AKSUM,Safaha,ANTIQUE PRINT,HISTORICAL...

Categories

	Antique Prints
	Antique Maps
	Books
	Magazines
	Vintage Prints
	Modern Art Prints
	Local Victoria Artist
	Gustave Dore Art Prints

Special

Gift certificates

Links

Help

Vintage-Views Antique Prints and Maps :: Antique Maps :: Africa :: Northeast Africa :: Elisee Reclus Geographical Maps of North East Africa :: AKSUM,Safaha,ANTIQUE PRINT,HISTORICAL RELIEF MAP CHART SHOWING TERRAIN, TOPOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONS

AKSUM,Safaha,ANTIQUE PRINT,HISTORICAL RELIEF MAP CHART SHOWING TERRAIN, TOPOGRAPHY AND ENVIRONS

Click to enlarge

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A LARGE DETAILED SCAN CONTACT US FOR A COPY.

AXUM, or AKSUM, an ancient city in the province of Tigr, Abyssinia (1407? 52 N., 38 31 JO E.; altitude, 7226 ft.), 12 m. W. by S. of Adowa. Many European travellers have given descriptions of its monuments, though none of them has stayed there more than a few days. The name, written Aksm and Aksum in the Sabaean and Ethiopic inscriptions in the place, is found in classical and early Christian writers in the forms of Auxome, Axumis, Axume, &c., the first mention being in the Periplus Mans Erythraei (c. A.D. 67), where it is said to he the seat of a kingdom, and the emporium for the ivory brought from the west. For the history of this kingdom see ETHIOPIA. J. T. Bent conjectured that the seat of government was transferred to Axum from Jeha, which he identified with the ancient Ava; and according to a document quoted by Achille Raff ray the third Christian monarch transferred it from Axum to Lalibela. This second transference probably took place very much later; in spite of it, the custom of crowning Abyssinian kings at Axum continued, and King John was crowned there as late as 1871 or 1872. A. B. Wylde conjectures that it had become unsuitable for a royal seat by having acquired the status of a sacred city, and thus affording sanctuary to criminals and political offenders within the chief church and a considerable area round it, where there are various houses in which such persons can be lodged and entertaiiied. This same sanctity makes it serve as a depository for goods of all sorts in times of danger, the chief church forming a sort of bank. The present town, containing less than a thousand houses, is supposed to occupy only a small portion of the area covered by the ancient city; it lies in a kloof or valley, but the old town must have been built on the western ridge rather than in the valley, as the traces of well-dressed stones are more numerous there than elsewhere. Most of the antiquities of Axum still await excavation; those that have been described consist mainly of obelisks, of which about fifty are still standing, while many more are fallen. They form a consecutive series from rude nhewn stones to highly finished obelisks, of which the tallest still erect is 60 ft. in height, with 8 ft. 7 in. extreme front width; others that are fallen may have been taller. The highly finished monoliths are all representations of a many-storeyed castle, with an altar at the base of each. They appear to be connected with Semitic sun-worship, and are assigned by Bent to the same period as the temple at Baalbek, though some antiquarians would place them much earlier; the representation of a castle in a single stone seems to bear some relation to the idea worked out in the monolith churches of Lalibela described byRaifray. The fall of many of the monuments, according to B.ent, was caused by the washing away of the foundations by the stream called Mai Shum, and indeed the native tradition states that Gudert, queen of the Amhara, when she visited Axum, destroyed the chief obelisk in this way by digging a trench from the river to its foundation. Others attribute it to religious fanaticism, or to the result of some barbaric invasion, such as Axum may have repeatedly endured before it was sacked by Mahommed Gran, sultan of Harrar, about 1535.

Published for Elisee Reclus Universal Geography

Details


SKU	0822k5-fig55b
Quantity in stock	1 item(s) available
Price:	US$15.00

Options

Quantity

Add to cart

Your cart

Cart is empty

View cart
Money Order, Check or PayPal
Orders history

You don't need to register to purchase items. However, registering will keep you informed of specials and your subjects of interest.