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Aksumite
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 and Sudan. Emerging from the earlier Dʿmt civilization, the kingdom was founded in the first century. The city of Axum served as the kingdom's capital for many centuries until it relocated to Kubar in the ninth century due to declining trade connections and recurring invasions. The Kingdom of Aksum was considered one of the four great powers of the third century by the Persian prophet Mani, 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 (until ), and parts of Hashid territory around Hamir in the northern highlands until a joint Himyarite-Sab ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aksumite Currency
Aksumite currency was coinage produced and used within the Kingdom of Aksum (or Axum) centered in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea. Its mintages were issued and circulated from the reign of King Endubis around AD 270 until it began its decline in the first half of the 7th century where they started using Dinar along with most parts of the Middle East. During the succeeding medieval period, Mogadishu currency, minted by the Sultanate of Mogadishu, was the most widely circulated currency in the eastern and southern parts of the Horn of Africa from the start of the 12th century. Aksum's currency serves as an indicator of the kingdom's contemporary cultural influences and religious climate (first polytheistic and later Oriental Christianity). It also facilitated the Red Sea trade on which it thrived.Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity'' (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p. 155. The coinage has also proved invaluable in providing a reliable ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Axum
Axum, also spelled Aksum (), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire. Axum is located in the Central Zone of the Tigray Region, near the base of the Adwa mountains. It has an elevation of and is surrounded by La'ilay Maychew, a separately administered woreda of the Tigray region. In 1980, UNESCO added Axum's archaeological sites to its list of World Heritage Sites due to their historic value. Prior to the beginning of the Tigray War in 2020, Axum was a leading tourist destination for foreign visitors. History Ancient Little information is available regarding the early centuries of Aksum's presumed evolution from a humble regional hub to a dominant power. Archeological findings at Gobadra (Gobo Dara) and the Anqar Baahti rock-shelters suggest Stone Age remnants in close proximity. R. Fattovich's excavations at amba 'Beta Giyorgis above Aksum validate the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aksumite Invasion Of Himyar
The Aksumite invasion of Himyar consisted of a series of two invasions from 518 to 525 fought between the Christian Kingdom of Aksum and the Jewish Himyarite Kingdom. The wars functioned as proxy wars waged by the former on behalf of the Roman Empire during the Roman-Persian Wars with the ultimate goal of establishing an anti-Sasanian bloc in Arabia Felix. Background During the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, the Southern part of Arabia, known in antiquity as Arabia Felix, had experienced Aksumite political and military involvement, as the Aksumites had occupied relatively peripheral areas in the region and formed alliances with the local tribes. During the late 4th century AD, the local population converted to Judaism, and a Jewish kingdom known as Himyar was established. During the reign of Himyarite King Yanuf Dhu Shanatir, the Aksumites established diplomatic relations with the Himyarite capital city of Ẓafār, but the friendly relations between the two kingdoms did not last ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GDRT
GDRT (also GDR, vocalized by historians as Gadarat) was a king of the Kingdom of Aksum (c. 200), known for being the first king to involve Aksum in South Arabian affairs. He is known primarily from inscriptions in South Arabia that mention him and his son BYGT (also vocalized as "Beyga" or "Beygat"). GDRT has been equated with the anonymous king of the Monumentum Adulitanum located off the coast of Zula in the ancient settlement of Adulis located in modern day Eritrea, which would date his reign c. 200 – c. 230. However, the two rulers are sometimes thought to be distinct. Further, the French scholar Christian Robin, studying the inscriptions at al-Mis`al in Yemen, has shown that GDRT and his successor `DBH lived in the earlier half of the 3rd century. GDRT is also thought to be the same person as GDR, the name inscribed on a bronze wand or sceptre that was found in an area near Atsbi and Dar'a/Addi-Galamo in northern Ethiopia. Aksumite inscription The inscriptions of GD ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Endubis
Endubis or Endybis (Greek: Ενδυβις) was a late-3rd-century sovereign of the Kingdom of Aksum in East Africa (modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea). He was among the earliest rulers in the Africa to mint his own coins; according to Stuart Munro-Hay, "No other sub-Saharan African state issued its own independent coinage in ancient times -- indeed no other African state at all, since those in North Africa (Libya and Mauritania) fell under Roman dominion." The Aksumite currency of his reign was issued in gold, silver, and bronze or copper denominations and bore inscriptions in Koine Greek. Coinage The coins of Endubis are dated to c. 295 to c. 310 and are "undoubtedly ..the oldest Aksumite coins". The weight of the gold coins issued in his reign are equivalent to "the weight of the half-aureus or quinarius of the last half of the 3rd century AD." More precise clues can be seen in the currency reforms during the reign of Diocletian, who reorganised the issuing of gold coins in 286 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Hijra
The migration to Abyssinia (), also known as the First Hijra (), was an episode in the early history of Islam, where the first followers of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (they were known as the Sahabah, or the companions) migrated from Arabia due to their persecution by the Quraysh, the ruling Arab tribal confederation of Mecca. They sought and were granted refuge in the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Christian state that was situated in modern-day northern Ethiopia and Eritrea (also referred to as Abyssinia), in or . The kingdom's capital was Aksum, which is an ancient city in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. The ruling Aksumite monarch who received them is known in Islamic sources as Najashi (), the Negus of the kingdom; modern historians have alternatively identified him with the Aksumite king Armah and Ella Tsaham. Some of the Sahabah exiles returned to Mecca and made the migration to Medina with Muhammad, while the others remained in Aksum and arrived in Medina in 628. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX Χους or Αἰθιοπία; ''Ecōš''; ''Kūš''), also known as the Kushite Empire, or simply Kush, was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, centered along the Nile Valley in what is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. The region of Nubia was an early cradle of civilization, producing several complex societies that engaged in trade and industry. The city-state of Kerma emerged as the dominant political force between 2450 and 1450 BC, controlling the Nile Valley between the first and fourth Cataracts of the Nile, cataracts, an area as large as Egypt. The Egyptians were the first to identify Kerma as "Kush" probably from the indigenous ethnonym "Kasu", over the next several centuries the two civilizations engaged in intermittent warfare, trade, and cultural exchange. Much of Nubia came under Egyptian rule during the New Kingdom of Egypt, New Kingdom pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geʽez
Geez ( or ; , and sometimes referred to in scholarly literature as Classical Ethiopic) is an ancient South Semitic language. The language originates from what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Today, Geez is used as the main liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Ethiopian Catholic Church, the Eritrean Catholic Church, and the Beta Israel Jewish community. Hawulti Obelisk is an ancient pre-Aksumite obelisk located in Matara, Eritrea. The monument dates to the early Aksumite period and bears an example of the ancient Geez script. In one study, Tigre was found to have a 71% lexical similarity to Geʽez, while Tigrinya had a 68% lexical similarity to Geʽez, followed by Amharic at 62%. Most linguists believe that Geez does not constitute a common ancestor of modern Ethio-Semitic languages but became a separate language early on from another hypothetical unattested common language. Phonology Vowel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Ezana
Ezana (, ''‘Ezana'', unvocalized ዐዘነ ''‘zn''), (, ''Aezana'') was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum (320s – ). One of the best-documented rulers of Aksum, Ezana is important as he first adopted for his country the religion of Christianity and the name of Ethiopia. Tradition states that Ezana succeeded his father Ella Amida (Ousanas) as king while still a child but his mother, Sofya then served as regent until he came of age. Reign Ezana was the first monarch of the Kingdom of Aksum to embrace Christianity, after his slave-teacher, Frumentius, converted him. He was the first monarch after Zoskales to be mentioned by contemporary historians, a situation that lead Stuart Munro-Hay to comment that he was "the most famous of the Aksumite kings before Kaleb." In early life he considered himself a son of Ares, but later inscriptions show a growing attachment to Christianity. His childhood tutor, the Syrian Christian Frumentius, became head of the Ethiopian Church. A survi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Year Of The Elephant
The ʿām al-fīl (, Year of the Elephant) is the name in Islamic history for the year approximately equating to 570–571 CE. According to Islamic resources, it was in this year that prophet Mohammad was born.Hajjah Adil, Amina, "''Prophet Muhammad''", ISCA, Jun 1, 2002, The name is derived from an event said to have occurred at Mecca: Abraha, the Abyssinian, Christian king of Himyar marched upon the Ka‘bah in Mecca with a large army, which included war elephants, intending to demolish it. However, the lead elephant, known as 'Mahmud' (), is said to have stopped at the boundary around Mecca, and refused to enter. It has been mentioned in the Quran that the army was destroyed by small birds, sent by Allah, that carried pebbles that destroyed the entire army and Abraha perished. Surah Fil in the Quran contains an account of the event. The year came to be known as the Year of the Elephant, beginning a trend for reckoning the years in the Arabian Peninsula. This reckoning ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Negus
''Negus'' is the word for "king" in the Ethiopian Semitic languages and a Ethiopian aristocratic and court titles, title which was usually bestowed upon a regional ruler by the Ethiopian Emperor, Negusa Nagast, or "king of kings," in pre-1974 Ethiopia. The negus is referred to as Al-Najashi (النجاشي) in the Islamic tradition. History ''Negus'' is a noun derived from the Ge'ez Semitic root , meaning "to reign". The title Negus literally translated to Basileus (Greek language, Greek: βασιλεύς) in Ancient Greek, which was seen many times on Aksumite currency. The title has subsequently been used to translate the word "king" or "emperor" in Bible, Biblical and other literature. In more recent times, it was used as an honorific title bestowed on governors of the most important provinces (kingdoms): Gojjam, Begemder, Wello, Tigray Province, Tigray and the seaward kingdom, (where the variation Bahri Negasi (Sea King), was the title of the ruler of present-day central Eri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church () is the largest of the Oriental Orthodox Churches. One of the few Christian churches in Africa originating before European colonization of the continent, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church dates back to the Christianization of the Kingdom of Aksum in 330, and has between 36 million and 51 million adherents in Ethiopia. It is a founding member of the World Council of Churches. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church is in communion with the other Oriental Orthodox churches (the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the Syriac Orthodox Church). The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church had been administratively part of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria from the first half of the 4th century until 1959, when it was granted autocephaly with its own patriarch by Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria, Pope o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
