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SUPERMARINA » Fri Feb 11, 2005 12:57 pm
The Italian company Cogne was able to find platinum in the Haud region, the same county crossed by the author of the King Salomon mines novel during Lord Napier expedition in 1866. The same mineral mission was slaughtered in March 1941 after it was seized by a British party landed in Somaliland with the order to get those people before the South Africans.
The tradition tells that the secret of the mines is encrypted in an Axum obelisk and someone says that's just the one which is in Rome and the British want so much back.
Bye EC
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Lupo Solitario » Fri Feb 11, 2005 1:37 pm
mmm...I wonder if moving this topic in some "fantasy" section...
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Jim H » Fri Feb 11, 2005 2:14 pm
You don't believe the Ark of the Covenant existed Lupo?
I would have assumed that some undertakings by the Vatican would have occurred after Abyssinia was occupied.
An interesting article is linked here.
http://goafrica.about.com/cs/adventures ... k_axum.htm
I cut and pasted the information below.
Is the Ark of the Covenant in Axum, Ethiopia?
A modest stone temple houses what the Ethiopians claim is the original Ark of the Covenant, for which knights, adventurers and crusaders have searched for more than 20 centuries.
Housed in a plain stone temple next to Axum's Saint Mariam Tyson Church, the Ark is protected by a 3 foot fence and an unarmed monk - the chosen guardian - who will spend the rest of his life in the temple. His reward: he is the only person on earth permitted to enter the inner sanctum and set eyes on the box in which the Ten Commandments were stored by Moses.
Lined with gold
All of Ethiopia's other 20,000 churches keep a replica of the Ark, in a room known as the Holy of Holies, and a church without one is considered unconsecrated. The Ark is described by a former guardian, Keshe Gebeze Gebre Abmaru, who retired 2 years ago at the age of 100, as: "a wooden box, lined with gold and topped with a solid gold lid, on which two gold cherubs stand, wings outspread." Abmaru, speaking to Ross Herbert of the Independent Foreign Service, also claims that the temple houses the actual stone tablet on which God inscribed the Commandments.
He describes the tablet as a polished, off-white slab and adds, "when you come close to it, you tremble and are frightened."
Priceless relics
Although the Ark and the tablet are not on view to anyone except the guardian, the traveler will, with the aid of a few dollars, be able to persuade a monk to wheel out a few treasures from the neighboring church. These include the golden crowns of Ethiopian Emperors, dating from as long ago as the 4th century, bejeweled amulets and crosses and ancient illuminated manuscripts. Even more amazing than these treasures is the fact that they are protected by only a few iron bars, a rusty padlock and a handful of unarmed monks.
Silver Trumpets
Archaeologist Bob Cornuke, inspired by the writings of journalist and author Graham Hancock, journeyed to Axum to find out more: "I asked the monks at Axum, 'Do you have anything else that might help me to understand better what this object may be that you have, that you call the Ark of the Covenant?' They replied, 'Well, we have the silver trumpets that were brought from Solomon's Temple!' They brought out these beautiful, hammered silver trumpets, very ornate, that they claim were from Solomon's Temple, that were brought with the Ark of the Covenant. Well, we know what these trumpets would look like in history. When Titus destroyed Jerusalem and he brought these trumpets back through the city of Rome, he paraded them in front of the whole city. And this was documented on an archway called the Arch of Titus in Rome today, and these trumpets are the same size, same dimensions as the trumpets that I was shown from the monks in Ethiopia at Axum, where they claim the actual Ark of the Covenant rests today."
Tantalizing truths
The legend is supported in part by many facts apart from the existence of the silver trumpets:
• Ethiopia has one of the world's oldest Christian churches, dating back to 330AD
• For centuries before, Ethiopia was home to a very large population of Falasha Jews (until most were airlifted to Israel in 1980)
• The Ethiopian Jews have always claimed to be descendants of the original Guardians of the Ark
• Ethiopia's Jews practice rituals which disappeared elsewhere in the 7th century BC
• Scholars believe that the Ark was lost between 955BC, when King Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem to house it, and 587BC, when Nebuchadnezzar's army destroyed Jerusalem, but never found the Ark
• There is no documented proof that the Ark was ever destroyed
How did it get there?
Ethiopian legend has a remarkable story of how the Ark ended up in the physically and culturally isolated town of Axum: the Queen of Sheba, hearing of King Solomon's great wisdom, went to visit him in Jerusalem
King Solomon requested that she not touch anything in his palace without his permission. If she did, she would have to share his bed with him. The queen agreed to this. That night, the king entertained the visiting queen with musicians and dancers - and an exceptionally salty banquet. After the meal, the king retired to his bed, leaving a pitcher of water outside the door to her chamber. The queen, waken in the middle of the night by a raging thirst, could not resist the pitcher's cool water, and ended up conceiving her only child, Menelik, with King Solomon. Menelik founded Ethiopia, and on a return visit to Israel, either stole or was given the Ark, with which he returned to Ethiopia
About Axum
Axum is the holiest city in Ethiopia and is the place where Christianity was declared the national religion in the 4th century. Axum lies close to Ethiopia's border with Eritrea, and it is here that the Queen of Sheba made her capital. All over the city are relics of a glorious past: the Queen's bath, royal palaces and the amazing monolithic obelisks. The largest, once the world's largest at 500 tons and standing 33 meters high, lies fallen to the ground. The second largest at 24 marts was stolen by Mussolini, and stands in Rome. The third largest still stands and at 23 marts is an impressive sight. The city of Axum was destroyed in a rebellion by Queen Yodit during which she destroyed the Solomic line by slaughtering all the royal princes.
Ruined Palaces
A short walk outside the town are the ruins of King Kaleb's Palace. Slightly further away, up a nearby hill, is Pentaleon Monastery, where women aren't allowed in, but which provides excellent views of the countryside. The ruins of the Palace of Sheba are also outside the town.
Getting there
Axum is connected by air to Addis Ababa, the country's capital, about 500km/310 miles to the south. It's also possible to travel by bus from Gondar, Adwa, Adigrat or Mekele