Ethiopian obelisk begins journey home

AXUM, Ethiopia - Ethiopia's 58-year wait for the return of a plundered national treasure is set to end on Tuesday, when a massive cargo jet flies the first part of the Axum obelisk from Italy to its historic home.

An Antonov 124 carrying the middle section of the 60-tonne obelisk left Rome on Monday evening and was expected to land in Ethiopia in the early hours of Tuesday, the Italian foreign ministry said.

The remaining two segments of the pre-Christian granite funerary monument, believed to be 1700 years old and weighing 180 tonnes, will follow in the next 10 days.

Celebrations are planned for the return of the obelisk to Axum, where bridges have been strengthened and roads widened to accommodate the huge pieces of stone that make up the column.

The Russian cargo jet is one of only two aircraft powerful enough to carry the obelisk, which is being flown back to Axum, 850km north of the capital Addis Ababa, at Italy's expense.

Italian invaders seized the 24m obelisk in 1935 on fascist dictator Benito Mussolini's orders, who erected it in Rome as a symbol of victory over Ethiopia in the style of earlier Roman conquerors.

After World War 2, in 1947, Italy agreed to return the treasure but arguments and logistical problems delayed it for decades.

"On our part, we are ready to receive our precious treasure that was stolen from us 70 years ago," said Tadele Bitul Kibret, vice chairman of the Ministry of Culture committee organising the return.

Landlocked Ethiopia had to build a bigger runway to accommodate the Antonov.

The re-erection of the monument, known as a stele to archaeologists, is considered by many to be a serious challenge even for modern engineers, let alone its ancient builders.

It is expected to take three months to restore it to its original location among other obelisks.

According to Axumites, the obelisk was carved at Gobdera, 5km from where it was eventually raised.

"It took 500 elephants and thousands of men to move the massive granite stele to the site where it was erected," Aba Tesfatsion, an 80-year-old priest, told Reuters.

The obelisk is considered to be among the finest from Axum, the centre of pre-Christian Ethiopia's civilisation and the city of the legendary Queen of Sheba, who ruled 1000 years before the birth of Christ.

Legend has it that God bestowed his favour on the city after the Queen of Sheba's son Menelik 1 stole the Ark of the covenant from his father King Solomon in Jerusalem and brought it to Axum where many Ethiopians believe it still remains to this day.

- REUTERS