Zege Dur (Dengur)

Up until 910 AD, some 255 kings ruled ancient Aksum. The location of their palaces remain unknown, however, and no document tells where these kings lived.

Zege Dur was the second location of ancient Aksum after Biete Giorgis, and is located west of the modern town. Two archaeological sites suggest Zege Dur is an historical and ancient part of the town. There is a collection of ruined rooms and palaces along the road leading to Shire. South of the monuments within a kilometer, including numerous tombs and almost 580 large and small monuments and statues.

Marvelous historical relics of the Aksumite civilization have been recovered since 1906 in excavations conducted by Germans, Italians, French men and Britons.

In particular, excavations in 1906 revealed a palace having 52 rooms with other minor palaces having their own kitchens and bathrooms of some 48 square meters in size. A number of finds of pottery, gold, aluminum, nickel and other objects such as coins were recovered and taken to the national Museum in Addis Ababa, and are now on display there. Six glass wine goblets were found in 1974. All these results indicate the Aksumite civilization was at its height at that time.

Zege Dur has a number of historical sites in its vicinity, including Abba Selama’s Cave, ‘Queen of Sheba’s Palace’, ‘the Grave of Menilik Meziber’ and ‘the Tomb of Ethiopia’. In summary, this area is expected to produce numerous relics in future archaeological excavations.  

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