Kingdom of Aksum

Ethiopia, 100 CE–960 CE. Draft, not yet reviewed

The Kingdom of Aksum was a kingdom in the Horn of Africa and South Arabia, based in what is now Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia. Aksum adopted Christianity as its state religion in the mid 4th century under Ezana. Aksumite dominance in the Red Sea reached its peak during the reign of Kaleb of Axum, from 514 to 542. The kingdom collapsed under uncertain circumstances around 960.

Seat of power: Axum

No rulers documented for this era yet.

Culture

• The Empire of Aksum had its own alphabet, the Geʽez script, which was eventually modified to include vowels, becoming an abugida.
• Greek was used in the state's administration, international diplomacy, and trade.
• A complex agricultural system, which involved irrigation, dam construction, terracing, and plough-farming, played a crucial role in sustaining both urban and rural populations.

Picture

The Obelisk of Axum, taken to Italy in 1937, was unveiled again in its original home on 4 September 2008.

Image: Ondřej Žváček, CC BY 2.5, file

Sources

• Kingdom of Aksum (Wikipedia)
• Kingdom of Aksum (Wikidata)
• About the picture (Wikipedia)

Text adapted from the Wikipedia articles listed as sources, CC BY-SA 4.0.