Once upon a time there were three peasants who, while walking through the Aksumite valley in Northern Ethiopia, found a strange object on the ground and decided to show it to some foreigners (archaeologists) who were digging old things near the city …
[FAST FORWARD TO THE PRESENT]
That object is today known as the ‘Ezana Stone’ or “Ezana’s Inscription” and is a “stele” or stone monument from the ancient Kingdom of Aksum, which was centered in the Horn of Africa, and it is considered to be theEthiopian equivalent to the Rosetta Stone.
It turns out that King Ezana, who ruled between 330 and 356 AD, wanted to show his gratitude to God and to do so decided to immortalise some of his victories and his conversion to Christianity in a rock written in three languages: Ge’ez, Greek and Sabean.
At the present moment it is one of the few registries of such a historical time and what makes it special is that it confirms not only the linguistic coincidence, it also demonstrate that there was a deep interaction of this nation and different cultures.
Here I show it to you, although I am not able to identify the writings… in none of the three languages! Have your ever visited anything this old and historically meaningful? If so, what?!
@AdamGT neither had I heard of it until my visit to Aksum and I was shocked for many reasons:
· The fact that I had no idea about the Aksumite empire and after reading I was surprised about their levels of development and power.
· The size, as you mention it is indeed big, I mean, I’m only 5 feet (152cms) tall so it might look bigger by my side than by the side of many people, but still, it it no joke.
· The state of conservation which is quite good, at least to my ignorant eye. I heard that it is so because it was under some bushes which protected it, among others from burglary.
It is not kept in a museum, but in a that small room that you see in the photo. That’s all there is, no informational panels or anything.
Tell me @AdamGT , are you a history and/or anthropology fan or old stones made a few thousand years ago are not your thing?
I’m attracted to and interested in many things but historical events, the culture, knowledge, beliefs, expeditions, discoveries, achievements and the lives and habitats of long gone peoples around the world are of particular interest.
