Ancient civilizations left behind a wide variety of legacies, including unique architectural objects and monuments. Moreover, some of them are so striking in their design or appearance that modern researchers still cannot figure out their secrets. A striking example of such a mysterious legacy is the huge obelisks of the ancient Ethiopian civilization from the city of Axum: the fact is that historians still do not understand how such huge objects could have been installed several thousand years ago, if this is not possible today.
Mysterious monuments of the ancient Aksumite state were erected in the 4th century AD, but they still baffle historians and archaeologists. In total, more than 160-170 stelae and obelisks dating back to that period were discovered in the territory where the ancient Ethiopian state was located. However, about a dozen monoliths are of the greatest interest, as well as their historical value.
The sizes of all obelisks differ from each other, but each of them is still impressive. However, the largest is one: its initial weight is about 500 tons, and it is about 32 meters high. Until now, it has been preserved in a dilapidated state, and it is still not known for certain for what reasons it broke into pieces. The most plausible version is that the stele split at the stage of construction or installation.
The largest monolith that has survived intact is 24 meters high and weighs about 200 tons. Its history is amazing: after standing for many centuries, it was kidnapped by the Italian invaders under the leadership of Benito Mussolini and installed in Rome. After that, for several decades, the Ethiopian authorities and the public fought for the return of the historical monument to its homeland, and only recently it succeeded, and the obelisk took its place.
Carved into the monolith are strikingly detailed décor elements, mainly with handle doors and impressive patterned windows. The latter are impressive in that they look not just like openings in the form of windows, but like window frames that did not even exist in ancient times.
Another striking feature of the Aksumite obelisks is their material. The fact is that they are all made of basalt, which is not durable. However, this does not change the state of affairs: the monoliths continue to remain so for more than one and a half thousand years.
However, the most important issue remains the mechanism for transporting the obelisks. Indeed, according to Novate.ru, the nearest basalt deposit is located about four kilometers from the current location of the Aksumite monoliths. The complexity of such a movement with the technical progress of that period, which is complicated by the rocky landscape, still baffles historians and archaeologists.
The most striking thing in this case is the fact that even today's technology does not allow repeating the process of transporting obelisks. The thing is that when one of the objects was restored to its original place, they were able to do this work only with the use of a huge technical and human resource, but this also made it possible to install it only in parts. And, according to the research of historians, in the Aksumite state obelisks were installed monolithic, and it is not yet possible to find a clue to this secret.
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