Today we are traveling from Addis Abeba to Arba Minch; we are heading South to discover some populations that still live following the ancient traditions that populate the Omo Valley.

The roads in Ethiopia are not always in excellent condition and therefore we must proceed at a moderate speed, also because in the street there is everything: cows, goats, carts pulled by donkeys, children and more.

Along today's journey, that will take us practically all day, we will make some stops, a bit to stretch our legs but also to see the wonders that this country holds for us.

85 km South of Addis Abeba and 40 km South of Awash Melka, in the land of the Gurage, is the site of the Tiya Stelae that was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1980.

In Southern Ethiopia it is estimated that there are more than 10,000 stelae, concentrated in the area between Tiya, that borders the Northern boundary, up to Negele Borena in the South-East; many of these have not yet been examined by archeologists and others have probably not yet been found.

ethiopia tiya stelae africa exploringafrica safariadv

In reality, very little is known about the stems, what is known is that they served as tombstones but it is not known for sure who made them.

There are two types of stems: the older ones, that have a phallic shape, and the more recent ones, that are flat and engraved, such as those found here in Tiya; the construction of the stems seems to have begun in the 9th century until the 14th century.

The stems that are found here in the Tiya field are among those best preserved and most finely engraved, they are also among the most recent; it is thought that Tiya, in the Middle Ages, was the border between the pagan and the Christian region, that was located further North, but they are all suppositions.

At the site of Tiya, that is located not far from the main road, there are about forty stone stems; some are upright, others are leaning on the ground, some are relatively small, while others are much higher.

The local guide tells us that their function was to indicate burial sites.

In correspondence of the oldest stems bodies have been found in fetal position, as in other sites where the phallic-shaped stems are found, while at the more recent stems the bodies are lying on the back; obviously the reason for this difference is unknown.

It seems that the various engravings, that are found on the stems, were symbols to indicate who was buried in that place, even though, in the vicinity of a single stem, more than one skeleton was found and the burial criterion is unknown.

In the few tombs that have been excavated, about a meter from the surface, jewels, furnishings, terracotta objects and more have been found, this has led to assume that all the people buried here belonged to a certain rank and were rich.

The body, or bodies, were found even deeper, at about 2 meters depth.

We follow the guy who is our local guide, he is very young but he is good and prepared and even his English is remarkable, you can see that he cares about his work.

We go around following the path to see all the stems and he shows us all the various symbols that are engraved and explains its meaning.

In reality there are still many things that are not known about the Tiya Stelae and the others present in Southern Ethiopia, archaeologists still have a lot of work to do, not only to interpret the symbols but also to find out what was the civilization who has made these stems; it may be that it was some population who still exists but has abandoned this practice, or a civilization who has disappeared.

ethiopia tiya stelae africa exploringafrica safariadv

Data di inserimento: 
Tuesday, September 17, 2019