Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Set on a small hill 1.8km northeast of the Northern Stelae Field and offering views of the
jagged mountains of Adwa, local tradition attributes these two tombs (now under metal
roofs) to the 6th-century King Kaleb (see the boxed text,
Click here
)
and his son, King
Gebre Meskel.
Although the twin tombs' architecture resembles the Tomb of the False Door, they
show more sophistication, using irregular-shaped, self-locking stones that don't require
iron clamps. The 19th-century British traveller Theodore Bent exclaimed magnanimously
that the tombs were 'built with a regularity which if found in Greece would at once make
one assign them to a good period'!
The Gebre Meskel (south) tomb is the most refined. The precision of the joints between
its stones is at a level unseen anywhere else in Aksum. The tomb consists of one chamber
and five rooms, with one boasting an exceptionally finely carved portal leading into it. In-
side that room are three sarcophagi, one adorned with a cross similar to Christian crosses
found on Aksumite coins. This points towards an age around the 6th century, which, as
seldom happens, corresponds with local tradition. Though the rest of the story has Meskel
buried at Debre Damo.
Like Meskel's tomb, King Kaleb's is accessed via a long straight stairway. Inside you'll
notice the stones are larger, more angular and less precisely joined. Of those who attribute
the making of the tomb to Kaleb, few accept that he was actually buried here. The com-
mon theory is that his body lies at Abba Pentalewon Monastery, where he lived after ab-
dicating his throne. The tomb's unfinished state fits with the theory. Local rumour has it
that there's a secret tunnel leading from here to the Red Sea.
Above ground, a kind of raised courtyard combines the two tombs. Some scholars have
suggested that two parallel churches with a basilica plan lay here, probably postdating the
tombs.
King Ezana's Inscription
On the way up to the tombs of Kings Kaleb and Gebre Meskel, you'll pass a little shack
containing a remarkable find which three farmers stumbled upon in 1988: an Ethiopian
version of the Rosetta Stone. The pillar, inscribed in Sabaean, Ge'ez and Greek, dates
from between AD 330 and AD 350 and records the honorary titles and military victories
of the king over his 'enemies and rebels'. One section of script thanks the God of War,
thus placing the stone's age before Ezana's conversion to Christianity. The guardian who
opens the hut expects a small tip.
MONUMENT
Ezana Park
Offline map
PARK
