The Axumite kingdom was one of the great civilizations of the ancient world and the birth of the Ethiopian civilization, has left behind the mystery of the great monolithic Stelae found at Axum.Axum, Ethiopia’s most ancient city and the capital of the historic Axumite kingdom, is the site of many remarkable stone obelisks. It is still a mystery that how they erect them and some of them stay erected for more than 2500 years.
The largest obelisk, which was 33 meters long and weighed 500 tons, is the biggest piece of stone ever cut by humanity anywhere in the world but today it lies broken on the ground. Near it stands a smaller but nevertheless most impressive 24-metre-high obelisk – the pride of Ethiopia. A somewhat larger obelisk was taken to Rome, on the orders of the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, in 1937, but it’s now returned to Ethiopia. Plans are also under consideration for the re-erection of the fallen obelisk.