Go back to previous topic | Forum name | Okay Activist Archives | Topic subject | Axum obelisk finally returned to Ethiopia | Topic URL | http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=22&topic_id=30024 |
30024, Axum obelisk finally returned to Ethiopia Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Wed Apr-20-05 01:01 PM
... 58 years after Italy agreed to return it. They've been delaying this forever so I didn't know when they'd ever get around to it, so this is great news.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/4458105.stm
Obelisk arrives back in Ethiopia
The first section of a 1,700-year old stone obelisk looted by Italy nearly 70 years ago has arrived back in Ethiopia.
The Axum obelisk is regarded as one of Ethiopia's national religious treasures.
An Antonov plane landed on Tuesday with the middle part of the obelisk; the top and bottom should follow within a week.
Italian troops seized the obelisk in 1937 and took it to Rome, where it has remained ever since, despite a 1947 UN agreement to return it to Ethiopia.
The plane carrying the first part of the obelisk appeared over the horizon just before dawn.
A crowd of Ethiopian ministers, priests and other VIPs cheered and clapped as it landed. AXUM OBELISK 1,700 years old Weighs 160 tons 24m tall Looted in 1937 Return costing $7.7m Due to be re-erected in September
"I am excited, overjoyed and delighted," said Ethiopian Culture Minister Teshome Toga.
"This is a very historical moment for us, we have waited so long to have the obelisk back," he said.
Pealing bells and chanting priests could be heard from a nearby cathedral, reports the AP news agency.
The ornately decorated 24-metre (78ft) obelisk is regarded as an outstanding example of architecture from the ancient city of Axum, itself seen as one of the four great kingdoms of the ancient world.
It stood for years outside the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome, despite an Italian commitment to send it back to Ethiopia.
Celebrations planned
It was eventually dismantled by Italian experts in 2004 in readiness for its journey home.
The operation is costing Italy an estimated 6m euros ($7.7m).
But the obelisk's return had been beset by "technical difficulties" and repeatedly postponed.
The most recent delay came just last week, when it was postponed "indefinitely" amid concerns that the airstrip at Axum could not handle the cargo plane.
The 160-ton monument had to be broken into three pieces.
The delay was a disappointment for Ethiopians and the country's government, which had planned a national celebration to mark the return of the obelisk.
Shortly after the obelisk's return, traditional dancers took to the streets of Axum to celebrate.
The obelisk will be re-erected after the rains in September.
Many Ethiopians see the obelisk as a vital national symbol, and the prospect of its return stirs strong emotions.
Abebe Alenayehu, 81, watched Italian troops seize the obelisk from Axum, but never expected to be alive to witness its return.
"The memory still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth," he told the Associated Press news agency.
"Every day for the last 67 years I have thought about the obelisk."
Steel bars
Lattanzi, the Italian company responsible for transporting the obelisk to Axum, has described the obelisk as the largest, heaviest object ever transported by air.
Heaters were installed in the plane to protect the monument from freezing air temperatures.
The obelisk was wrapped in steel bars to stabilise it in case of turbulence during the six-hour flight, Lattanzi director Simone Pietero told AP.
In addition, the airstrip at Axum had to be upgraded to handle the vast Antonov-124 aircraft, and radar was installed.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30025, This is damn near anchor worthy. Terrific. I'll read this lata Posted by FireBrand, Wed Apr-20-05 04:23 PM
www.northernarc.net www.myspace.com/egyptianknight
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30026, yeah, this is a really big deal for Ethiopia Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Thu Apr-21-05 02:04 PM
and for Axum, you have no idea. My father used to live just down the road from the stelae field where the obelisk stood, he used to play there as a kid, so this is a REALLY big thing for us.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30027, that's a mighty fine obelisk right there Posted by Freduardo, Wed Apr-20-05 07:10 PM
mmhmmm
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30028, this means so much, but this really got me... Posted by SONJEVITY, Wed Apr-20-05 07:33 PM
>Abebe Alenayehu, 81, watched Italian troops seize the obelisk from >Axum, but never expected to be alive to witness its return.
>"The memory still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth," he told the >Associated Press news agency.
>"Every day for the last 67 years I have thought about the obelisk."
I can only imagine how he feels
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30029, RE: this means so much, but this really got me... Posted by anubis, Wed Apr-20-05 11:23 PM
OK
I hope this sets a new precedent. The british need to follow the italians and return all the shit they stole from asia, africa, and other parts of the world. The axum obelisk is so important to that country. Imagine if some Nigerians stole the Washington monument or the declaration of independence?
A
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30030, sheeeeeit!!! Posted by SONJEVITY, Thu Apr-21-05 04:54 AM
>Imagine if some Nigerians stole the Washington monument or the >declaration of independence?
Simple. Certain Masons would have "nigerian oysters" at their next gathering...
i keed, i keed!!!
But seriously though, I really dont think any European nations will follow suit.
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30031, yeah, Italy only agreed to return it under a post-WWII UN agreement Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Thu Apr-21-05 02:09 PM
because they lost the war, and even then it took them 58 years to honor the agreement.
So I don't see other European nations returning stuff anytime soon.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30032, yeah, why 58 years specifically? Posted by johnny_domino, Fri Apr-22-05 09:15 AM
is their govt trying to generate a little good PR? Legal appeals finally exhausted? Were they just not returning the Ethiopian embassy's calls for the past 57 years?
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30033, their excuse was that transporting the obelisk would damage it Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Fri Apr-22-05 03:16 PM
when the Italians first took it they cut it into 3 sections to transport it to Rome (which is a fucking travesty, the obelisk's claim to fame was that it was the tallest standing monolith cut from a single stone in the ancient world), and re-assembled it in Rome using steel rods through the center that connected the 3 sections together. They said that it was now too fragile to disassemble and transport back to Ethiopia.
Also during the civil war in Ethiopia from the 70's to the early 90's they said it was too dangerous to travel to Axum because northern Ethiopia was a center of rebel activity. I will give them that one as a valid excuse, but beyond that they've just been dragging their feet.
>is their govt trying to generate a little good PR? Legal >appeals finally exhausted? Were they just not returning the >Ethiopian embassy's calls for the past 57 years?
I think they just finally ran out of excuses. Just last week they had said that they were going to postpone returning it indefinitely because the airstrip in Axum was too small to handle the jumbo cargo plane that would be carrying the obelisk, so I just thought it was the same-old same-old and that they were gonna keep putting it off forever.
So I was pretty shocked when I heard that they actually went ahead and brought back the first section, I really thought they might keep putting it off for years on end. So I'm still irked that they took so damn long, but right now I'm just glad that it's finally coming home where it belongs.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30034, The British? Posted by afrogirl, Thu Apr-21-05 01:30 PM
Please, they have just as much stolen shit in their country as the Italians. I want African nations to start demanding the return of their stuff.
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30035, the British have TONS more stuff than the Italians, or anyone else Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Thu Apr-21-05 02:25 PM
the British Museum is packed to the gills with looted treasure from all over the world.
But there was a Scottish church that recently returned a tabot (a religious artifact that is a representation of the Ark of the Covenant) to the Ethiopian church it was stolen from. The Scottish Episcopal Church has called on all other artifacts stolen from Africa to be returned; unfortunately, they don't run the British Museum.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30036, yeah, that made me think of how my grandmother must feel Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Thu Apr-21-05 01:27 PM
she's from Axum, she was a small child at the time so I'm not sure if she remembers it, but yeah that feeling runs deep.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30037, YOU SHOULD TALK TO HER ABOUT IT... Posted by SONJEVITY, Thu Apr-21-05 07:15 PM
I would be interested in her perspective.
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30038, she doesn't speak English & I don't speak Tigrinya or Amharic Posted by 40thStreetBlack, Thu Apr-21-05 10:49 PM
so communicating with her over the phone is kinda difficult
But I'll talk to my dad and my uncle, they both grew up in Axum, I'll let you know their perspective on it after we discuss it.
-------------------------------------------------------------- Nurse Roberts: She googled your ass.
Dr. Kelso: Don't you use your street lingo on me!
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30039, cool!!! thanks n/m Posted by SONJEVITY, Fri Apr-22-05 01:43 PM
.
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30040, cool Posted by johnny_domino, Fri Apr-22-05 09:15 AM
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30041, hooray for the return of AquamansWrath's big, black cock Posted by MANHOODLUM, Sat Apr-23-05 02:12 PM
BTWm how do you trace OKP alias bloodlines?
:)
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30042, i recently chaperoned a field trip to DC for 5th graders (including Posted by poetx, Sun Apr-24-05 05:36 PM
my son). as we walked past the washington monument i made sure to tell them that it was an obelisk, which was african in origin.
i didn't get all into the fact that george and his boys were masons and appropriated these egyptian/african symbols in an attempt to justify their fraternal orders as related to the kemetan mystery schools, but at least they know. i also mentioned that many of the obelisks were stolen by europeans in various wars and i'm glad that this one is being returned. (i'd read about it before but didn't know if it was back, yet).
peace & blessings,
x.
"I'm on the Zoloft to keep from killing y'all." - Iron Mike
my philosophy on free time:
"and next time when he get it he'll waste it on somethin' useful" - MF Doom
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