After six decades of broken promises and a year of false starts, thousands of Ethiopians turned out yesterday to welcome home the first section of a centuries-old obelisk looted by Italy during the second World War.
Crowds cheered as a huge Antonov cargo aircraft broke through the cloud above the northern town of Axum, known as one of the four great kingdoms of the ancient world.
On board was a vast lump of granite, carved 1,700 years ago, which many Ethiopians believe is an essential part of their national identity.
Two further segments of the Axum obelisk are due to arrive before the 24-metre monument is re-erected in September.
State minister for information Netsannet Asfaw spoke for a nation when he said the occasion felt unreal. "My parents have hoped for it. Every Ethiopian has hoped for it. Now we are lucky enough to receive it," he said.
"It's something that is our identity, it is who we are. We are very grateful to the Italian people and the Italian government to decide to give it back to who it belongs."
The obelisk is considered among the finest of 120 which mark the graves of Axum's ancient rulers. Carvings of windows and doors adorn the monument, giving it the appearance of an ornate building.
It was plundered in 1937 by invading Italian troops as they attempted to secure Ethiopia for the fascist regime of Benito Mussolini.
Italy originally promised to return the obelisk at the end of the war, but instead it stood for decades outside the Rome headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.
It was eventually dismantled last year in preparation for its €6 million homecoming trip, paid for by the Italian government.
However, the project has been beset by problems. Eritrea refused to let the obelisk pass through its port to landlocked Ethiopia. Instead engineers were faced with a technical nightmare as they attempted to fly the 140-ton stone pillar from Rome to Ethiopia.
Moving the obelisk by air meant improving the Axum airstrip, installing radar, and using an Antonov, one of only two types of aircraft capable of lifting such a colossal payload.
Yesterday Italian engineers monitored air conditions in case changes in atmospheric pressure would prevent the heavily loaded Antonov from landing. But there were no last-minute hitches as the long-awaited flight arrived to cheers shortly after dawn.
Old men wearing blue and crimson capes - veterans of the 1937 struggle against the Italian army - were among the government officials and campaigners assembled at the airstrip.
Residents took to the streets throughout Axum, 530 miles north of the capital Addis Ababa, schools were closed and buildings festooned with banners of red, green and yellow, the colours of the Ethiopian flag.