Kingdom of Aksum
The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present-day Djibouti, Sudan, and Yemen. Emerging from the earlier Dʿmt civilization, the kingdom was founded in the 1st century. The city of Axum served as the kingdom's capital for many centuries until it relocated to Kubar in the 9th century due to declining trade connections and recurring invasions.
The Kingdom of Aksum was considered one of the four great powers of the 3rd century by Mani, the founder of Manichaeism, alongside Persia, Rome, and China. Aksum continued to expand under the reign of Gedara, who was the first king to be involved in South Arabian affairs. His reign resulted in the control of much of western Yemen, such as the Tihama, Najran, al-Ma'afir, Zafar, and parts of Hashid territory around Hamir in the northern highlands until a joint Himyarite-Sabean alliance pushed them out. Aksum-Himyar conflicts persisted throughout the 3rd century. During the reign of Endybis, Aksum began minting coins that have been excavated as far away as Caesarea and southern India.
As the kingdom became a major power on the trade route between Rome and India and gained a monopoly of Indian Ocean trade, it entered the Greco-Roman cultural sphere. Due to its ties with the Greco-Roman world, Aksum adopted Christianity as its state religion in the mid 4th century under Ezana. Following their Christianization, the Aksumites ceased construction of steles. The kingdom continued to expand throughout late antiquity, conquering Kush under Ezana in 330 for a short period of time and inheriting from it the Greek exonym "Ethiopia".
Aksumite dominance in the Red Sea culminated during the reign of Kaleb of Axum, who, at the behest of the Byzantine emperor Justin I, invaded the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen in order to end the persecution of Christians perpetrated by the Jewish king Dhu Nuwas. With the annexation of Himyar, the Kingdom of Aksum reached its largest territorial extent, spanning around. However, the territory was lost in the Aksumite–Persian wars. Aksum held on to Southern Arabia from 520 until 525 when Sumyafa Ashwa was deposed by Abraha.
The kingdom's slow decline had begun by the 7th century, at which point currency ceased to be minted. The Persian presence in the Red Sea caused Aksum to suffer economically, and the population of the city of Axum shrank. Alongside environmental and internal factors, this has been suggested as the reason for its decline. Aksum's final three centuries are considered a dark age, and the kingdom collapsed under uncertain circumstances around 960. Despite its position as one of the foremost empires of late antiquity, the Kingdom of Aksum fell into obscurity as Ethiopia remained isolated throughout the Late Middle Ages.
Etymology
believed that the word Aksum derives from a Semitic root, and means 'a green and dense garden' or 'full of grass'.Due to limited geographical knowledge many Byzantine texts from seventh and early eight century wrongly classified Ethiopia being in "India", which lead to the Kingdom also being called Kingdom of the Aksumite Indians.
History
Early history
Before the establishment of Axum, Eritrea and the Tigray plateau of northern Ethiopia was home to a kingdom known as Dʿmt. Archaeological evidence shows that the kingdom was influenced by Sabaeans from modern-day Yemen; scholarly consensus had previously been that Sabaeans had been the founders of Semitic civilization in Ethiopia, though this has now been refuted, and their influence is considered to have been minor. The Sabaean presence likely lasted only for a matter of decades, but their influence on later Aksumite civilization included the adoption of Ancient South Arabian script, which developed into Geʽez script, and Ancient Semitic religion.The initial centuries of Aksum's development, transitioning from a modest regional center to a significant power, remain largely obscure. Stone Age artifacts have been unearthed at Gobedra, two kilometers west of Aksum. Excavations on Beta Giyorgis, a hill to the northwest of Aksum, validate the pre-Aksumite roots of a settlement in the vicinity of Aksum, dating back to approximately the seventh to fourth centuries BC. Further evidence from excavations in the Stele Park at the heart of Aksum corroborates continuous activity in the area from the outset of the common era. Two hills and two streams lie on the east and west expanses of the city of Aksum, perhaps providing the initial impetus for settling this area.
Archeological evidence suggests that the Aksumite polity arose between 150 BC and 150 AD. Small scale district "kingdoms" denoted by very large nucleated communities with one or more elite residences appears to have existed in the early period of the kingdom of Aksum, and here Stuart Munro-Hay concludes that "Quite probably, the kingdom was a confederacy, one of which was led by a district-level king who commanded the allegiance of other petty kings within the Axumite realm. The ruler of the Axumite kingdom was thus 'king of kings' — a title often found in inscriptions of this period. There is no evidence that a single royal lineage has yet emerged, and it is quite possible that at the death of a king of kings, a new one would be selected from among all the kings in the confederacy, rather than through some principle of primogeniture."
Rise of Aksum
The first historical mention of Axum comes from the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a trading guide which likely dates to the mid-first century AD. Axum is mentioned alongside Adulis and Ptolemais of the Hunts as lying within the realm of Zoskales. The area is described as a primarily producing ivory, as well as tortoise shells. It is evident from the Periplus that, even at this early stage of its history, Axum played a role in the transcontinental trade route between Rome and India.The Aksumite control over Adulis enabled the exchange of Ethiopian products for foreign imports. Both Pliny the Elder and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea make reference to this port, situated three days away from the initial ivory market at Coloe, itself five days distant from Aksum. This trade across the Red Sea, spanning from the Roman Empire in the north to India and Ceylon in the east, played a crucial role in Aksum's prosperity. The city thrived by exporting goods such as ivory, tortoiseshell, and rhinoceros horn. Pliny also mentioned additional items like hippopotamus hide, monkeys, and slaves. During the second century AD, Ptolemy's geographer referred to Aksum as a powerful kingdom. Both archaeological findings and textual evidence suggest that during this period, a centralized regional polity had emerged in the Aksumite area, characterized by defined social stratification. By the beginning of the fourth century AD, the Aksumite state had become well-established, featuring urban centers, an official currency with coinage struck in gold, silver, and copper, an intensive agricultural system, and a organized military.
Around 200 AD, Aksumite ambitions had expanded to Southern Arabia, where Aksum appears to have established itself in al-Maafer and engaged in conflicts with Saba and Himyar at various points, forming different alliances with chief kingdoms and tribes. During the early part of the third century, the kings GDRT and ʽDBH dispatched military expeditions to the region. Inscriptions from local Arabian dynasties refer to these rulers with the title "nagasi of Aksum and Habashat," and a metal object discovered in eastern Tigray also mentions a certain "GDR negus of Aksum." Later in the century the mlky hhst dtwns wzqrns are also mentioned fighting in Arabia. According to a Greek inscription in Eritrea known as the Monumentum Adulitanum recorded by Cosmas Indicopleustes, in around the mid to late third century, the Aksumites, led by an anonymous king, achieved significant territorial expansion in the Ethiopian Highlands and the Arabian Peninsula, with their influence extending as far as Lake Tana and the borders of Egypt.
By the end of the third century AD, Aksum had gained recognition by the prophet Mani in the Kephalaia, as one of the four great powers of the world alongside Rome, Persia, and China. As the political influence of Aksum expanded, so did the grandeur of its monuments. Excavations by archaeological expeditions revealed early use of stelae, evolving from plain and rough markers to some of the largest monuments in Africa. The granite steles in the main cemetery, housing Aksumite royal tombs, transformed from plain to carefully dressed granite, eventually carved to resemble multi-storey towers in a distinctive architectural style. Aksumite architecture featured massive dressed granite blocks, smaller uncut stones for walling, mud mortar, bricks for vaulting and arches, and a visible wooden framework, known as "monkey-heads" or square corner extrusions. Walls inclined inwards and incorporated several recessed bays for added strength. Aksum and other cities, such as Adulis and Matara, boasted substantial "palace" buildings employing this architectural style. In the early sixth century, Cosmas Indicopleustes described his visit to Aksum, mentioning the four-towered palace of the Aksumite king, adorned with bronze statues of unicorns. Aksum also featured rows of monumental granite thrones, likely bearing metal statues dedicated to pre-Christian deities. These thrones incorporated large panels at the sides and back with inscriptions, attributed to Ousanas, Ezana, Kaleb, and his son Wazeba, serving as victory monuments documenting the wars of these kings.
King Ezana became the first Christian ruler of Aksum in the fourth century. Ezana's coins and inscriptions make the change from pre-Christian imagery to Christian symbolism around 340. The conversion to Christianity was one of the most revolutionary events in the history of Ethiopia as it gave Aksum a cultural link with the Mediterranean. Aksum gained a political link with the Byzantine Empire, which regarded itself as the protector of Christendom. Three inscriptions on the Ezana Stone documents the conversion of King Ezana to Christianity and two of his military expeditions against neighboring areas, one inscribed in Greek and the other in Ge'ez. The two expeditions refers to two distinct campaigns, one against the "Noba", and the other against the Beja. According to the inscription, the Noba were settled somewhere around the Nile and Atbara confluence, where they seemed to have taken over much of the Kingdom of Kush. Yet they did not drive the Kushites away from their heartland since the inscription states that the Aksumites fought them at the junction of the two rivers. Also mentioned in the inscription are the mysterious "red Noba" against whom an expedition was carried out. This people seems to be settled further north and may be identical with the "other Nobades" mentioned in the inscription of the Nubian king Silko carved on the wall of the Temple of Kalabsha.
King Kaleb sent an expedition against the Jewish Himyarite king Dhu Nuwas, who was persecuting the Christian community in Yemen. Kaleb gained widespread acclaim in his era as the conqueror of Yemen. He expanded his royal title to include king of Hadramawt in southeastern Yemen, as well as the coastal plain and highland of Yemen, along with "all their Arabs", highlighting the extensive influence of Aksum across the Red Sea into Arabia. Dhu Nuwas was deposed and killed and Kaleb appointed an Arab viceroy named Esimiphaios, but his rule was short-lived as he was ousted in a coup led by an Aksumite named Abraha after five years. Kaleb sent two expeditions against Abraha, but both were decisively defeated. According to Procopius, following Aksum's unsuccessful attempts to remove him, Abraha continued to govern Yemen through a tribute arrangement with the king of Aksum.
After Abraha's death, his son Masruq Abraha continued the Aksumite vice-royalty in Yemen, resuming payment of tribute to Aksum. However, his half-brother Ma'd-Karib revolted. Ma'd-Karib first sought help from the Roman Emperor Justinian the Great, but having been denied, he decided to ally with the Sassanid Persian Emperor Khosrow I, triggering the Aksumite–Persian wars. Khosrow I sent a small fleet and army under commander Vahrez to depose the king of Yemen. The war culminated with the Siege of Sana'a, capital of Aksumite Yemen. After its fall in 570, and Masruq's death, Ma'd-Karib's son, Saif, was put on the throne. In 575, the war resumed again, after Saif was killed by Aksumites. The Persian general Vahrez led another army of 8,000, ending Axum rule in Yemen and becoming hereditary governor of Yemen. According to Stuart Munro-Hay, these wars may have been Aksum's swan song as a great power, with an overall weakening of Aksumite authority and over-expenditure in money and manpower.