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Aksoum (Ethiopia) : an inquiry into the state of documentation and preservation of the archaeological and heritage sites and monuments Hiluf Berhe Woldeyohannes To cite this version: Hiluf Berhe Woldeyohannes. Aksoum (Ethiopia) : an inquiry into the state of documentation and preservation of the archaeological and heritage sites and monuments. Archaeology and Prehistory. Université Toulouse le Mirail - Toulouse II, 2015. English. NNT : 2015TOU20126. tel-01341824 HAL Id: tel-01341824 https://tel.archives-ouvertes.fr/tel-01341824 Submitted on 4 Jul 2016 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. 5)µ4& &OWVFEFMPCUFOUJPOEV %0$503"5%&-6/*7&34*5²%&506-064& %ÏMJWSÏQBS Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès 1SÏTFOUÏFFUTPVUFOVFQBS Hiluf Berhe Woldeyohannes le lundi 7 décembre 2015 5JUSF AKSUM (ETHIOPIA): AN INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF DOCUMENTATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HERITAGE SITES AND MONUMENTS ²DPMF EPDUPSBMF et discipline ou spécialité ED TESC : Anthropologie sociale et historique 6OJUÏEFSFDIFSDIF UMR 5608 TRACES %JSFDUFVSUSJDF T EFʾÒTF François-Xavier Fauvelle, Directeur de Recherche, CNRS (TRACES - UT2J) Jury : Claire Bosc-Tiessé, Chargée de Recherche, CNRS (IMAF - Université de Paris I), Examinatrice Deresse Ayenachew, Associate Professor (Debre Berhan University, Ethiopia), Rapporteur Florent Hautefeuille, MCF Habilité (TRACES - UT2J), Examinateur Bertrand Hirsch, Professeur (Université de Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne), Rapporteur To My Mother and Rebqa Hiluf vi AKSUM (ETHIOPIA): AN INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF DOCUMENTATION AND PRESERVATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND HERITAGE SITES AND MONUMENTS BY: HILUF BERHE WOLDEYOHANNES DOCTORAL SCHOOL: TESC (TEMPS, ESPACES, SOCIÉTÉS, ET CULTURES) SPECIALITY: ARCHAEOLOGY RESEARCH UNIT: UMR 5608 TRACES (TRAVAUX ET RECHERCHES ARCHÉOLOGIQUES SUR LES CULTURES, LES ESPACES ET LES SOCIÉTÉS) DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCTORATE DEGREE IN ARCHAEOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TOULOUSE JEAN-JAURÉS 7TH DECEMBER 2015 viii ix DECLARATION This thesis is my own work, that has not previously been published or presented for a degree in any other university and that all sources of materials used for the thesis have been duly acknowledged. x ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My sincere gratitude goes to the French Embassy in Ethiopia for my PhD study in France. I enjoyed and benefited from the scholarship. I was provided round-trip air ticket every year. I thank the French Center for Ethiopian Studies (CFEE) in Addis Abeba, and Toulouse University for funding for my field work. I would like to extend my gratitude to Aksum University for guaranteeing my job in the university as an academic staff during my study leave for the last four years. My deepest gratitude goes to my research supervisor Dr. Francois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar. His efforts to train me as an archaeologist began in 2009 when the office he directed at CFEE, sponsored me to participate in an excavation in France from August 15 to September 15, 2009. He was instrumental in arranging my scholarship for my PhD study and for my admission to Toulouse University. His comments and suggestions of the thesis drafts throughout my thesis work were constructive. I was honored and fortunate to have him as a research supervisor. I would like to express my deep gratitude to my father Berhe Woldeyohannes(priest), my mother Tinsae Hagos, my brothers Haftom Berhe, Ashenafi Berhe, and Woldeyohannes Berhe, my sisters Berhane Berhe, Akeza Berhe, Fitaw Berhe and Harfe Berhe for their love and unreserved financial, material and moral support throughout my studies from bachelor through doctorate degrees. To be who I am today all began with my family support. To my family, I owe everything to my life. I cannot thank my parents, brothers and sisters enough. I am also very much indebted to my grandmother, aunt, uncles, and all my relatives for their overall support. I am deeply indebted to Professor John McK Camp II and Professor Elizabeth Fisher for their contributions to my training in field archaeology and cultural heritage management. My acquaintance with them began in early 2008 at Aksum during their visit to Aksum. They didn‟t hesitate to invite me to Greece for visit in June 2008. That was the beginning of my travel outside Ethiopia to see what the other world looks like. They also invited and sponsored me to visit the US in 2010. Their effort to train me in field archaeology continued in 2011 and 2014 in Greece. I have benefited immensely from my visits to different sites in Greece and USA, and archaeological excavations in Thebes and Athens. xi To the family of Ato Teklay Mawcha in Aksum, Aradech Desalegn, Melat Teklay, Lidya Teklay and Michaele Teklay, I owe a lot for their love, hospitality and unreserved support for the last four years. I cannot thank them enough on paper for everything they did to me. They always treated me as their brother and father, and best friend. We shared unforgettable experiences. Many friends and colleagues have contributed throughout my doctoral research. Many thanks to Elizabeth Fisher, John Mck Camp II, Andrew Henry, Laura Gawlinski, Jacke Phillips and others for proof-reading and editing different chapters and sections of the thesis, and Bertrand Poissonnier for his comments and suggestions of part of the draft. My French friends, Francois Bon, excavation director during my field excavation in 2009 in France and director of our doctoral school, Marina Redondo, a friend since 2009 and who helped me settle myself and introduced me to Toulouse during my first arrival in October 2011 for my doctoral studies, Ethiopian friends in Toulouse Alihayat Ali and Tizita Nesibu for their wholehearted support and friendship, and other French students and Ethiopian community in Toulouse are warmly acknowledged. My colleague at Aksum University, Berhan Teka and, my friend and colleague Bantalem Tadesse share my heartfelt thanks for their material contribution to my thesis and friendship. Many thanks to Berhanu Tadesse, my good friend, for his vital help, encouragement and excellent hospitality. Heartfelt thanks should go to all my friends who encouraged and welcomed me whenever I needed most their help and advice. Last, but not least, I would like to express my indebtedness to my colleagues in the Culture and Tourism Office (my former office), Aksum, for their company and friendship, for their assistance during my fieldwork to Aksum, and for providing access for me to the archives in the office. xii ABSTRACT Aksum is the capital of ancient Aksumite Kingdom and one of the most important archaeological site in Ethiopia. It has been registered on World Heritage List in 1980. Its archaeological and cultural heritage continues to be a victim of urbanization, development, erosion and deposition. Despite increased awareness and issues within the field of archaeology, the destruction of archaeological and cultural heritage sites of Aksum has been staggering. Although considered as an outstanding universal heritage site, very little focused cultural heritage management has been undertaken in Aksum. All archaeological excavations conducted thus far in Aksum focused on unearthing elite tombs and palaces. Both acts of destruction are relevant to current research on the cultural heritage management aspect in Aksum in general. This research provides an analysis of the destruction of the archaeological and heritage sites and monuments in Aksum based on ancient documents, archaeological excavations and field observation. It examines the extent the sites have been excavated, documented and preserved. Three sites have been selected for case study for the present research. The research revealed that the archaeological and heritage sites in Aksum have been deeply affected by urbanization in general. Evidently, the absence of integrated development planning by the municipality, lack of professionals in the field of archaeology and lack of public education have contributed significantly to the loss of the archaeological record. This thesis attempts to evaluate the current state of documentation and preservation of the cultural heritage resource in Aksum. Key words: Documentation, preservation, landscape archaeology, cultural heritage management, excavation, monuments, archaeological and cultural sites. xiii LIST OF ACRONYMS AkU = Aksum University ARCCH = Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage BIEA = British Institute in Eastern Africa CFEE = Centre Français des Etudes Ethiopiennes CHM = Cultural Heritage Management DAE = Deutsch Aksum-Expedition ECHP = Ethiopian Cultural Heritage Project EEF/AkU = Ethiopian Exploration Foundation/Aksum University EIA = Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology ESTDP = Ethiopian Sustainable Tourism Development Project ETB = Ethiopian Birr GA = Gudguad Agazen GIS = Geographical Information Systems GSF = Gudit Stelae Field HAMA = Hamburg Archaeological Mission to Axum ICOMOS = International Council on Monuments and Sites IUO/BU = Istituto Universitario Orientale/ Boston University LIL = Learning
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