Editing Axum (section)

===20th century===
[[File:Littmann gruppenfoto.JPG|right|thumb|German "Aksum Expedition", February 1906. From left: [[Theodor von Lüpke]], Dr. Erich Kaschke, Gebre Selassie (Governor of [[Tigray province|Tigray]]), [[Enno Littmann]] and [[Daniel Krencker]]]]
Aksumite remains were investigated in 1906 by an important German archaeological mission led by the renowned scholar [[Enno Littmann]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pankhurst |first=Richard |year=1982 |title=History of Ethiopian towns from the mid 19th century to 1935 |page=79 }}</ref>

Early in the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War]], Italian troops seized Aksum in October 1936. In 1937, a {{convert|24|m|abbr=on}} tall, 1,700-year-old [[Obelisk of Axum]], was broken into five parts by the Italians and shipped to [[Rome]] to be erected. The obelisk is widely regarded as one of the finest examples of engineering from the height of the Axumite empire. Despite a 1947 United Nations agreement that the obelisk would be shipped back, Italy balked, resulting in a long-standing diplomatic dispute with the Ethiopian government, which views the obelisk as a symbol of national identity.<ref name="Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk">{{cite news |title=Ethiopia unveils ancient obelisk |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7597589.stm |newspaper=BBC News |date=4 September 2008 |access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0016/001631/163173e.pdf |title=The Reinstallation of the Axum Obelisk |date=10 October 2008 |publisher=UNESCO |access-date=22 February 2014}}</ref>

During the [[Ethiopian Civil War]], on 30 March 1989, Axum was bombed from the air by the [[Ethiopian Air Force]] and three people were killed.<ref>Human Rights Watch, 24 July 1991: [https://www.hrw.org/reports/archives/africa/ETHIOPIA907.htm ETHIOPIA - "Mengistu has Decided to Burn Us like Wood" - Bombing of Civilians and Civilian Targets by the Air Force]</ref>