Hawulti () is a pre-Aksumite

obelisk An obelisk (; , diminutive of (') ' spit, nail, pointed pillar') is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called ''tekhenu'', the Greeks used th ...

located in Matara,

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

. The

monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

bears the oldest known example of the ancient

Geʽez script Geʽez ( ; , ) is a script used as an abugida (alphasyllabary) for several Afroasiatic languages, Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages, Nilo-Saharan languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea. It originated as an abjad (consonantal alphabet) and was ...

Description

The Hawulti monument is high, with a disk and crescent at the top;

Edward Ullendorff Edward Ullendorff (25 January 1920 – 6 March 2011) was a British scholar of Semitic languages and Ethiopian studies. Biography Ullendorff was born on 25 January 1920 in Berlin, Germany, to an upper-class, secular Jewish family. His parents ...

believes these symbols "no doubt meant to place the stele under the protection of the gods, probably of Šams, the Sun goddess, and of

Sin In religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law or a law of the deities. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered ...

, the Moon god". These pre-

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

symbols, as well as paleographical characteristics such as the lack of vowel marks in the

, convinced Ullendorff that the monument dated "to the early part of the fourth century A.D." Ullendorff translated of the inscription as follows: : This is the obelisk which had made : 'Agaz for his fathers who have : carried off the youth of ‘W’ : ‘LF as well as of SBL. His translation differs from

Enno Littmann Ludwig Richard Enno Littmann (16 September 1875, Oldenburg – 4 May 1958, Tübingen) was a German orientalist. In 1906, he succeeded Theodor Nöldeke as chair of Oriental languages at the University of Strasbourg. Later on, he served as a profe ...

at several points. First, Littmann believed the third line referred to the digging of canals nearby (his translation, "zog die Kannaele von `Aw`a") despite the lack of any signs of canals or ditches in the area; Ullendorff argues that the verb ''s-h-b'' in the inscription should be translated as "to drag along, to capture". Second, he believed the nouns — ''‘W’'', ''‘LF'', and ''SBL'' — were placenames, and based on discussions with local informants Ullendorff identified them with nearby communities: the earlier name of Baraknaha, the site of a 12th-century

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

17 kilometers from Matara, had been ''subli'', and the equally well-known

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

church at

Gunda Gunde Gunda Gunde Monastery ( ''Gädam gunida gunido'') is an Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo monastery located to the south of Adigrat in the Misraqawi (Eastern) Zone of the northern Tigray Region in Ethiopia. It is known for its prolific scriptorium, as ...

, 22 kilometers from Matara, had once been known as ''Aw`a 'ilfi''.

Modern history

When Littmann, leader of the Deutsche Aksum-Expedition, found the Hawulti, it had been pushed over and broken in half in the distant past. The Italian colonial government had the broken monument repaired with two iron bars and set upright in what was thought to be its proper position, but was not accurate. The Hawulti was toppled and damaged by Ethiopian troops in the short occupation of southern Eritrea during the

Eritrean–Ethiopian War The Eritrean–Ethiopian War, also known as the Badme War, was a major armed conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea that took place from May 6, 1998 to June 18, 2000. After 1993 Eritrean independence referendum, Eritrea gained independence from E ...

. It has since been repaired by the

National Museum of Eritrea The National Museum of Eritrea is a national museum in Asmara, Eritrea. Established in 1992 by Woldeab Woldemariam, it was originally located in the former Governor's Palace until 1997, when it was moved. The venue has since been relocated to the ...

.{{cite web, url=http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/apr-may05/0791.html, title=Ancient statue at Belew Kelew repaired, accessdate=2006-09-10, date=2005-05-14, url-status=dead, archiveurl=https://archive.today/20070527140205/http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/apr-may05/0791.html, archivedate=2007-05-27

References

External links

AFP: Eritrea rebuilds country's symbolic stone pillar
6th-century BC inscriptions Archaeological sites in Eritrea Axumite obelisks Monuments and memorials in Eritrea

Description

Modern history

See also

References

External links