# Hawulti (monument)

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Pre-Aksumite obelisk in Matara, Eritrea

For the ancient monuments in northern Ethiopia, see [Hawulti-Melazo](/source/Hawulti-Melazo).

Monument in Matara, Eritrea

Hawulti ሓወልቲ Hawulti, a pre-Aksumite stele Interactive map of Hawulti Location Matara, Eritrea Coordinates 14°40′27″N 39°25′30″E / 14.674147°N 39.425111°E / 14.674147; 39.425111 Type pre-Aksumite stele

**Hawulti** ([Tigrinya](/source/Tigrinya_language): ሓወልቲ) is a [pre-Aksumite](/source/Qohaito) [obelisk](/source/Obelisk) located in [Matara](/source/Matara%2C_Eritrea), [Eritrea](/source/Eritrea). The [monument](/source/Aksumite_architecture) bears the oldest known example of the ancient [Geʽez script](/source/Ge%CA%BDez_script).[1]

## Description

Sun and crescent emblems.

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

Inscription.

Ullendorff translated the inscription as follows:

- This is the obelisk which had ([caus](/source/Causative)) made

- ʾAgaz for his fathers who have

- carried off the youth of ʾwʿ

- ʾlf as well as of ṣbl.

His translation differs from [Enno Littmann](/source/Enno_Littmann) at several points. First, Littmann believed the third line referred to the digging of canals nearby (his translation, "zog die Kannaele von ʾAwʿa") despite the lack of any signs of canals or ditches in the area; Ullendorff argues that the [triliteral verb](/source/Semitic_root) s-ḥ-b in the inscription should be translated as "to drag along, to capture". Second, he believed the nouns ʾwʿ, ʾlf, and ṣbl 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 [Orthodox Tewahedo](/source/Orthodox_Tewahedo) [church](/source/Church_architecture) 17 kilometres (11 mi) from Maṭara in [Eritrea](/source/Eritrea), had been *Ṣubli*, and the equally well-known church at [Gunda Gunde Monastery](/source/Gunda_Gunde_Monastery), 22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph) from Maṭara, had once been known as *ʾAwʿa ʾilfi*.[3]

## Modern history

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](/source/Eritrean%E2%80%93Ethiopian_War). It has since been repaired by the [National Museum of Eritrea](/source/National_Museum_of_Eritrea).[7]

## See also

- [Ezana Stone](/source/Ezana_Stone)

- [King Ezana's Stele](/source/King_Ezana's_Stele)

- [Monolithic architecture](/source/Monolithic_architecture)

- [Yeha](/source/Yeha)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Ullendorff, Edward](/source/Edward_Ullendorff) (April 1951). ["The Obelisk of Maṭara"](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25222457). *[Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland](/source/Journal_of_the_Royal_Asiatic_Society_of_Great_Britain_and_Ireland)* (1/2): 26–32. [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0035-869X](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0035-869X). [JSTOR](/source/JSTOR_(identifier)) [25222457](https://www.jstor.org/stable/25222457).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUllendorff195127_2-0)** [Ullendorff 1951](#CITEREFUllendorff1951), p. 27.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUllendorff195131_3-0)** [Ullendorff 1951](#CITEREFUllendorff1951), p. 31.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEUllendorff195126_4-0)** [Ullendorff 1951](#CITEREFUllendorff1951), p. 26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Ethiopian Army Destroys World Heritage"](http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/33/046.html). 2001-05-18. Retrieved 2006-09-09.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Matara: Most recent information"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060501030255/http://hometown.aol.com/_ht_a/atobrukh/archaeology/matara/matstatus.html). Archived from [the original](http://hometown.aol.com/_ht_a/atobrukh/archaeology/matara/matstatus.html) on 2006-05-01. Retrieved 2006-09-10.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["Ancient statue at Belew Kelew repaired"](http://www.dehai.org/archives/dehai_news_archive/apr-may05/0791.html). 2005-05-14. Retrieved 2006-09-10.{{[cite web](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_web)}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service ([link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:CS1_maint:_deprecated_archival_service))

## External links

- [AFP: Eritrea rebuilds country's symbolic stone pillar](https://web.archive.org/web/20070311064020/http://www.metimes.com/print.php?StoryID=20050517-045753-8291r)

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