Concerning The Aksum Obelisk

Aksum Obelisk Update

By Dr. Richard Pankhurst

Work on the Aksum Obelisk looted from Ethiopia, and taken to Rome in 1937 on the personal orders of the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini (and thus far not returned in accordance with Article 37 of the Italian Peace Treaty of 1947), is proceeding, albeit at a snail’s pace. The obelisk has now at last been cleaned of its Roman pollution, and the Ethiopian Ministry of Posts has, somewhat optimistcally, issued a set of postage stamps to commemorate the monument’s return, supposedly in September 1997.

There has recently been some discussion in Rome as to how the obelisk should be dismantled prior to transportation to Ethiopia. A renowned Italian professor, who never protested when the obelisk was originally looted by Mussolini, and has little technical knowledge, has suggested that it should be divided into the various pieces into which it was originally broken when it fell, apparently many centuries ago. Others, with greater esthethic taste, and better technical understanding, feel that the stone should be cut along its decorative represetation of individual windows, in which case the new fractures would be scarcely visible.

We hope, in the future, to be able to provide further "updates" on obelisk progress.