Bursting with national pride, Ethiopians this week celebrate the long-awaited return home of the famed Axum obelisk, a huge third-century BC funeral stela plundered by fascist Italy nearly 70 years ago.
After decades of wrangling, the first of three pieces of the 160-tonne granite monument will arrive in Addis Ababa from Rome on Wednesday to a joyous welcome that will at once revel in both patrimony and Ethiopia’s anti-colonial history.
”Now we can breathe with pride and walk with dignity as our cultural identity and treasure is back with us,” said 56-year-old Mohamed Hagos, a resident of Axum.
”I’m glad to hear that it is now coming for real,” said Kidanemariam Abaye (65), who also lives in Axum, about 570km north of the capital, where the first piece is expected before dawn on Wednesday.
”It’s a blessing; now we can show to our children what were saying to them,” he said by telephone. ”They can touch it, feel it and integrate the verbal story we were telling them with the real Axum obelisk.”
In Axum, huge tents are being erected to house three days and nights of celebrations that will involve more than 90 musicians and be attended on Wednesday by Ethiopian President Wolde Giorgis and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
The obelisk was taken as a prize of conquest in 1937 on the orders of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini during his brief attempt to colonise Ethiopia, which remains proud of its resistance to Rome’s occupation.
The 2 500-year-old, 24m obelisk has been a bone of contention between Addis Ababa and Rome for more than 50 years, with Ethiopia accusing Italy of stalling on a 1947 agreement that called for its return.
Until last year when it was dismantled by Italian experts in preparation for its long-delayed journey home, the monument had stood outside the Rome headquarters of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation.
The $7-million cost of its return is being picked up by the Italian government, with the final two pieces expected in Axum by April 23.
In the capital, where Ethiopian Culture Minister Teshome Toga announced the official date of the return with a flourish last week, excitement was equally palpable despite concerns the government may use the occasion as a tool in next month’s general elections.
”The Ethiopian people have waited so long for the return, there has been a very continuous and sustained struggle to get back our heritage,” Teshome said on Friday, rejecting opposition claims of political intent.
”We have been working for the return of the obelisk for so long, it’s simply a major coincidence that the return of the obelisk as well as the elections are taking place more or less at the same time,” he said.
Many residents of the city appear to have accepted the explanation and are waiting with keen anticipation the arrival of the obelisk pieces.
”I am happy because this is our piece of culture, my blood is coming from Axum, this is my culture,” said Habte, a 23-year-old student at the University of Addis Ababa.
”I am happy to see it coming back, this piece is unique. It belongs to us, we are happy to rediscover it,” she said.
”I am happy because it is our obelisk and it is back in our country now,” said Meron, a 26-year old market vendor.
”The people back then, they did a lot of work to put it together, to build it, so it is good to respect that work and leave it where it was,” she said.
Ethiopia has built a road between the airport at Axum, near the Eritrean border, and the site where the obelisk will be re-erected, and plans an even larger national celebration when it is restored to its rightful place by June or July.
Yet amid the enthusiasm, there are those who would prefer that attention remain focused on other, perhaps less glamorous matters.
”It is good that we get it back,” said one university student who asked not to be named. ”I am proud of my culture and the bravery of my fathers and grandfathers.
”However, it should not be an issue that will blind us from other pressing issues, like unemployment, social security and poverty,” he said.
And there are others who don’t see what all the fuss is about.
”This is a religious thing,” said John, a 25-year-old Protestant taxi driver who doesn’t identify with the obelisk or its makers from the Axumite kingdom in northern Ethiopia, now known as Tigre.
”I think it’s more important for the Orthodox and the Tigreans,” he said. ”For me it is not a national symbol.” — Sapa-AFP