Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Judging from the lengths to which the grave robbers went to gain access, it's thought to
have contained objects of great value. A single stone base that held the sarcophagus can
still be seen.
Mausoleum
The so-called mausoleum has a monumental portal (hewn from a single slab of granite)
marking the tomb's entrance and is carved with the stelae's curious false-door motifs. The
portal leads into a passageway with 10 chambers. In total the tomb covers some 240 sq
metres. Part of the tomb was disfigured at some unknown date by robbers, who succeeded
in digging through 1.5m of solid masonry.
Tomb of the Brick Arches
Dating from the end of the 3rd century, this tomb is remarkably well preserved and con-
tains four rock-cut chambers, subdivided by a series of brick arches built with lime mor-
tar. These arches are the same as those that had been in the mausoleum before the grave
robbers damaged it.
The tomb was first excavated by archaeologists in 1974, and though tomb robbers had
beaten them to it by centuries, they still discovered fragments of gold jewellery, beads,
bronze objects, weapons and glass objects. Nobody knows who was buried here, but ar-
chaeologists surmise that the tomb contained the bodies of an elderly woman, a man and
one other person and that the treasures found within indicate that they were people of high
standing.
The tomb remains closed because archaeologists think further excavation is warranted,
but you can clearly see one of the arches through the gate.
Tomb of Nefas Mawcha
The megalithic Tomb of Nefas Mawcha consists of a large rectangular central chamber
surrounded on three sides by a passage. The tomb is unusual for its large size, the sophist-
ication of the structure and the size of the stones used for its construction (the stone that
roofs the central chamber measures 17.3m by 6.4m and weighs some 360 tonnes!). The
force of the Great Stele crashing into its roof caused the tomb's spectacular collapse.
Locals believe that under this tomb is a 'magic machine', the original implement the
Aksumites used to melt stone in order to shape the stelae and tombs. The same type of
machine was apparently also used to create some of the rock-hewn churches of Tigray.
Archaeological Museum
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