UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
At Aksum, monoliths of yet another kind are scattered about in various
places. These are big stone platforms, a dozen of which can be seen standing
in a row in the area occupied by the giant stelae near the basilica of
Maryam-Tsion. Most probably they were the bases of thrones. Some are
more than 2-5 metres long and have an average thickness of 40 to 50
centimetres. The central part of the upper surface forms a bulge which
comprises holes for holding the legs of a seat. There used to be one of
these bases on the Matara site. So far twenty-seven such monoliths have
been listed.
These thrones loomed large in Aksumite culture. They are mentioned
in two inscriptions of Ezana. In the sixth century, Cosmas noted the
presence of a throne close to a stele at Adulis. 'The throne has a square
base.' 'It is made of excellent white marble' and 'entirely ... hewn out of
a single block of stone'. Both throne and stele were 'covered with Greek
characters'. The inscription on the throne was composed by an Aksumite
sovereign who ruled in about the third century. The significance of these
monuments is not clear. Are they thrones commemorating victories? Votive
seats? Symbols of regal power? They are as much of an enigma as the great
stelae.
The group near Maryam-Tsion is arranged so that all the thrones face
east, in the same direction as the carved sides of the stelae. If this arrangement
is the original one, it is possible that they were turned towards a
temple which may have stood at that time on the site of the present church,
where there are many ruins.
The inscriptions themselves are cut into the hard stone, a kind of granite.
One of Ezana's texts, which is in three different scripts - Ethiopie, south
Arabian and Greek - is engraved on both sides of a stone over 2 metres
high.
This fondness for large-scale monuments appears to have prevailed in the
case of statues too. At the beginning of the century, a flat stone was
discovered at Aksum which displayed hollo wed-out footprints 92 centimetres
long. The stone had been used as the plinth for a statue, probably
of metal. Ezana's inscriptions say that he erected statues in honour of the
divinity. One such text reads: 'As a token of gratitude to Him who begot
us, Ares the Un vanquished, we have raised statues, one of gold, another of
silver, and three of bronze, to His glory.' No Aksumite statue has yet
been recovered, but the archaeological investigations are far from complete.
Few representations of animals have been discovered, either in stone or in
metal. Cosmas tells us that he saw 'four bronze statues' of unicorns (no
doubt rhinoceroses) 'in the royal palace'.
Pottery
Aksumite sites yield large quantities of terracotta vessels, some broken
and others intact.
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