Axum

Northern Stelae Field contains numerous stelae, including the fallen Giant Stele and the standing Ezana Stele and Obelisk of Axum, tombs and a very worthwhile museum. The monolithic stelae are fashioned out of solid granite. Their mystery lies in that it is not known exactly by whom and for what purpose they were fashioned, although they were likely associated with burials of great emperors. The Ezana Stele, which measures 24 metres (78 feet) high, is standing at a slight lean in the centre of the field and is supported as a precaution against toppling. Another stele, the Obelisk of Axum, 24.8 metres (80 feet) high, fell while the tombs were being pillaged around the 10th century AD. It was stolen by the invading forces of Fascist Italy and taken to Rome, where it stood, from 1937 to 2005. It was returned to Axum and re-erected between the Ezana Stele and the Giant Stele in 2008.

The Great Stele, the biggest monolith in the world, measuring over 33 metres (108 feet) in length and weighing over 500 tonnes, fell somewhere around the 4th century AD and now lies in broken fragments on the ground. The mausoleum and the tomb of the brick walls are now open to the public again. The Tomb of the False Door is very impressive with its accurate workmanship.

A well-preserved, 2-m-tall, thin tablet in Greek, Ge'ez and Latin discovered in the 1980s by a farmer, and praising God for his assistance in the conquest of land in what is now the Yemen. It issues a death curse to anyone who dares move it. It is in a small round building at the left hand side of the rough road from the northern stelae field to the tombs of kings Kaleb and Gebre Mes'kel. This small building is kept padlocked but the key holder will magically appear (unless at lunchtime between 12:00 and 14:30) if you're patient. As of May 2019, the building is being reconstructed and the tablet is not visible beneath a protective covering.

A 20-min walk along the rough road heading northeast from the northern stelae field. Impressive foundations and tombs. From here a signposted and very pleasant uphill rural stroll through giant lobelia shaded lanes will bring you to the Monastery of Abba Pantaleon.

The grand entrance steps and the foundations (topped with well dressed ruined walls up to 3 m high in places) of this palace near the Judith stelae field clearly indicate that this was the largest and most impressive palace in Axum. Although everyone calls it the Palace of the Queen of Sheba, it actually dates from the 7th century AD, about 1,500 years after the time of the Queen of Sheba.

Of inferior quality in comparison to the Northern Stelae Field. On the other side of the road from the Dungur Palace.

Stone carving of a lion, a few kilometers out of town in the direction of Shire. It is close to the quarry where the stelae were made. Ask a local boy to show you where.

Often just called Tsion Maryam, Ethiopian legend has it that this complex is the repository of the Ark of the Covenant (the subject of the controversial book The Sign and the Seal), which is said to have been stolen (with God's will) from the temple of Jerusalem by Menelik I, Solomon's own son by the legendary Queen of Sheba. The chapel in which the Ark is kept is not accessible to anyone except the guardian monk, not even the Ethiopian emperors. There are also two churches in the compound: the old church, which was built by Emperor Fasiladas in 1665 and is not accessible to women, and a new church built in the 1960s by Haile Selassie. Pilgrims flock to the church for a festival on Hidar 21 (November 30).