The Obelisk of Axum is a 1,700-year-old, 24-metres tall granite obelisk, weighing 160 tonnes, in the city of Axum in Ethiopia, erected during the 4th century A.D. by subjects of the Kingdom. In 1937, it was taken as war booty and moved to Rome by the Italians. The stele had fallen in the 4th Century and had broken into five pieces which were transported by truck along the tortuous route between Axum and Massawa. It arrived via ship in Naples on March 27, 1937 with the bronze statue of the Lion of Judah, symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, which was exposed in front of a railway station. In a 1947 UN agreement, Italy agreed to return the stele to Ethiopia, obviously with the other looted piece, the Lion of Judah. Little action was taken to return the stele for more than 50 years. In 1972–73, Colonel Haile Mariam Mengistu asked the Italian government to return the stele to Ethiopia, so did the following government. The first steps in dismantling it were taken in November 2003, with the intent to ship the stele 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. Another reason for the delay in returning the stele was because of Italy’s claim of not having the money to pay for the transportation. Attempt to get help from the United States was unsuccessful as Americans claimed that their planes were tied up in the war in Iraq. Numerous attempts by Professor Richard Pankhurst, who spearheaded the campaign to return the stele, remained unsuccessful until an American-Ethiopian, Dr. Aberra Molla, threatened the Italian government with the option of raising the money on the Internet.
Posted on: Wed, 15 Oct 2014 15:34:39 +0000