By Okorie Uguru
A xum (Aksum) and Mekele are cities in the mountainous Tigray region of northern Ethiopia, just a few kilometres to the Eritrea border. This mountain range is known as the Adwa Mountains. It is a mountain area that Ethiopians talk about with nationalistic pride. It was on this mountain range that the Ethiopian army, led by the iconic king, Menelik 11 defeated Italian army in 1896 in the Battle of Adwa, and stopped the colonial expansion of Italy into Ethiopia. It was the victory on this mountain that has made Ethiopia stand tall in Africa as an un-colonised country. Axum was the initial capital of the ancient Aksum kingdom said to have existed for more than 2000 years. Travelling from Axum to Mekele through the Adwa mountain range is an experience never forgotten in life.
Northern Ethiopia is one of the key destinations of Ethiopia. The area has some very important tourism assets like the rock monasteries scattered in and around the Axum area up on the Tigray Mountains. There is also the St. Mary Church where, according to the people’s belief, the ancient Israeli’s Ark of the Covenant is kept. However, the biggest draw to Axum is the ancient obelisks that were put on top of the graves of important members of then early settlers of Axum. The obelisks or stelae are tall stone-hewn poles with intricate designs placed of graveyards in the past. The obelisks of Axum are more than 2000 years.
Also in Axum is St. Mary Church, Axum, the place where all the Ethiopian kings were crowned. It is one of the holy sites of the Ethiopian Christians.
Between Axum and Mekele is a distance of less than 150 kilometres. By air, it’s less than 15 minutes flight. However, travelling to Mekele from Axum by road takes more than four hours through a treacherous mountain range that is not for the faint-hearted.
Mekele is a relatively new town compared to Axum with a population of about 600,000, a growing city with a modern airport, factories. It is the economic hub of northern Ethiopia sitting at an altitude of over 6700 feet above sea level. Axum sits on 7,395 feet above sea level. These are high altitude towns.
Although shuttling between these two important Ethiopian towns is fast and easy by air-a less than 20 minutes flight, travelling by road through the rugged terrain of the Adwa Mountains offers tourists opportunity to visit some of the rock monasteries high on the mountains, see the sites of the ancient Yeha civilization, and tour Nejashi, the small community. They are descendants of early Muslims that migrated to the community from Mecca. The founder of Islam, Prophet Muhammad had told them to flee to Axum kingdom to escape persecution of early Muslims in Mecca during the early stage of Islam.
Visiting some of these historic sites is a draw to the Adwa mountain range by road. The journey from Axum to Mekele, using the benefit of hindsight, is compelling to make once in a life time. It is not an experience many would want to repeat though. The terrain is harsh and unforgiving. It is not the kind of road to construct by blasting through the mountain to create a straight road. Due to the height, the road snakes through the rugged terrain close to 2000 feet above sea level. There are no reasonable barriers to protect road users from plunging more than a thousand feet down into the base of the mountain in case of an accident. It was very obvious, that if any accident occurs, there is no hope of rescue or retrieval of victims’ bodies. The base of the mountain is an unaccessible terrain. Surprising though, there were no signs of accidents.
Drivers on the Adwa Mountains seemed to be trained in patience. In navigating the single lane highway of the mountain, there is no room for error. Any error would likely be fatal. The drivers were never in a rush, they do not try to overtake unnecessarily. Despite how high and dangerous this highway is, heavy duty trucks and trailers carrying wares and construction materials ply the route. However, the trailers are specially built for the road, it seems. Apart from the engine head, the body of the trailer is divided into two, making it easier for the trailers to twist and turn on the rugged terrain without falling off.
Yeha Heritage site
The first point of call was Yeha heritage site. This was just about 53 kilometres from Axum, but it took almost two hours due to the nature of the road. The community has Grat Be’al Geubri Palace and the Grand temple of Yeha. The monuments date back to 800 BC. The temple was dedicated to the god of Almaqah. Despite the number of years it has existed, the temple is still standing.
The tour team happened to arrive at the village during a burial ceremony. It was a different culture with sombre procession and they used large umbrellas for the occasion. It was an austere community with obvious difficulty in farming due to the harsh nature of the terrain.
Leaving the Yeha area, the tour group had to travel up the mountain. With no reasonable barrier driving up the mountain, and the twisting and turning of the serpentine route, many of the tour team members started panicking in fear that the vehicle could tilt at any time and plunge into the deep gorge down. A grown up man, the owner of one of the most successful travel agencies in Nigeria, burst into tears covering his face with his hands. A camera man who had earlier requested to be seated in front of the bus to capture shots with his camera, at a stage ran away from the front seat. He went and hid by the door of the Coaster bus cowering in fear. To say the terrain of Adwa Mountains instils fear is an understatement. Finally, the bus was at the top of the mountains, about 2500 feet above sea level before starting the descent that would lead to Mekele.
Early Muslim community of Nejashi
Nejashi is a rustic and dusty ancient Muslim community deep in the Adwa mountain terrain. According to history, the early settlers of Nejashi came directly form Mecca around 615 AD during the early stage of Islam. History has it that at the beginning of Islam when Muslims were being persecuted in Mecca in the present day Saudi Arabia, Prophet Muhammad sent his companions known as the Sahabas to the Axum Kingdom for refuge. Axum was reputed to have a righteous Christian ruler. True to his word, his companions and extended family were protected and allowed to practise their religion in peace. They settled at Nejashi, about 20 kilometres to Mekele.
A major tourist attraction in Nejashi is the Nejash Amedin Mesgid, the mosque built by the settlers in the 7th century AD. Keepers of the mosque are very welcoming to tourists, taking them round and telling them the history of the mosque. Tourists also have the opportunity see the burial site of some of these early settlers right inside the mosque. It is a holy site for the worshippers and tourists are expected to take off their shoes before entering.
From Nejashi, a little over 39 minutes, the tour group arrived at Mekele. Unlike the rather austere nature and spirituality of most of the other tourist sites visited, Mekele is a modern town bustling with life and whiff of affluence all over. Probably after Addis Ababa, Mekele would likely go for the second liveliest town. It also has a beautiful airport from where the tour group headed back to Addis Ababa.