Agʿazi
Agʿazi is the name of a leading tribe of the Aksumite Empire in what consists today of Eastern Tigray and central-south Eritrea.
History
The earliest attestation of this name can be found in the determined nisba-form yg'ḏyn in three pre-Aksumite Royal inscriptions: h/mlkn/sr'n/yg'ḏyn/mkrb/d'mt/webIn the Greek Monumentum Adulitanum, the author states: Γάζη έθνος έπολέμηα. This people's name has been connected with the term Ge'ez. The Sinaiticus and Laurentianus manuscripts explain in margin: "Gaze means the Aksumites. Until now they are called Agaze". The reconstruction āzә in RIE 264 from Zafār has been proposed by Müller, but the fragment is too badly damaged to provide any help as to who could be meant by this name.
Another attestation is found in Abraha's Sabaean dam-inscription CIH 541 from Mārib, where he calls himself mlkn gzyn.
A connection between agāzī and the people Agēzāt, mentioned in two of Ezana's inscriptions seems questionable.
An Ethiopian regnal list from 1922 claimed that an "Ag'azyan" dynasty had reigned from 1985 to 982 BC. The dynasty was allegedly founded by Sheba, son of the Biblical figure Joktan, and the last ruler of this line was Makeda, the Biblical queen of Sheba. This regnal list, however, is not considered historically accurate and has been treated by historians as little more than a vague notion of historical tradition in Northeast Africa.