A much smaller stele now standing in a flower garden has an inscription written on it in three languages _ Arabic, Ghe-ez and Greek. This tells of the clolnisisng adventures of a fourth century “Ethiopian King and is of great interest to scholars. There are two churches at Axum one old and one brand new.  

Axum Of all the ancient sites in Ethiopia , Axum is the only one which also exists today as a modern town. its history goes back to 2,000 years, and between the third and fourth century A.D it was the capital of the Axumite Kingdom . Acravan route linked it with the port of Adulis on the Red sea coast and westwards to the Nile and Egypt .
The most striking relics of Axum ,are its obelisks or stelaes. They are made from single blocks of granite carved to represent multistoried buildings some still standing. At the base of many of the stelae are large chambers, which probably served as tombs.

The original Axumite church has long since disappeared, but the present St. Mary of Zion built in the seven- tenth and eighteenth centuries is on the same site the cathedral is a repository for crowns belonging to some of Ethiopia’s former emperors.   
According to legend, it also houses the original Ark of the Covenant –thus making saint Mary's the holiest sanctuary in Ethiopia. This is now more of monastery than a church. It is hidden behind a small and women are not allowed in because the original church was destroyed by the pagan Queen Judith in the tenth century. The new cathedral was open in 1965 by the Emperor on the occasion of the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. It houses a collection of imperial Crown and other treasures and includes the Emperor Theodore's crown returned by Queen Elizabeth.