Ethiopia successfully reinstalls obelisk brought back from Rome

By Tefa-alem Tekle

August 4, 2008 (AXUM) — Ethiopia successfully reinstalled its most iconic monuments, Axum Obelisk that has been in exile for 68 years, after the third and last section of the Obelisk was successfully mounted by the UNESCO teams at original location last week. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said.

The 1, 700-year-old monument which weighs 150 tons and 24 meters high, is one of a group of six obelisks erected at Axum when Ethiopia adopted Christianity in the 4th century A.D.

It was looted by the Italian dictator Benito Mussolini in 1937 and turned into a symbol of fascist power during his short-lived efforts to revive the grandeur of imperial Rome.

The monument’s reinstallation was greeted with joy by the local people, who spontaneously organized musical concerts at the site.

The obelisk is the second largest Stella on the Axum World Heritage site in northern Ethiopia, close to the border with Eritrea. It was brought back in April 2005 by the Italian government. Its dismantling in Rome, transport and reinstallation were funded by the Italian government.

The Axum obelisks are considered as a symbol of national identity to Ethiopians.

Despite signing various agreements that promised to return the monument, the Italian government showed no signs of doing so until the obelisk was badly damaged by lightning in a thunderstorm in 2003.

(ST)