First piece of Axum obelisk finally to return home to Ethiopia on April 13

ADDIS ABABA, April 8 (AFP) — After decades of wrangling and weeks of uncertainty, Ethiopia’s famed Axum obelisk will finally begin its journey home next week as the first piece of the 160-tonne granite monument arrives here from Italy, officials said Friday.

“I am very pleased to announce the arrival of the first piece of the Axum obelisk on the 13th of April,” Ethiopia’s Minister of Culture Teshome Toga told reporters.

“The Ethiopian people have waited so long for the return, there has been a very continuous and sustained struggle to get back our heritage,” he said. “It seems that there is a light at the end of the tunnel as far as the return of the obelisk is concerned.”

Teshome’s announcement ended weeks of speculation and rumor over when the monument would be returned with various officials guessing at the date of its arrival from Italy.

The obelisk, a giant funeral stele made of granite dating from the third century BC, was taken by Italian troops in 1937 during fascist Italy’s brief occupation Ethiopia.

It has been broken into three pieces which are to be airlifted to Ethiopia aboard a Russian-made Antonov 124 cargo plane.

Teshome said he expected the other two pieces to arrive by April 23 after which the monument would be re-erected in the ancient town of Axum within one or two months.

Ethiopia has built a road between the airport at Axum, near the Eritrean border, and the site where the obelisk will be re-erected and plan a national celebration when it is restored to its rightful place.

The obelisk has been a bone of contention between Addis Ababa and Rome for more than half a century, with the Ethiopia accusing Italy of stalling over its return since an agreement between the two governments was signed in 1947.

The obelisk had been standing outside what is now the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization in Rome until last year, when it was dismantled by Italian experts to enable its transportation.