UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

The civilization of Aksum from the first to the seventh century
At the beginning of this century a German mission sketched and photographed
all the visible monuments. In the western part of the town they
uncovered the ruins of three architectural complexes which they rightly
identified as the remains of the palace. Subsequent work, in particular
that of the Institute of Archaeology, has brought new buildings to light
and revealed a wealth of facts about the ancient royal city.
Of the three edifices known to tradition as Enda-Semon, Enda-Mikael
and Taakha-Maryam, all that remained were the basements, but today they
can only be seen in the sketches and photographs of the German mission.
The biggest of these palaces or castles, Enda-Semon, was 35 metres square;
Enda-Mikael was 27 metres square, and Taakha-Maryam, 24. The castles
were surrounded by courtyards and outbuildings forming rectangular
complexes which measured, at Taakha-Maryam, for example, about 120
by 85 metres.
The ruins of another imposing building lie under the church of Maryam-
Tsion, to the east of which, below the level of the terrace, the remains
of a basement varying in width from 42 to 30 metres still survive.
To the west of the town, from 1966 to 1968, the Ethiopian Institute
of Archaeology discovered and studied another architectural complex.
These ruins, situated at Dongour, to the north of the Gondar road, are
those of another castle belonging to about the seventh century.
The ground sloped away from the foot of a hillock with a flat top.
According to a local tradition, this mound of earth and stones covered the
tomb of the Queen of Sheba. The uncovered remains of the castle occupy
an area of about 3000 square metres. The walls form an irregular quadrilateral
with one side 57 metres long and another half a metre shorter.
The walls in the centre of the ruins still stand 5 metres high.
Four irregular groups of buildings containing about forty rooms in all
are so arranged as to form a square enclosure around the main part of the
castles. This stands on a tiered base i-8 metres high and consists of seven
rooms reached by three outer staircases. Three courtyards separate this
dwelling from its outbuildings. The outer walls comprise projecting parts
alternating with recessed parts. Solid masonry piers, grouped in twos or
fours, were found buried in several rooms both in the main building and
in the ancillary living quarters. They served as bases for stone pillars, or
more probably wooden posts, supporting whatever structures were above.
In the vestibules of the main building, broad stone bases covered by
geometrical pavement served this purpose. Special features of the layout of
the north-eastern and south-western parts of the site suggest that at those
points staircases led to an upper floor which was the main dwelling area.
Three ovens of baked brick have been uncovered in the western part
of the site. In one room in the outbuildings, to the south, a brick structure
bearing traces of flames seems to have been a heating device.
The Dongour site is the finest example of Aksumite architecture that
can be seen today. On account of its peripheral position and comparatively
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