The Kingdom of Aksum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in the Horn of Africa and South Arabia from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, based in what is now Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia, and spanning present-day Djibouti, Sudan, Yemen and Saudi Arabia. Emerging from the earlier Dʿmt civilization, the kingdom was founded in the 1st century. The city of Axum served as the kingdom's capital.
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 (c. 200–230), 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 (until c. 230), 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 (270–310), 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 (320s – c. 360). Following their Christianization, the Aksumites ceased construction of steles. The kingdom continued to expand throughout late antiquity, conquering Meroë 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 (514–542), who, at the behest of the Byzantine emperor Justin I, invaded the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen 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 2,500,000 km2 (970,000 sq mi). 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 (and later Muslim) presence in the Red Sea, as well as the past few centuries seeing the decline in power of the Roman Empire (which was a major trade partner), 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
Carlo Conti Rossini 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 were home to a kingdom known as dʿmt. Archaeological evidence indicates that the kingdom was influenced by Sheba (now Yemen). Scholarly consensus had previously held that the Sabaeans (the people of Sheba) were the founders of 'Semitic' civilization in Ethiopia, though this view has now been refuted, and their influence is considered 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 early centuries of Aksum's development, during which it transitioned from a modest regional center to a significant power, remain largely obscure. Archaeological research at Pre-Aksumite sites, such as Mezber and Ona Adi, has explored the development of these early societies and their relationship to later Aksumite settlements. Stone Age artifacts have been unearthed at Gobedra, two kilometres west of Aksum. Archaeological excavations on the tell of Betä Giyorgis 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 BCE. Further evidence from excavations in the Stele Park at the heart of Aksum corroborates continuous activity in the area from the beginning 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 BCE and 150 CE. Small-scale kingdoms denoted by very large nucleated communities with one or more elite residences appear to have existed in the early period of the kingdom of Aksum, and here Stuart Munro-Hay concludes,
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 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 imports. Both Pliny the Elder and the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea refer 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 an 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 (kings of Habashat DTWNS and ZQRNS) 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 (possibly circa 240 to circa 260), 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.
GDRT is also the author of the oldest surviving royal inscription in Geez, found at ʿAddi Gälämo (RIÉ 180), the meaning of which remains debated but has been plausibly read as recording a royal dedication of a sceptre to two sanctuaries. In South Arabian texts GDRT is referred to by the title mlk hbšt wýksmn, meaning "king of Ethiopia and the Aksumites", which is the earliest attestation of that dual formulation. By around 200 AD he had entered South Arabian politics as an ally of the Sabaean king ʿAlhan Nahfan, and an inscription at the Sabaean royal palace records a formal friendship pact between the two rulers. That alliance did not last: during the reign of ʿAlhan's son ŠaʿirumYawtar (ca. 210–230 AD), Sabaean and Aksumite interests came into conflict, and though GDRT succeeded in controlling vast stretches of western Yemen during that period, including the Tihama, Najran, Zafar, al-Maʿafir, and parts of the Hašid highlands near Hamir, Sabaean pressure eventually pushed Aksumite forces back. His memory survived in the traditional Ethiopian king lists under the variants Gédur and Zägdur.
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, were 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 document 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.
Ezana bore the clan name béýése Halen ("man of Halen"), recorded in both his inscriptions and on coins in the Greek form bisi Alene. His inscriptions document four separate military campaigns, three of them conducted while he was still pagan, against the Bega, the Agwézat, and a people called the Afan. The fourth, against the Noba and Kasu, was carried out after his conversion and opens with a Christian formula. During the Bega campaign his brother Sazanas served as one of the army commanders, and in Ezana's later years Sazanas was elevated to co-regent. A letter of the Roman Emperor Constantius II, dated to 356/57 AD and preserved in a work by Athanasius of Alexandria, is addressed to "the tyrannoi Aizanas and Sazanas," indicating that the Romans recognized the joint rule and were attempting to bring Aksumite church affairs under imperial influence by removing Frumentius, an effort that came to nothing.
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 ("Sumuafa Ashawa"), 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.