Aksum An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity Stuart Munro-Hay Dedicated to the late H. Neville Chittick Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity was first published in 1991. Some errors have been corrected in this edition. © Stuart Munro-Hay 1991 [put online with permission by Alan Light, <[email protected]>] [A number of readers have wanted to contact Mr. Munro-Hay. His current address is at aol.com, user name is munrohay. I'm using that format to try to keep him from getting spam.] British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data Munro-Hay, S. C. (Stuart C), 1947- Aksum: an African civilization of late antiquity. 1. Axumite Kingdom, history I. Title 963.4 Contents Chronological Chart Preface 1. Introduction 2. Legend, Literature, and Archaeological Discovery 1. The Legends of Aksum 2. Aksum in Ancient Sources 3. The Rediscovery of Aksum in Modern Times 3. The City and the State 1. The Landscape 2. Origins and Expansion of the Kingdom 3. The Development of Aksum; an Interpretation 4. Cities, Towns and Villages 5. The Inhabitants 6. Foreign Relations 4. Aksumite History 1. The Pre-Aksumite Period 2. Comparative Chronological Chart; Rulers, Sources and Sites 3. Period 1; Early Aksum until the Reign of Gadarat 4. Period 2; Gadarat to Endubis 5. Period 3; Endubis to Ezana 6. Period 4; Ezana after his Conversion, to Kaleb 7. Period 5; Kaleb to the End of the Coinage 8. The Post-Aksumite Period 5. The Capital City 1. The Site 2. The Town Plan 3. Portuguese Records of Aksum 4. Aksumite Domestic Architecture 5. The Funerary Architecture 6. The Stelae 6. The Civil Administration 1. The Rulers 2. Officials of the Government 7. The Monarchy 1. The King and the State 2. The Regalia 3. Dual Kingship 4. Succession 5. The Royal Titles 6. The Coronation 8. The Economy 1. Population 2. Agriculture, Husbandry, and Animal Resources 3. Metal Resources 4. Trade, Imports and Exports 5. Local Industries 6. Food 9. The Coinage 1. Origins 2. Introduction and Spread of the Coinage 3. Internal Aspects of the Coinage 4. The Mottoes 5. The End of the Coinage 6. Modern Study of the Coinage 10. Religion 1. The Pre-Christian Period 2. The Conversion to Christianity 3. Abreha and Atsbeha 4. Ecclesiastical Development 5. Churches 11. Warfare 1. The Inscriptional Record 2. The Military Structure 3. Weapons 4. The Fleet 5. The Aksumite Inscriptions 12. Material Culture; the Archaeological Record 1. Pottery 2. Glassware 3. Stone Bowls 4. Metalwork 5. Other Materials 13. Language, Literature, and the Arts 1. Language 2. Literature and Literacy 3. The Arts 4. Music and Liturgical Chant 14. Society and Death 1. Social Classes 2. Funerary Practice 15. The Decline of Aksum 1. The Failure of Resources 2. The Climate 3. External and Internal Political Troubles 4. The najashi Ashama ibn Abjar 5. The hatsani Danael 16. The British Institute in Eastern Africa's Excavations at Aksum 17. Bibliography Index Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity Chronological Chart Period 1. Early Aksum until the reign of GDRT. 1st-2nd centuries AD. 100AD Zoskales Periplus Ptolemy c.150AD Period 2. GDRT-Endubis. Beginning of 3rd century AD to c.270AD. 200AD GDRT, BYGT South Arabian inscriptions 230AD `DBH, GRMT Sembrouthes 260AD DTWNS and ZQRNS Period 3. Endubis to Ezana before his conversion. c.270AD to c.330AD 270AD Endubis* Coinage begins 300AD Aphilas* Wazeba* Ousanas* Ezana* Inscriptions. Period 4. Ezana as a Christian to Kaleb. c.330AD to c.520AD. 330AD Christian inscriptions and coins. Anonymous Christian coins 350AD MHDYS* Ouazebas* 400AD Eon* Ebana* Nezool*/Nezana* 500AD Ousas*/Ousana(s)*. Tazena Period 5. Kaleb until the end of the coinage. c.515AD to early C.7th AD Kaleb* Inscription Yusuf As'ar 530AD Sumyafa' Ashwa Alla Amidas* Abreha Wazena* W`ZB/Ella Gabaz Ioel* 575AD Persians in Yemen Hataz* = `Iathlia'*? Israel* 600AD Gersem* 614AD Armah* Jerusalem falls to Persia Egypt falls to Persia 619AD End of Aksum as capital Period 6. After the end of the coinage 630AD Death of Ashama ibn Abjar Arab expedition in Red Sea, 640AD Egypt falls to Arabs Reign of al-Walid, 705-715AD Qusayr Amra painting The symbol * denotes issues of coins Preface Perhaps the most frequently quoted remark about Ethiopia occurs in a brief excursus on the Ethiopian church which Edward Gibbon included in his monumental work The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, written at the end of the eighteenth century; `Encompassed on all sides by the enemies of their religion the Æthiopians slept near a thousand years, forgetful of the world, by whom they were forgotten'. Gibbon further accorded brief mention to those few events in Aksumite Ethiopia's history which touched the larger theme of the history of the Roman empire. In this he still remains relatively unusual, for however one might nowadays view the Ethiopians' `sleep', Gibbon's last phrases still ring true. Of all the important ancient civilisations of the past, that of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum still remains perhaps the least known. When this book was in preparation, I wrote to the archaeology editor of one of Britain's most prominent history and archaeology publishers about its prospects. He replied that, although he had a degree in archaeology, he had never heard of Aksum, and didn't think it would arouse much interest. If anything, this points the more strongly to the need for an introductory history to one of Africa's most fascinating civilisations. In most of the recent general histories of Africa or of the Roman world, Aksum is either not mentioned at all, or is noted in brief summaries culled from earlier works. Only in Connah's 1987 book African Civilisations does Aksum, though still dealt with in one brief chapter, begin to take its proper place as an important part of Africa's history. Certainly there have been books on Aksum, or on Ethiopian civilisation in general, mainly in German, French, Italian and Russian; but since the last of these was published much new work has been done, and a well-illustrated and up-to-date general coverage of Aksumite Ethiopia is now the more urgently required. It is hoped that this book, the result of nearly fifteen years study of Aksumite history and civilisation, will at least partly fill the gap, and encourage interest in Aksumite studies. Ancient Ethiopia is a fertile field for future researchers, and if this book attracts the attention of even a few towards this neglected but richly rewarding subject, it will have served its purpose adequately. It is worth adding that Ethiopia, and especially Aksumite Ethiopia, is an elusive entity, and I cannot hope to have always plumped for the correct interpretation in some of the more debated themes of its history. Theories and arguments which I may seem to have left aside could prove to be of great importance to future study. In most cases where a choice between opposing theories has been made, it is nevertheless with a profound consciousness of the stimulation afforded by the points-of-view of colleagues who share the opposite opinion, and with the certainty that the last word has not yet been said, that I have leaned towards certain conclusions. I have not infrequently drawn on my own earlier publications for certain sections of this book, sometimes with radically different results; alterations indicative of the progress made by more recent research. I am extremely grateful, as the dedication indicates, to the late Dr. H. Neville Chittick for introducing me to Aksumite studies during the important excavations which he directed at Aksum between 1972 and 1974, and for his continued subsequent encouragement. His excavations at Aksum completely altered many concepts about Aksumite Ethiopia, clarifying certain points and, inevitably, raising new questions. In 1985 I was invited by the British Institute in Eastern Africa, under whose auspices Neville Chittick had worked, to publish in their Memoir series the excavation report his death prevented him from undertaking; and it was during this work that the idea of the present book, less specialist and wider-ranging, was suggested to me by Glen Kania. The British Institute in Eastern Africa also kindly gave permission for the reproduction of some of the photographs taken during the excavations. A number of friends and colleagues helped in the preparation of the book; I would particularly like to thank Dr. Bent Juel-Jensen and Dr. David Phillipson for reading and commenting on the typescript at different stages, and for supplying illustrations; Roger Brereton and the late Ruth Plant for other illustrations; Chris Tsielepi for information from the Horniman Museum; Michael Grogan for the maps and Glen Kania for his usual patience and assistance in editing and word-processing, for the fourth time, a book on an Aksumite theme. Aksum's obscurity, and the impossibility of visiting the site at present, seem to have had a discouraging effect on funding institutions. However, awards which have greatly helped me in the writing of this book, and in my Aksumite studies in general, came from the Twenty-Seven Foundation and the Spalding Trust; to these organisations I am extremely grateful, particularly since they have both assisted my work in other fields as well. Stuart Munro-Hay St. Orens-Pouy-Petit, France. December 1988. 1. Introduction This book is designed to introduce the ancient African civilisation of Aksum to a wider readership than has been catered for by specialist publications currently available. The Ethiopian kingdom centred on Aksum in the northern province of Tigray during the first six or seven hundred years of our era, is still very little known in general terms.