The Aksum Empire Was the Result of Two World Hubs Sharing Their Collective Learning About Agriculture

7 AKSUM Ancient East African Empire 810L BY DAVID BAKER, ADAPTED BY NEWSELA The Aksum Empire was the result of two world hubs sharing their collective learning about agriculture. It rose to become a great power in the ancient world. The key to its rise was the crucial link it formed between East and West on the supercontinent of Afro-Eurasia. EAST AFRICA By 2000 BCE, the majority of people in the Northern Horn were semi-nomadic. They both foraged and domesticated plants and animals. They still used stone tools. Copper East Africa was the cradle of our species. For millions of years, many of our hominine and bronze were rare in the region, so they did not go through a bronze age. Instead, ancestors roamed across the land. It is the homeland of every human being on the they transitioned directly to iron. Some people in the region still foraged without do- planet today. Additionally, East Africa was the region that birthed one of the mightiest mesticating anything. However, the knowledge transmitted from Southwest Asia and African civilizations: the Aksum Empire. It was strongest in the third century CE. Egypt created a mixture of foraging and agriculture. To the south, the rest of Africa Some ancient writers considered it one of the four great powers of the world, along- would transition to agriculture much more slowly. But East Africa was jolted by two side Rome, Persia, and China. It had a unique position in the web of collective learning major hubs into the agrarian era. in Afro-Eurasia. Thanks to it, East Africa rose to become one of the most complex agrarian civilizations of the ancient African world. By 1000 BCE, hunting and gathering was on the decline. More and more people were farming. Southwest Asia had transmitted the knowledge of wheat and barley, and in- African agriculture, in general, got a late start. It was invented independently from the troduced them into the region. East Africans domesticated a local type of grain, teff, rest of the world. It got its start on the other side of the continent in West Africa, for similar use. These three became the major East African crops. Meanwhile, the around 3000 BCE. This was several thousand years after farming began in the Fertile Bantu peoples of West Africa arrived. Now two centers of independent agricultural Crescent. The switch from foraging to agriculture did not happen easily in Africa. One learning converged in East Africa. The Bantu brought with them knowledge of sor- reason for this was that humans evolved in Africa. As well, the environment was well ghum and millet. It is around this time that the agricultural way of life became normal suited to foraging. Also, early agriculture was a miserable form of life because of the in East Africa. Foraging had been the way of getting food for hundreds of thousands of “trap of sedentism.” As humans settled in one place they quickly used up all the re- years. Now it mostly ended. sources. At the same time, they forgot their old ways of finding food. Early farming was a tough life. Because of this, humans were reluctant to switch to a less healthy EARLY EAST AFRICAN STATES way of life. Around the same time, a major agrarian civilization arose in the Northern Horn. It was Agriculture appeared late in West Africa. Even after it did, it stayed there. Agricultural known as D’mt. This mysterious kingdom spread from the tenth to the fifth centuries knowledge didn’t spread out from West Africa until about 2,000 years later. However, BCE. They made strong trade relations with Egypt. They exported agricultural goods, the peoples of East Africa didn’t receive collective learning from only West Africa. along with intricate stone jewelry. When the kingdom of D’mt fell, smaller kingdoms They also acquired knowledge from Egypt and Southwest Asia. took over the area. These kingdoms adopted iron. They began to export their metal- work. Collective learning arrived from Arabia and Egypt. In the process, it influenced COLLECTIVE LEARNING FROM TWO AGRARIAN HUBS Aksum’s architecture and culture and increased the literacy of its people. It also intro- Agriculture first began in the Fertile Crescent. Yet in the region known as the “North- duced the Arab religion that came before Islam. It was one which worshipped many ern Horn” of East Africa, people continued to forage for many thousands of years. But gods. agrarian civilizations in the Fertile Crescent kept growing larger. As they did, commu- For many years, Aksum was just a tiny settlement in the Northern Horn. Then, in 30 nications to the distant land of the Northern Horn also grew. Knowledge of farming BCE, something major happened. The Romans under Augustus conquered Egypt. They filtered down from Egypt and Southwest Asia. As a result, the peoples of the Northern added Egypt to their empire. Aksum was now in contact with the Roman world in the Horn began to adopt a mixture of ways of surviving. They foraged, domesticated Mediterranean. Trade routes shifted from the Persian Gulf and overland Asian routes. plants, and herded animals. They domesticated a type of banana very early on. They The Red Sea became the focus of trade. Aksum soon became a hub of overseas trade might have cultivated the banana as early as 3000 BCE. The people of the Northern between the vast Roman Empire and India. Along with trade in goods, collective learn- Horn foraged for animal hides and bird feathers. They found myrrh to use as perfume. ing spread across Afro-Eurasia. They even dug up obsidian rocks to trade with Egypt. BIG HISTORY PROJECT AKSUM / 810L 2 AKSUM AT THE CENTER OF AFRO-EURASIA Becoming a mercantile (trading) power can transform a small state into a powerful kingdom. It can happen very quickly. Aksum managed trade between India and the The Red Sea Mediterranean. Ivory, gold, emeralds, silk, spices, agricultural products, salt, exotic Nabotia animals, manufactured goods, and much more went back and forth along the route. In the first century CE, Aksum grew rich. They now could afford to build a powerful navy. Beja Makuria Himyar That navy allowed Aksum to patrol the Red Sea and protect their trade routes. The Kingdom of Aksum Alodia Sabaea (Sheba) Aksumite civilization continued to grow in wealth, power, and complexity. Aksum’s City of Aksum capital shows signs of rapid growth. There were impressive buildings and burial Erythraean Sea grounds. But the town grew so rapidly that there seems to have been no master plan ETHIOPIA ABYSSINIA for the city’s layout. No one designated its city walls for where the city would stop PUNT growing. Aksum built many grand monuments. Its wealthiest citizens were buried in grand tombs. They were marked by huge stone pillars, with intricate carvings upon them. Aksum had a division of labor. Such specialized jobs included government workers, priests, soldiers, merchants, and artisans. It had its own coinage. Each dy- Range of the Aksum Empire in East Africa. nasty was etched onto the gold coins. This early form of money has been found by archaeologists across the Old World from Rome to Persia to India. Aksum had a powerful navy. It enabled Aksum to transport troops and expand its fron- tiers. The third century CE was a time of great growth for its military. At its height, the Aksum Empire controlled North Ethiopia, parts of Sudan, and the southern Arabian peninsula, most notably Yemen. The Aksum Empire had the wealth to hire warriors and ships. No power was strong enough in East Africa to oppose them. Aksum grew into one of the true powers of the ancient world. It was also one of the first complex agrarian civilizations in Africa. In the fourth century CE, Aksum made Christianity its state religion. The Roman Empire had also officially made Christianity its state religion. Now the two empires were linked culturally. As a hub of trade in the ancient world, Aksum also received new technologies moving across Afro-Eurasia. THE FALL OF AKSUM Aksum continued to prosper long after the Western Roman Empire declined and fell in the 400s. However, it also wanted to become a powerful empire. This desire also helped set up its own downfall. Aksum sent its soldiers several times to Yemen to keep it under control. By its last military campaign in the 500s, Aksum’s money had run out. Eventually they were booted out of Yemen, never to return. Meanwhile, the Aksum elite fought among themselves. The empire was weakening. Another blow fell with the Justinianic Plague around 541 CE. It was a hugely destruc- Image of ancient stelae field in Aksum, Ethiopia. tive plague. Scholars today are fairly certain that it was the same disease, Yersinia BIG HISTORY PROJECT AKSUM / 810L 3 pestis, that caused the Black Death. Aksum still had money coming in from trade be- powerful ancient empire. Its peoples wielded blades of iron and ruled the seas. East tween India and Byzantium (today it is known as Istanbul). The additional money Africa’s transformation shows the power of collective learning and the networks of the helped keep it from falling, though it lost some territory. Afro-Eurasian supercontinent. Once the “energy bonanza” gets underway, it can spread rapidly to other regions. It brings with it a quick increase in human complexity. In the 600s, however, the Islamic conquests further weakened Aksum. Arabian armies spread across the Old World. Aksum managed to fight them off. However, the Christian After the Islamic conquests of the 600s, however, Aksum was cut off from that net- empire suddenly found itself on its own economically and politically.

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