When Italy gave back Ethiopia’s stolen obelisk

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 13 September 2024

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 2005, the pieces of an ancient monument were flown back to Ethiopia, having been stolen by Italy.

The Obelisk of Axum, built around 1,700 years ago, was 24-metres (78 feet) high and weighed around 160 tons.

It was looted from Ethiopia on the orders of fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

He had it re-erected in Rome outside the former Ministry of the Colonies building near Circus Maximus.

Despite a pledge to the United Nations in 1947 to return all plundered goods, it took nearly 60 years for Italy to return the stele.

Architect Michele Daniele was one of those involved in dismantling, transporting and re-erecting the tower.

He tells Vicky Farncombe about the “hardest days” of his career.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the ‘Indian Titanic’ and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy’s Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and Görel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they’ve had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America’s occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: The Obelisk of Axum being re-erected in Ethiopia. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Before this BBC podcast kicks off I'd like to tell you about some others you might enjoy.
0:05.0	My name's Will Wilkin and I Commission Music Podcast for the BBC.
0:08.0	It's a really cool job, but every day we get to tell the incredible stories behind songs, moments and movements,
0:14.7	stories of struggle and success, rises and falls, the funny, the ridiculous.
0:19.2	And the BBC's position at the heart of British music means we can tell those stories like no one else.
0:24.5	We were, are and always will be right there at the center of the narrative.
0:28.6	So whether you want an insightful take on music right now or a nostalgic deep dive into some of the most famous and
0:34.4	infamous moments in music check out the music podcasts on BBC Sounds.
0:38.6	You're listening to the Witness History Podcast from the BBC World Service with me Vicky
0:48.0	Farncombe.
0:49.5	I'm taking you back to 2005 when an ancient monolith was returned to Ethiopia nearly 70 years
0:57.3	after being looted by Italian soldiers. It's sunrise on the 19th of April 2005 and crowds of people at Axum Airport in Northern Ethiopia are scanning the skies.
1:15.0	A plane appears and the people cheer.
1:20.0	Is this the moment their archaeological treasure is finally returned?
1:25.0	When you do the job I do, you behave a little bit like a surgeon.
1:32.0	You try not to get emotionally involved in order to be lucid when you are doing what you are doing.
1:38.0	But this operation was completely from beginning to end, a roller coaster of emotions, worries, fears, because at every
1:46.2	stage the operation could have gone horribly wrong.
1:49.6	The Italian architect, Michel deignle, responsible for dismantling and transporting the 160 ton of
1:57.8	Blisk of Axum.
2:00.0	The story of how the 24-meter tower was stolen goes back to 1937.
2:07.0	All Rome turned out for the announcement of the Italian victory in Ethiopia, called from factories, shop and home by Saren and Bell.
	...

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