ADDIS ABABA- The risk facing the UNESCO registered Axum obelisks have to do with the canvas tautening [device fitted with the obelisk to absorb shock on stele 3] in addition to weather related factors that create cracks at the basement, Authority for Research and Conservation for Cultural Heritage (ARCCH) told The Ethiopian Herald.
A study conducted jointly by MH Engineering Consultancy, and the Italian Studio Croci, nearly a year ago, indicated that both factors are endangering the 23m obelisk that erects at the historic place and the 24m obelisk that was restored in 2008 following over six decades of stay in Rome, according to Fanta Beyene, ARCCH’s Public and Internal Relations Directorate Assistant Director.
The canvas supports have already started sliding, he said. The study also suggested as the study has shown that the renovation work could consume an outlay of nearly 3.9 million Euros. The findings of the research were sent to UNESCO and in turn UNESCO instructed to carry out the renovation based on the research, he remarks.
As the extent of the danger facing the stele may ruin the ancient site, the renovation works ought to be started soon said Birkti G/Medihin, Tigray State Culture and Tourism Bureau Head. ARCCH started discussion with Italian Lattanzi Company, which transported and re-erected the second obelisk when returned from Rome, and the budget will be allocated following the response from Lattanzi, he said.
Prime Minister Office twitted last April that the Italian government ‘pledged to renovate the historic Axum obelisk.’ The budget has not yet been installed, Fanta said, noting that the government of Ethiopia will allocate funds to the restoration works. But, measure has becoming delayed while the obelisk needs to be fixed immediately. The local residents of Aksum requests frequently their prerequisite over the obelisk, she describes.
Apart from the general proclamation to protection of the national antiquities, the heritage in Axum needs special law for its protection, wrote Francesco Bandarin was UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture and Professor of Urban Planning and Conservation at the University IUAV of Venice.
Special law needs to be provided to properly indicate the boundary of the site, produce management plan, and delineate buffer zone, according to him. The recently reported endangered obelisk erected during the era of Axumite Kingdom, aged more than 1,700 years. The second largest stele was looted under the order of fascist Benito Mussolini in 1937 and the five broken pieces of the same stele were transported by truck to massawa and shipped to Rome.
In October of the same year, the obelisk was reassembled and erected at Piazza Di Porta Capena, in front of Mussolini’s Ministry of Italian Africa, it was learnt. The tallest, 33m, stele has already collapsed and lies at the site.
The Ethiopian Herald, May 10/2019
BY YESUF ENDRIS
