Some cool od grinding images:
The Excellent Obelisk, Axum
Image by A.Davey
These are the remains of the "Great Obelisk" at Axum in northern Ethiopia. Believed to be the largest object ever carved from a single piece of rock, the Great Stella is believed to have collapsed and shattered as it was being raised in antiquity. It was over 108 feet tall!
I wonder who explained it to the boss . . . and regardless of whether the boss was present at the collapse.
Modern day Axum in Ethiopia is built on and around the remains of an ancient city, the former capital of the Axumite Kingdom.
The Axumite Kingdom had emerged as a regional energy by the second century of the current era.
Axum reached its peak among the third and sixth centuries of the present era. Most people do not know that Axum was one of the most effective kingdoms on earth for the duration of its hayday, primarily because of its handle of trade routes on sea and on land.
These days, the stelae, or obelisks, erected by Axumite kings are the most impressive remains of that ancient society.
The late archaeologist Stuart Munro-Hay wrote a fascinating description of the obelisks at Axum, including the a single pictured right here.
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Without having doubt, Aksum’s most impressive remains are the royal tombs and their fabulous markers, the ‘stelae’ or obelisks. Even the plain examples are impressive, reduce from challenging neighborhood granite.
But truly staggering is a series of six carved examples. These look to depict the dead rulers’ palaces—their tombs lay beneath, and it was our good fortune to be the discoverers of this underground world. The stelae—or so we could conjecture—had been the stairways to heaven for the kings of Aksum. At the base are granite plates with carved wine-cups for offerings to the spirit of the deceased.
The biggest stela is undoubtedly amongst the largest single stones ever quarried by human labour. It testifies to the magnificent self-esteem of the unknown ruler who had it extracted and dragged several kilometres to its final web site, and to the talent and artistry of these who ready and decorated it.
More than thirty-3 metres tall, the stele represents a thirteen storey tower, with elaborate window-tracery, frames, lintels, beam-ends, even a door with a bolt. This monstrous stone quickly fell—maybe a couple of seconds after being levered upright—smashing onto the roof block of a tomb nearby.
This block (some 17 x 7 x 1.5 metres), was not broken, although the tomb underneath it was crushed, but the great stele separated into 3 pieces. The top was fully smashed by the impact.
Nearby is its biggest nonetheless-standing neighbour, twenty-seven metres tall.
Underneath this ‘stele field’ is an extraordinary series of tombs, the underground maze which we began in 1973-four to discover and clear.
On all sides tunnels open out—some dug by robbers. The ground right here contains fallen stelae, or their base-plates, that have slipped down from above, buried staircases, walls and walled platforms, shafts and other structures, as nicely as tomb chambers and their contents—skulls and bones, pottery, metal, and piles of other grave-goods.
Text copyright Stuart Munro-Hay 1998.
archaeology.about.com/od/ironage/ig/The-Royal-Tombs-of-Ak…
Preparing For Africa Day
Image by infomatique
Giant Loved ones Jigsaw-Creating with Trócaire
African Bazaar
To celebrate African families working with the organisation both overseas and in Ireland, Trócaire invites visitors to ‘Africa Day @ Iveagh Gardens’ to participate in entertaining jigsaw-generating activities. Trócaire’s space at the event will comprise a big jigsaw, made up of 11 pictures of different households, which includes:
* The families of African people who perform in the organisation’s overseas offices and their offices in Maynooth, Belfast and Cork.
* The families of Trócaire’s partners overseas.
* The households of folks their partners function with on the ground.
Visitors to the occasion will be invited to try their hand at placing this giant jigsaw collectively. Blank mini-jigsaws will also be offered, on which young visitors can draw their own families and – afterwards – bring their newly-designed jigsaws residence.
Stands detailing the stories of four of the families featured in the giant jigsaw – and their connection with Trócaire – will also be displayed.