Aksum Shit

Information about Aksum:

Location: Ethiopia, Tigrai Region
Lasted from the 1st century to the 8th.
Some of the most impressive remains are monuments, obelisks and tombs that date back to the 6th and 7th centuries.
Several things still exist that date back to the third and fourth centuries. The largest obelisk stood about 33 meters before it fell, possibly during construction.
Stone tablets with trilingual inscriptions have proven extremely useful to historians trying to learn more about the area and the ancient city.
With the introduction of Christianity, churches began to surface around the area. The most important one being Saint Mary of Zion, as it is believed to house the Ark of the Covenant.
One obelisk was actually taken back to Rome as a war trophy, but later returned and rebuilt in 2005.

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Summary
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The ancient of Aksum was at one point a very spiritually rooted city, dotted with massive obelisks and royal monuments to fallen kings. Even so today Ethiopian kings are still crowned in the ruins of Aksum as a tribute to it's former glory. The city itself sits on the northern border of Ethiopia, but at one point spanned over many territories including the kingdom of Meroë.
Around Christian times when churches began to show up in Aksum, the religious significance of the city became much stronger than it had before. One church in specific is believed to hold a priceless item that the Christian faith holds dear, the Ark of the Covenant. The complexity of this civilization I would say ranges almost equal with Egyptian society. Being around the time of the first century, it wouldn't have made huge advancements that any other societies had at the time, since things were still developing even over in Eurasia. There were still architectural feats within the society that left a mark on it's history, much like Egypt.
one thing that surprised me about this society is the fact that supposedly the Ark of the Covenenant is being held in one of the first Christian churches that surfaced in the region. I would have thought that it would have been lost at sea or something, or at least if it exists buried somewhere in Jerusalem. I found it interesting that they built obelisks. I just find the obelisk a really interesting piece of architecture, since they have a lot of spiritual symbolism, as well as the fact that they just look kind of strange.