Located beside the Church of Saint Mary of Zion (Tsion Maryam) stands a humble chapel, believed to be the resting place of the Biblical Ark of the Covenant. The church complex houses the old and new Saint Mary of Zion churches, a museum and the chapel, where the Ark of the Covenant is believed to rest. The museum at St Mary’s contains an impressive collection of royal regalia, gold and silver chalices, crosses, jewelry and drums. Axum is also believed to have been home to the legendary Queen of Sheba, who journeyed to Israel to visit the Biblical King Solomon after hearing about his divine gift of wisdom. It is easy to understand why Axum plays such a significant role in Ethiopian Christian Orthodox tradition.

Dating back to the 1st century AD, this ancient northernmost town was once the heartbeat of a great and ancient civilization, known as the Axumite Empire, which flourished from the 4th to the 7th  centuries. The kingdom of Axum was the most powerful state between Persia and the Eastern Roman Empire, controlling the Red Sea trade through the port of Adulis. Three continents converged here: Africa, Araba and the Greco-Roman world, making it a place of strategic political value. The empire collapsed when Muslim merchants closed off the trading routes across the Red Sea, during the rise of Islam.

The ruins of the ancient city of Axum date back to the period between the 1st and 13th centuries AD. The crowning of Ethiopian emperors continued to take place in Axum long after its political decline in the 10th century.  The ruins of the once-magnificent Axumite civilization lie scattered across the Tigray plateau, with the most impressive monuments concentrated on the outskirts of the modern-day town of Axum. Giant monolithic obelisks, castle ruins and royal tombs continue to capture the imaginations of visitors to this ancient site.