Ethiopia's earliest known capital, Yeha, is less than two hours' drive from Axum through some dramatic highland scenery. As the birthplace of the country's earliest high civilization, it is well worth visiting. To get there, head east for twenty kilometers (Bahar Dar is a town 12 miles ) to Adwa. Continue along the main road towards Adigrat for another twenty-four kilometers (15 miles) and then turn north on to a short dirt track, where you will see the imposing ruins of Yeha's Temple of the moon about four kilometers (2.5 miles) to the right of the track.

The ruins of this large, pre-Christian temple, erected around the fifth century BC, consist of a single roofless oblong chamber 20 meters (66 feet) along by 15 meters (50 feet) wide. The windowless 10 meters high walls are built of smoothly polished stones, some of them more than 3 meters long, carefully placed one atop the other without the use of mortar.

Archeological research at Yeha has unearthed many historical treasures, including a number of Sabean inscriptions and a variety of animal figurines. Several of these antiquities are on display in the National Museum in Addis Ababa.

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