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, 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 G ...

, this mountain has a latitude and longitude of and an altitude of 2145 meters. The district is today inhabited by the Afar people 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 took place between the Adal Sultanate and Oromo of Gada Michelle in the 16th century. The Afar people 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 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 Afar people, 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) ''Adwa'' (also known as Caaduba, Amoissa, or Dabita) (1733 m/5686 ft.) is a stratovolcano in Ethiopia, located in the western Somali Region region and has a 4 by 5 km caldera. Due to the location of the volcano near the boundary between ...

, 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 study conducted by

Derek Keir Derek Keir (born 1979 Johannesburg, South Africa) has been an associate professor of geophysics at the University of Southampton since 2015. In 2013 he received the Bullerwell Lecture award from the British Geophysical Association (BGA) for sign ...

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

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