Kingdom Of Aksum
Aksum was the capital of a powerful kingdom that formed in the highlands of northern Ethiopia (Tigray) and southern Eritrea during the early centuries CE. Sociopolitical complexity in this area started to grow in the first half of the last millennium BCE, but its economic foundations are much older.The time period during which the Aksumite civilization must have developed is still poorly known. Hardly no archaeological sites from the past several centuries BCE or the first century CE have been studied in the relevant area.
There is no evidence of human habitation at the exact location of Aksum until the first century AD, when the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a trader’s guidebook to the Red Sea and India Ocean coastlands, alludes to the port of Adulis near present-day Massawa in Eritrea and “the people called Aksumites.” By the third century CE, Aksum had become the capital of a great centralized monarchy, master of immense resources, ruler of vast territory, and issuer of its own money, which circulated both locally and globally.
At this time, the rulers of the Kingdom Of Aksum had been elevated to the status of kings. Inscriptions from the early fourth century suggest that they embodied the state’s authority and achievements. These inscriptions brag of extensive military conquests and tribute collections. We know relatively little about the procedures by which royal power was executed or passed from one generation to the next, owing largely to their individual grandiloquence.
There are signs that Aksum was controlled by a dual royal family at times. Both contemporary foreign records and subsequent Ethiopian traditions suggest that monarchy was passed down through the male line; however, it is difficult to tell whether these suggestions reflect ancient Aksumite fact or transferred assumptions based on foreign or subsequent experience.Yet, it is undeniable that Aksum quickly placed itself in nominal control (however exercised) over a vast area, acquiring extremely large manpower and material resources as a result.
Except from the extreme north and west, these domains appear to have encompassed much of modern Eritrea, as well as the majority of what is now Ethiopia’s Tigray region, with its southern limit unknown. Aksumite governmental power at times stretched eastward across the Red Sea to the Yemeni highlands and, less likely, westward to the Nile valley. Whether or not Aksum eventually conquered Meroe in the fourth century, there is no question that Aksum’s ascendancy contributed to the economic collapse of its Nilotic neighbor. Several prisoners are mentioned in Aksumite royal inscriptions.
Killing is not explicitly recorded; rather, the prisoners are said to have been kept alive by their captors. This is consistent with archaeological data, which reveals that Aksum had a large work force available for processing raw materials and creating extravagant structures. The extent to which these individuals were either temporarily or permanently enslaved is uncertain. There is credible archaeological evidence of a sizable population living in material abundance. There are stone building ruins in and around Aksum, with a lofty central structure surrounded by a wide walled court and a series of chambers.
These constructions are commonly referred to as “palaces” in ancient literature, but the more ambiguous “elite structures” is probably a better term. The greatest and most intricate of these buildings was Ta’akha Maryam in western Aksum. Buildings with archaeological dating data were most likely built in the fifth or sixth century; we don’t know if similar structures existed earlier. During the second century CE, however, funerals were accompanied by grave items of variable richness, some of enormous quantity, indicating uneven access to resources.
Although archaeologists and historians have focused almost entirely on foreign features of the Aksumite economy, there is no doubt that this economy was locally based on land productivity and indigenous Ethiopian agriculture. According to a recent study, while sheep and goats were herded, cattle were the major domestic mammal utilized for both food and traction. There were also donkeys and chickens available. Inscriptions show that the herds were supplemented during military expeditions through capture and tribute.
The variety of farmed crops was very comparable to that used in the region more recently, including wheat, barley, teff, finger millet, and sorghum, as well as chickpeas, noog, and linseed. Cereals predominated as a result, including varieties from the Near East as well as indigenous domesticates. Linseed and the locally cultivated noog were used to produce oil. Grape and cotton traces have also been detected; in neither case can it be determined if the plants were cultivated locally or if their yield was imported from elsewhere.
Grape plants, however, were known to the ancient Aksumites and are depicted in modern artworks; and rock-cut tanks in the area may have been utilized for wine production. The Aksumites imported luxury products from a variety of sources, as evidenced by both written and archaeological evidence. Glassware, beads, metals, textiles, wine, and, most likely, olive oil were among the things in question.
The extent to which these imports stimulated local production has only recently become clear: glass vessels, for example, were made in imitation of foreign forms, Aksumite metalwork displayed great technological and artistic sophistication, and wine was likely obtained from both local and imported sources. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, ivory was a major Aksumite export in the first century CE, and archaeological evidence now verifies this for subsequent eras as well. A late-third-century tomb contained large amounts of highly turned and carved ivory in the shape of boxes, ornamental panels, and furniture-components that are thought to have been pieces of an exquisite chair or throne.
Very standardized flaked stone tools were employed in massive quantities to prepare raw material, maybe ivory or lumber, in workshops on the outskirts of Aksum. Another large export might have been gold. It was used to make coins beginning in the third part of the third century, with Aksum being the only nation in Sub-Saharan Africa to have generated its own money in ancient times. Denominations were struck in gold, silver, and copper, with the latter two metals frequently embellished by the application of gilding to specific areas of the design.
Aksumite gold coins are rare in Ethiopia and Eritrea, but are more common elsewhere, particularly in Yemen and India; they nearly always have Greek inscriptions. This, together with the fact that their weight was evidently based on eastern Roman Empire norms, shows that they were primarily intended for worldwide distribution. Coins of silver and copper, on the other hand, are significantly more prevalent on Aksumite sites and have inscriptions in the local Ge’ez language, as befits media whose circulation was mostly internal.
The study of Aksumite coinage bearing the names of succeeding kings allows for an ordering of the numerous issues as well as the rulers identified in their inscriptions. The names on the resulting “king-list” are difficult to associate with those retained in conventional sources, with the only undeniable linkages supplied by monarchs Ezana in the mid-fourth century and Kaleb early in the sixth. The study of Aksumite currency sheds information on various other facets of its parent civilization, including art forms, metallurgy, regalia, and religion.
It gives a clear indication of the acceptance of Christianity at Aksum under the reign of Ezana, an event likewise recounted in surviving Aksumite stone inscriptions, Roman historical records, and (less directly) Ethiopian historical tradition in the last mentioned instance. Prior to this event, which most likely occurred about 340 CE, the Aksumite monarchs followed polytheistic rituals similar to those found in South Arabia, as evidenced by the adoption of the crescent-and-disc sign on the oldest Aksumite coinage.
Under Ezana’s rule, this sign was replaced by the Christian cross. The cross was later given increased prominence in currency design, often accompanied by an inscription signifying the Aksumite countryside’s increasing embrace of the new faith. The acceptance of Christianity had a significant impact on the following history of Aksum, which came to be considered a possible ally in both theological conflicts and political intrigues by Roman and Byzantine rulers. Most of the Ethiopian and Eritrean highlands have remained firmly Christian ever since; the Ethiopian Orthodox Church links its origins and authority to Aksum, which is a sanctuary of incomparable holiness to this day.
The Cathedral of Maryam Tsion (Saint Mary of Zion) in Aksum was constructed in antiquity. There is debate about whether this occurred under Ezana’s reign or, later, during Kaleb’s. In any case, it was a five-aisled basilica that remained, presumably modified, until the sixteenth century; the massive platform on which it stood can still be seen. Aside from church buildings, none of which can be precisely dated, the Aksumite archaeological record only shows the influence of Christianity’s arrival on the burial rituals of the elite.
The most notable relics of ancient Aksum are the massive monolithic stelae, carved in depictions of multistory structures; one, which still stands, is 23 meters tall and weighs around 150 tons. Another, which most likely collapsed and shattered while being built, would have stood 30 meters tall and weighed more than 500 tons. It might be the largest single monolith ever attempted to be built anywhere in the world. These stelae were quarried around 4 kilometers from where they were built. Their extraction, cutting, transportation, and construction would have necessitated a massive manpower investment.
The greatest stela was designed to mark a pair of graves, one of which was a massive construction of remarkable intricacy and majesty. There is no doubt that the other big stelae were tomb-markers as well, and that these graves were by far the finest such structures at Aksum. The greatest stelae and related graves are most likely from the third and fourth centuries, just before the arrival of Christianity under Ezana. Later elite tombs were different in that they lacked stelae, but other aspects of their architecture suggest continuity with older traditions. Throughout most of Northern Africa, upright stones have been used as burial markers for thousands of years.
One particular local form of this practice can be seen at Aksumite sites. The practice was observed at various levels of Aksumite society, with ornate (possibly royal) specimens contrasting with shaft or basic pit graves marked with plain or naked smaller stelae. The number and elaboration of the connected burial goods vary correspondingly. The residential architecture mirrors this funeral evidence for socioeconomic stratification. The above-mentioned Aksumite “palaces” or aristocratic constructions used the same materials and stone dressing of comparable grade as the greatest burial monuments.
Unfortunately, no archaeological evidence has been identified that would allow a confident evaluation of the uses of these buildings. These may, however, be contrasted with other buildings linked with farming interests and/or small-scale artisan businesses, which are created on a lesser scale utilizing simply undressed stone with or without supporting timbers. The real residences of Aksumite society’s lowest layers have most likely not yet been discovered; they are, however, most likely represented by clay replicas of little thatched cottages. The limited survival of the material has constrained our understanding of Aksumite art.
Apart from burial structures, most of the remaining Aksumite architecture is in poor condition and difficult to date. Religious structures from this time period have received little attention, and it is likely that few, if any, have survived except in significantly altered form. The ancient cathedral at Aksum is only known through tales written several centuries after the structure was built. Similar sources describe the existence of rich and intricate mural decoration, none of which has been physically preserved.
Similarly, historical records describe the existence of massive metal statues, but little archaeological evidence has been preserved, with the exception of a stone base documented in 1906. Home and portable artifacts are better known. Pottery was manufactured entirely by hand, as was the case across Sub-Saharan Africa, without the use of a wheel. The lavishly adorned goods known as “Classical Aksumite” are mostly known from burial settings from the third and fourth centuries; nevertheless, it is unclear to what degree such vessels were the exclusive domain of the aristocracy and/or reserved for interment with the dead.
Intricately painted artwork has been preserved in select cases, almost always in graves, although it is possible that it was common. Several of the pots found in tombs are tiny and poorly burned, with soft fabric that stands in stark contrast to material recovered from domestic habitation sites. The whole importance of this variance in terms of date, status, and function will not be appreciated until more excavations are conducted and published. Bowls with molded figures of yoked oxen in the foot and jars with necks fashioned in depictions of female heads with ornate hairstyles that strikingly match those popular in the area today are examples of important ceramics.
Although it has not yet been shown to be practicable to conduct the comprehensive fabric analyses required to demonstrate this, it is reasonable to believe that most household pottery was created near to its intended usage. Yet, some finer and smaller boats were hauled over long distances. Although some Aksumite pottery has been slipped and beautifully polished, real glazes are mostly found on pieces imported from outside the Aksumite state (mostly wheel-thrown).Imported pottery may be classified into two categories: vessels brought to Aksum primarily as receptacles for some foreign product, and vessels brought as luxury pieces in their own right.
Large amphorae from Cyprus or Syria that carried wine or olive oil and beautiful red-ware bowls made of African red slip porcelain in the Mediterranean areas of North Africa are examples of the two groups. After their contents had been drunk or eaten, the former were often used for other things, while the latter’s unique shapes were copied by Aksumite potters. There are a lot of glass vessels and beads at Aksumite sites, especially but not only in the graves of the elite.
People used to think that all of this stuff was brought in, and some of it is very similar to things found at other sites in the eastern Mediterranean. Nevertheless, comparisons for some objects have been exceedingly difficult to uncover, and many boats, while closely matching their Mediterranean equivalents, have distinctive characteristics. The discovery of raw glass in an Aksum industrial area, offering unambiguous proof that some glass was worked there, has lately validated the idea that some of these artifacts were made in Aksum, maybe by reworking imported glass that may have been shattered in transit.
Such a technique was not unique to Aksum, since it has been documented at other, broadly contemporaneous sites in Sudan’s Nile Valley. It is not yet possible to differentiate all imported glass containers from those manufactured locally, although both groups are clearly represented. The Aksumite archaeological record is rich in gold, silver, ferrous, and cuprous metals. In addition to basic smelting and forging, we have evidence for welding, riveting, producing even-thickness plates, drilling, perforating, casting, polishing, plating (including both annealing and mercury gilding), and enameling.
Despite the recovery of slag and crucible fragments, no large Aksumite metalworking site has been discovered. Wherever they were, such sites and their related debris must have been massive, and their operation must have required a significant amount of work and fuel. Quarrying must have necessitated the use of a considerable number of iron wedges, none of which have been discovered. The enormous size of Aksumite metallurgy suggests that it was mostly local, including the fabrication of utilitarian and luxury goods: although, a few imported luxury artifacts have been identified.
Along with the technological complexity indicated by the working of metal, ivory, and glass, it is crucial to note that the Aksumites continued to create and utilize flaked stone tools, carrying on traditions established in the area for many generations, if not millennia. This, as well as the agricultural basis on which the civilization’s eventual wealth was based, highlight ancient Aksum’s local origins. While examining imports, it is critical to evaluate both the intangible and the directly documented in the archaeological record.
Christianity itself must be included here, since it developed to hold a significant role in governmental and public affairs in later Aksumite periods and lasted for hundreds of years after Aksum’s fall. Aksum’s aspirations to join the eastern Mediterranean realm were expressed in the third century by the use of Greek in stone inscriptions and the issuance of coins. Notwithstanding significant gaps in study coverage, several evolving patterns in Aksumite material imports may be suggested. Glass and a few pieces of metalwork are documented in the third and early fourth centuries, with pottery from beyond the Aksumite rule essentially absent.
But, by the sixth century, glazed pottery from Mesopotamia and Egypt had been imported, as had amphorae and their contents from Cyprus/Syria and the northern Red Sea, and bowls from North Africa. The archaeological record of destination nations makes it more difficult to identify Aksum’s exports, although gold coins in both Yemen and southern India/Sri Lanka demonstrate the degree of diffusion. Ivory has yet to be traced back to its original source, but it is tempting to connect its price decrease in the Roman Empire around the late third century and its unexpected shortage beginning in the early seventh century, to the shifting fortunes of Aksum’s export trade.
The fall of Aksum is a source of contention. Ethiopian tradition is frequently understood as proving the country’s continuance as a political capital until the tenth century, and Aksumite currency was formerly viewed as continuing until that era. Nevertheless, more comprehensive research has shown a substantially shorter coinage chronology, which has lately been supported by radiocarbon dates for late Aksumite occupancy. It currently appears that coinage production halted about the early seventh century, and that the extent of the human population at Aksum had reduced significantly by then, or shortly before. Two variables may have contributed separately to this reduction.
Locally, the scale of the area’s exploitation over the previous half-millennium must have had a significant impact on the essentially fragile environment: reduced availability of timber for construction and fuel would have reduced availability and increased the cost of metal and numerous other commodities; increased runoff and soil erosion would have reduced agricultural productivity and predictability, affecting not only the overall prosperity and physical well-being of the people. Globally, the quick development of Islamic rule over the territories bordering the Red Sea, most notably Egypt’s conquest in 642, completely severed Aksum’s link with the long-distance trade on which its prosperity had depended.
For decades after that, the peoples of highland Ethiopia evolved their mostly Christian traditions on an island surrounded by Islam, with only shaky ties to their fellow believers around the Mediterranean. The influence of ancient Aksum may be observed most vividly in the architecture and other accessories of medieval Ethiopian Christianity. Churches erected (as in Debra Damo) and rock-cut (as in Lalibela) show the timber-frame architecture seen in the Aksum “palaces” and shown on the carved stelae.
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