Uncovering Ethiopia s Ancient Megaliths Part 2 Pre Axumite Temples and Connections to Yemen

Ethiopia is home to some of the world's most incredible ancient sites, many of which you may have never heard of. In my last episode on Ethiopia's ancient megaliths, I explored Axiom's colossal obelisks and precision-cut megalithic chambers, with their granite boxes, nubs, and metal clamps reminiscent of ancient sites in Peru and Egypt. If you haven't seen that episode yet, I'd encourage you to check it out. Today, in part two of this series, we are going to explore even older sites, at least according to archaeologists. The pre-Aximite ancient temples with incredible carvings, precision-cut stonework, and unique architectural elements that are also found 500 kilometers away across the Red Sea in Yemen. How did these sites relate to their famous counterparts in Axiom? And did they influence any of the other sites in Ethiopia, including the famous rock-hewn churches of Lalabela, or the fields of standing stones and carvings? We'll explore these and other questions in this episode. Let's get started today with the best-preserved and most well-known examples of pre-Aximite temples in Ethiopia, the Great Temple of Yeha. This site is located only 50 kilometers northeast of Axiom in northern Ethiopia and, according to archaeologists, was built around 700 BC. This temple features a large rectangular structure measuring 18 meters by 15 meters, with walls that are preserved up to 13 meters high, making it the tallest pre-Aximite structure still standing today. The entire structure is constructed with precisely cut limestone blocks, some 10 feet long, fit together without mortar on a stone base. Unfortunately, not much remains of the building's original internal layout, as it was continuously reused and modified for over two and a half thousand years. However, what we do know is that the once had six monumental square stone pillars marking its entrance. The entrance led to the interior with five aisles created by rows of pillars. The floor of the temple, which you can still see today, was constructed with very large fitted stones. The two side aisles to the north and south are believed to have been covered by a ceiling, and above it was a second story. Historians believe that the central aisle was open to the sky. If you're watching this on YouTube or Spotify, I've included photos of reconstructions of the temple. Imagine how incredible this structure must have been when it was first constructed. There are also very interesting stone artifacts found in this temple. One incredible stone panel depicts the Ibex, a symbol of resilience and divine protection in South Arabian culture. This panel was moved from the temple and incorporated into the walls of a local church, which was built in the 4th to 6th centuries AD, where it remains today. The same church, which also serves as the local museum, also holds other artifacts from the temple, including fragments of finely carved Sebaic inscriptions and peculiar carvings of layered doorways with six precise horizontal lines carved over the top. Keep these in mind, we're going to be talking more about these later. Just near the Yeha Temple lies a sprawling multi-story palace dated to 800 BC. Spanning a massive 50 meter by 50 meter footprint, it was the largest building in Southeast Africa and South Arabia at the time. First excavated in the 1970s, it's less preserved than Yeha, but no less impressive. Its stone base supported a grand entrance with six horizontal slabs and rectangular pillars, much like Yeha's design. Above the stone basement, archaeologists found rough rubble walls, clay mortar, and wooden beams, carbon dated to the 7th century BC, suggesting these rough walls were a later addition to the older base. Interestingly, the site was studied by engineers from the Technical University of Berlin alongside archaeologists from the German Archaeological Institute, and they published a research article from an engineering journal in 2023. In this report, the engineers applied modern engineering tools to create a virtual reconstruction of this site. Now, they made several assumptions when creating this reconstruction, including that the height of the structure is based on rock paintings and murals found in South Arabia, which I unfortunately haven't been able to locate. But with all of this in mind, this reconstruction is still really impressive and useful for giving you an idea of the potential size and sophistication of this site. I've also included an image of the town of Yeha that imagines what these two temples would have looked like in ancient times, with both of these structures towering over the community houses that surround them. It must have been a truly breathtaking site. Just this year, German archaeologists have been excavating around these sites and have located remnants of earlier temple structures far deeper in the ground. Interestingly, I found a video online from a local that took some footage of the inside of these excavated pits. These excavations are deep, at least one story, if not more. And take a look at what was found at the very bottom of the excavated pit. Extremely large, very precisely fitted stonework that appears to be at least 10 feet long. And even at this depth, it doesn't appear from the photos that they've reached the bottom of the construction. This suggests the possibility of far older monumental structures built below and around these sites. What we can see above ground today appears to be just the tip of the iceberg. In 2008, there was another discovery 150 kilometers southeast of Yeha. They gave us new clues about the ancient temples. Unearthed during local quarrying, this 13 by 9 meter structure revealed a broad stepped entrance, a portico, and a central room with smaller chambers. In the center of the main building was an extraordinary discovery, a perfectly preserved limestone altar adorned with narrow steps, false windows, and a carved bull's head. Archaeologists believe this altar would have caught libations, perhaps the blood of a sacrificial animal, which would have flowed over the carved bull's head into a monolithic limestone drain and into a final circular stone basin. Around the top of the altar are finely carved inscriptions, again written in Sebaic, the language of the ancient culture who lived on the other side of the Red Sea in modern-day Yemen. The inscription is carved in high relief and wraps three quarters of the way around the top of the altar. It reads, in summary, the king who downthrows his enemies rebuilt the altar for al-Makkah when he was appointed the lord of the temple of Yeha. There are a few important things that we learn from this inscription. It speaks of the temple of Yeha, which links the sites. It also talks about al-Makkah, who was the chief god of the Sebaeans. And most importantly, it says this king rebuilt the altar. It doesn't say that he constructed the site, or that he was responsible for the original construction of the altar. This site has been dated to 800 to 600 BC based on these inscriptions, as well as other pottery and artifacts from around the site. But if this altar was only rebuilt during 800 BC, this begs the question, when was it originally built? There was a range of other interesting artifacts found at the site. There was a stone monument with layered steps and doorway representations, as well as precisely carved lentils with square shapes and long windows, among other carvings. I can't help but see a resemblance between the layered doorways found in the carvings of this site, and the doors on the obelisks of Aksum that I talked about in my last episode. Check out the window representation. These images are extremely similar. Archeologists have gone back and forth on the attribution of these pre-Aksumite sites in Ethiopia. Some believe that these sites were built by the ancient Sebaean civilization of modern-day Yemen from roughly the 10th century BC. But more recently, archaeologists have attributed the construction of these sites to a civilization that resided in northern Ethiopia and southern Eritrea from roughly the 8th to 5th centuries BC called the Demat Kingdom, which archaeologists call a centralized indigenous society capable of monumental construction. They believe that they were different civilizations, and they use the artifacts found at these sites as proof that this local culture adopted and adapted Sebaean influences rather than attributing these sites to the Sebaeans themselves. It is also believed that this civilization, the Demat Kingdom, later evolved into the Aksumite civilization that I talked about in my last video. So let's look at the artifacts from these excavations. Again, these look nothing like the sophisticated stonework and construction styles of the buildings from which they were excavated. I believe that it's more likely that these sites were built long before archaeologists believed they were built than the later local cultures settled around these sites, leaving their tools, pottery, and other material goods in the soil. And there's some further evidence to support this belief that I'll show you now. Across the Red Sea in Yemen, 500 kilometers away, there are two temples that have strikingly similar styles and artifacts. These are the Awam and Buran temples. These sites are really amazing and truly massive. I've included here a few photos that show an aerial view of these sites. I'm actually going to do a separate episode on these and other sites in Yemen, but for now I just want to highlight the striking similarities between these sites and the ones we've been discussing in Ethiopia. First, the general layout of the temples in Yemen and Ethiopia are the same. They have monumental entrances consisting of horizontal and parallel monoliths supporting high rectangular pillars. Except in Yemen, these pillars are still intact. Just take a look at the incredible precision of these monolithic pillars, especially the intricate stonework found near the top of them. The walls are carefully dressed with fitted joints and no mortar, almost identical in both countries. We also see the same Sabaic inscriptions as well as the same Ibex carvings. Take a look at these photos side by side. And remember the stone box we talked about before? There are more examples of these in Yemen still at the sites. Again, look at these altars side by side. The last thing I want to show you from Yemen are these precisely carved wall panels that have many of the same styles and details as the artifacts found in Ethiopia, including the obelisks in Aksum. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to believe that these were built by the same culture. These temples in Yemen are officially dated to the 10th century BC and are attributed to the Sabaean civilization, primarily based on inscriptions and material artifacts like pottery found around the sites. So back to the sites in Ethiopia. Were these sites also originally built in the 10th century BC? Or are they even older? In the two photos I have on the screen, you can see that the inscriptions used to date these sites look almost stamped over the top of the clean surface in both the sites in Yemen and the altars in Ethiopia. It's certainly possible that the original altar was built without any script at all, in the simple and stark style you see in many of the older megalithic sites around the world, and that this script was added at a later time. Of course, it's impossible to say when these were originally built. Maybe the hundreds or thousands of years later. But we do know for a fact that these sites have to be at least as old as the 10th century BC. So finally, what do these pre-Aksumite temples we discussed today have to do with the monumental architecture in Aksum that I covered in my last episode? Remember, archaeologists believe the obelisks of Aksum were built in the 3rd century AD, 1,000 years after the sites I discussed today. Does it make sense that these two sites, only 50 kilometers apart, are separated by a thousand years? Archaeologists also believe that the famous raccoon churches of Lalabela, which I'm covering in my next episode, were built in the 12th to 13th centuries AD, another thousand years after the sites in Aksum. Is there really a 2,000 year difference between all of these sites, and which ones came first? What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories. If you enjoyed this episode, please hit that subscribe button, give me a thumbs up, and leave a review on your favorite platform. Your support helps me grow this channel. You can also follow me on Instagram, Ex, and Facebook at Secrets in Stone. We'll see you next time.