Lioness of Gobedra

The Lioness of Gobedra is a representation of a crouching lioness, about 3 metres long, carved in relief on a large rock outcropping at Gobo Dura (Gobedra), two kilometers west of Axum, Ethiopia. It was first described by German archeologists in 1913.

The reason for this isolated stone carving is unknown, but the subject of much speculation. A local story, according to Philip Briggs, is that Archangel Michael was attacked by a lion here, and "he repelled the lion with such force it left an outline in the rock." Not far away is a quarry, where the stelae that adorn Axum are thought to have been carved, and there is a partially-carved example of one.