Hawulti (monument)

For the ancient monuments in northern Ethiopia, see Hawulti-Melazo.
Hawulti
ሓወልቲ
Hawulti, a pre-Aksumite stele
Map
14°40′27″N 39°25′30″E / 14.674147°N 39.425111°E / 14.674147; 39.425111
LocationMatara, Eritrea
Typepre-Aksumite stele

Hawulti (Tigrinya: ሓወልቲ) is a pre-Aksumite obelisk located in Matara, Eritrea. The monument bears the oldest known example of the ancient Ge'ez script.[1]

Description

Sun and crescent emblems on a Matara stele.

The Hawulti monument is 5.5 metres (18 ft) high, with a disk and crescent at the top; Edward Ullendorff believes these symbols "no doubt meant to place the stele under the protection of the gods, probably of Šams, the Sun goddess, and of Sin, the Moon god". These pre-Christian symbols, as well as paleographical characteristics such as the lack of vowel marks in the Ge'ez script, convinced Ullendorff that the monument dated "to the early part of the fourth century A.D."[2]

Ullendorff translated of the inscription as follows:

This is the obelisk which had (caus) made
'Agaz for his fathers who have
carried off the youth of ‘W’
‘LF as well as of SBL.

His translation differs from Enno Littmann at several points. First, Littmann believed the third line referred to the digging of canals nearby (his translation, "zog die Kannaele von `Aw`a") despite the lack of any signs of canals or ditches in the area; Ullendorff argues that the verb s-h-b in the inscription should be translated as "to drag along, to capture". Second, he believed the nouns — ‘W’, ‘LF, and SBL — were placenames, and based on discussions with local informants Ullendorff identified them with nearby communities: the earlier name of Baraknaha, the site of a 12th-century church 17 kilometers from Matara, had been subli, and the equally well-known Orthodox church at Gunda Gunde, 22 kilometers from Matara, had once been known as Aw`a 'ilfi.[3]

Modern history

Obelisk monument in Balaw Kawa, Metera

When Littmann, leader of the Deutsche Aksum-Expedition, found the Hawulti, it had been pushed over and broken in half in the distant past. The Italian colonial government had the broken monument repaired with two iron bars and set upright in what was thought to be its proper position, but was not accurate.[4]

The Hawulti was toppled and damaged[5][6] by Ethiopian troops in the short occupation of southern Eritrea during the Eritrean-Ethiopian War. It has since been repaired by the National Museum of Eritrea.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Ullendorff, Edward (April 1951). "The Obelisk of Maṭara". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1/2): 26–32. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25222457.
  2. ^ Ullendorff 1951, p. 27.
  3. ^ Ullendorff 1951, p. 31.
  4. ^ Ullendorff 1951, p. 26.
  5. ^ "Ethiopian Army Destroys World Heritage". 2001-05-18. Retrieved 2006-09-09.
  6. ^ "Matara: Most recent information". Archived from the original on 2006-05-01. Retrieved 2006-09-10.
  7. ^ "Ancient statue at Belew Kelew repaired". 2005-05-14. Archived from the original on 2007-05-27. Retrieved 2006-09-10.