Axum Obelisk to return home in May

[Napo]

Axum Obelisk to return home in May

Thursday 30 December 2004, 15:29 Makka Time, 12:29 GMT

The treasure is a symbol of the dawn of Ethiopian civilisation

An Ethiopian national treasure, the ancient Axum Obelisk which was plundered by fascist Italy in 1937, will be flown home from Rome in May.

The 200-tonne granite column was given a return date after an American company agreed to provide a plane big enough to carry the monument back in segments, the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Sports said on Thursday.

Italy promised in 1947 to give back the 1700-year-old obelisk, a symbol of the dawn of Ethiopian civilisation, but arguments and logistical problems have delayed its return.

In November, the Italian and Ethiopian foreign ministries signed a deal for a final handover, but no date was set.

Italy in 2002 took down the obelisk from the central Rome site where dictator Benito Mussolini erected it as symbol of Italy's victory over Ethiopia in the years leading up to World War II.

Returning the segments of the obelisk and the machinery to put it back together is a gargantuan logistical task.

Special runway

Landlocked Ethiopia had to build a special runway for the only aircraft big enough to carry the pieces, the US-built C-5 Galaxy and the Russian-made Antonov 124. An Antonov will be used.

"We still vividly remember the suffering of innocent and unarmed civilians by mustard gas that rained from Italian fascist planes," he said. "The return of the obelisk is therefore a victory to those who sacrificed their lives fighting against the invasion."

Mogese Tekle-Michael, Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development

Ethiopia plans to celebrate the obelisk's return with a national holiday, the ministry said.

Aside from its historical importance to Ethiopians, the monument will take on new significance when it returns, said Mogese Tekle-Michael, deputy head of the Ethiopian International Institute for Peace and Development.

"We still vividly remember the suffering of innocent and unarmed civilians by mustard gas that rained from Italian fascist planes," he said. "The return of the obelisk is therefore a victory to those who sacrificed their lives fighting against the invasion."

The monument from pre-Christian Ethiopia is a funerary stele - the largest and finest from the ancient site of Axum in northern Ethiopia, considered to be the cradle of its civilisation.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exer...2803B7C5AD.htm

The Fascist prize should be kept! Why should the third world Ethopians get back when it will probably be destroyed.

[Figlio della Lupa]

Originally Posted by Napoleone Buonaparte

The Fascist prize should be kept! Why should the third world Ethopians get back when it will probably be destroyed.

Lol, I think the government destroyed it enough trying to get it back to them.

[Aistulf]

Wasn't the old Ethiopean civilization almost completely built by Georgian and Armenian missionaries? My father has a book about the Ethiopic language and script, since he's lived there, and I've been also told (by Armenians) that it were Armenians who've designed the script. I have to agree, comparing Ethiopic (script) to Armenian, there are similarities.

Ethiopic




Armenian

So, what are the modern Ethiopians really claiming? If anyone at all, the Georgians or Armenians should claim it.

[Antiquarian]

Originally Posted by Aistulf

Wasn't the old Ethiopean civilization almost completely built by Georgian and Armenian missionaries? My father has a book about the Ethiopic language and script, since he's lived there, and I've been also told (by Armenians) that it were Armenians who've designed the script. I have to agree, comparing Ethiopic (script) to Armenian, there are similarities.

Actually the early state formation in Ethiopia is older than their conversion to Christianity, so missionaries didnt found the Aksumite state.

[Arawn]

The treasure is a symbol of the dawn of Ethiopian civilisation

Err, Ethiopian civilisation is considerably older than that oblesk, indeed, Axum is merely one of the later kingdoms to rule over the area, and the first one to eventualy become Christian one too.
More lame media hype.