Hataz (late 6th or early 7th century AD) was a king of the

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 and Sudan. Emerging ...

. He is primarily known through the

coins A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

that were minted during his reign, some of which call him Iathlia. His gold coin calls him Hethasas (Greek ΗΘΑΣΑ).Wolfgang Hahn and Vincent West, ''Sylloge of Aksumite Coins in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford'' (Oxford: Ashmolean, 2016), p. 130 The exact date of his reign is unclear. The debased nature of his gold and silver coinage clearly place his reign after

Kaleb Kaleb (, Latin: Caleb), also known as Elesbaan (, ), was King of Aksum, which was situated in what is now Ethiopia and Eritrea. Name Procopius calls him "Hellestheaeus," a variant of the Greek version of his regnal name, (''Histories'', 1.20 ...

's. However,

Stuart Munro-Hay Stuart Christopher Munro-Hay (21 April 1947 – 14 October 2004) was a British archaeologist, numismatist and Ethiopianist. He studied the culture and history of ancient Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa region and South Arabia, particularly their his ...

places him between Ioel and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, while Wolfgang Hahn argues Hataz was the last king of Axum to mint coins.

Coinage

Several types of coins were issued during Hataz's reign in gold, silver and copper. The obverse of the single gold coinage bears a crowned bust between two wheat stalks and encircled by dots; the reverse shows his profile wearing a headcloth also between two wheat stalks and encircled by dots. A cross at the top of both sides confirms his Christianity. The silver coinage, which is also "very debased" has three types: one with a crowned bust holding a hand cross on the obverse and a cross formed from four crosses dividing the legend and touching a lozenge with a cross in its middle; the other two bear the king's profile holding a hand-cross on the obverse and reverse. Three types of the copper coinage have also been identified, two also with the bust of the king on the obverse but a design incorporating one or more crosses on the reverse; the third type has profiles of the king on both sides.Munro-Hay, ''Coinage'', p. 160-162

References

{{reflist Kings of Axum 6th-century monarchs in Africa 7th-century monarchs in Africa