Aksum, an ancient kingdom of Ethiopia.

Aksum or Axum, is the capital of Tigray (or Tigre) province in the north of Ethiopia at 2100 m above sea level. It was the centre of the Empire of Aksum, established in the First Century AD and considered the cradle of Ethiopian civilisation. In its heyday (3rd-6th century AD), it occupied lands that are now Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, parts of Sudan and Djibouti. Aksumite emperors built impressive fortresses, palaces, and monuments, tall granite obelisks, 126 alltogeter, standing or lying broken in the central square. One measuring 34 m, now fallen, is said to be the tallest obelisk ever erected. These obelisks range from nearly plain slabs to intricately inscribed pillars and are quite mysterious in why they were built. Door- and window-like shapes are carved into some of them.

In the third century Emperor Ezana was converted to Christianity by Frumentus, a Syrian captive, who later became the first bishop of the Aksumite empire. Ezana made Christianity the state religion of the empire. Aksum is considered a holy city for the Ethiopian Orthodox church; according to tradition, the Cathedral of Beit Miriam (St. Mary of Zion) contains the Ark of the Covenant. This is claimed to have been transferred from Jerusalem to Aksum in 1000 BC, before the destruction of Solomon's temple, by Emperor Menelik I, the legendary son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. The church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since then; the present structure was built in 1665 by Emperor Fasilides.

Nearby, the new Basilica of St. Mary of Zion was built in 1965 by Emperor Haile Selassie I. It has a bell tower built in the same style as the ancient steles and its treasury contains a display of crowns of the ancient kings. Although the city of Aksum has lost much of its glory, many of the steles are still standing. The most recent of the obelisks announces the adoption of Christianity by Emperor Ezana. There are also many carved stone thrones that have been unearthed in the overgrown ruins of the ancient palace, all symbols of past glory when Aksum was an important trading centre with its port of Adulis, near the present Eritrean port of Mitsiwa (Massawa).

	Southern Tigray	Landing in Aksum	Sheba's Bath	Stele, Aksum
	Broken stele	St. Mary's cathedral	Coptic church	Steles, church
	Treasury of basilica	Outskirts, Aksum	Children of Aksum	Farm near Aksum

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