Mount Hazalo, also known as Azalo, or Ayelu is an isolated,

rhyolitic Rhyolite ( ) is the most silica-rich of volcanic rocks. It is generally glassy or fine-grained (aphanitic) in texture, but may be porphyritic, containing larger mineral crystals (phenocrysts) in an otherwise fine-grained groundmass. The mineral ...

stratovolcano A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by many layers (strata) of hardened lava and tephra. Unlike shield volcanoes, stratovolcanoes are characterized by a steep profile with a summit crater and per ...

in eastern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

. Located in

Afar Region The Afar Region (; aa, Qafar Rakaakayak; am, አፋር ክልል), formerly known as Region 2, is a regional state in northeastern Ethiopia and the homeland of the Afar people. Its capital is the planned city of Semera, which lies on the paved ...

, near the South of the Afdem and

Gewane Gewane is a town in north-eastern Ethiopia. Located in Administrative Zone 3 of the Afar Region, it has an elevation of 618 meters above sea level. Gewane is locally known as New Gewane, 2 kilometers east of the original settlement known as Old ...

, this mountain has a latitude and longitude of and an altitude of 2145 meters. The district is today inhabited by the

Afar people The Afar ( aa, Qafár), also known as the Danakil, Adali and Odali, are a Cushitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. They primarily live in the Afar Region of Ethiopia and in northern Djibouti, as well as the entire southern co ...

however in the past also by the Warjih and

Harari people The Harari people ( Harari: Gēy Usuach, "People of the City") are Semitic-speaking ethnic group inhabiting the Horn of Africa. Members traditionally reside in the walled city of Harar, called simply ''Gēy'' "the City" in Harari, situated in t ...

. The

Battle of Hazalo The Battle of Hazalo was fought between the forces of Adal Sultanate led by Nur ibn Mujahid, and Oromo of Gada Michelle. Nur and his troops were returning from a victory at the Battle of Fatagar against the Ethiopian Imperial army, when they ...

took place between the

Adal Sultanate The Adal Sultanate, or the Adal Empire or the ʿAdal or the Bar Saʿad dīn (alt. spelling ''Adel Sultanate, ''Adal ''Sultanate'') () was a medieval Sunni Muslim Empire which was located in the Horn of Africa. It was founded by Sabr ad-Din ...

and Oromo of Gada Michelle in the 16th century. The

have a tradition that, they travelled to this mountain where they settled for a number of years. Here they prospered until their wealth led them to hold weddings and feasts during

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

; for this

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...

is said to have sent a famine and plagues on them. After this, the people moved to the

Ifat Sultanate The Sultanate of Ifat, known as Wafāt or Awfāt in Arabic texts, was a medieval Sunni Muslim state in the eastern regions of the Horn of Africa between the late 13th century and early 15th century. It was formed in present-day Ethiopia around ...

during its earlier period.

Wilfred Thesiger Sir Wilfred Patrick Thesiger (3 June 1910 – 24 August 2003), also known as Mubarak bin Landan ( ar, مُبَارَك بِن لَنْدَن, ''the blessed one of London'') was a British military officer, explorer, and writer. Thesiger's trav ...

describes his ascent of Mount Ayalu in 1933. He notes that this mountain was the object of an annual

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

by members of the

, who travelled from as far away as Daoe in order to climb to the summit where they would pray for good health and success in war. They would also make a pilgrimage to Ayalu in other times of the year to pray for relief in times of famine and after a defeat in war. When David Buxton visited the site a little more than 10 years later, he was unable to learn if sacrifices were still made there. The volcano is one of the largest in Ethiopia and is located, along with its close neighbor Adwa (volcano), in a major right step of the linear chain of volcanoes and fissures along the middle of the

East African rift The East African Rift (EAR) or East African Rift System (EARS) is an active continental rift zone in East Africa. The EAR began developing around the onset of the Miocene, 22–25 million years ago. In the past it was considered to be part of a ...

. Due to the location of the volcano little is known about its past and present behavior. However, an earthquake and

InSAR Interferometric synthetic aperture radar, abbreviated InSAR (or deprecated IfSAR), is a radar technique used in geodesy and remote sensing. This geodetic method uses two or more synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images to generate maps of surface defo ...

study conducted by Derek Keir and colleagues shows that a magma intrusion around 5 km deep and 8 km long emanated away from the volcano and intruded near the eastern side of neighboring Adwa (volcano) in May 2000.

Notes

External links

Global Volcanism Program: Ayelu
Afar Region Mountains of Ethiopia Stratovolcanoes of Ethiopia {{volcanology-stub

See also

Notes

External links