1809) The Obelisk at Axum, Twenty-Four Views in St. Helena, The Cape, India, Ceylon, The Red Sea, Abyssinia and Egypt, London: William Miller. 1809

The Axum obelisk is regarded as one of Ethiopia's national religious treasures.

The stele was one of fifty obelisks in Axum at the time of the discovery, in 1937.  Italian troops took it to Rome, Italy, cut into five pieces and transported by trucks.