Kingdom Of Aksum example essay topic

The Ancient African Civilization Aksum One of the most powerful urban kingdoms of ancient African civilization was Aksum (also spelled Axum), which reigned from 1st to 7th century AD. Aksum was located near the red sea, allowing for prosperous trade. This kingdom was a sub-Saharan society of Africa that flourished in the centuries before and after the time of Christ. It made revolutionary changes in trade, religion and architecture during its prime.

The kingdom of Aksum was a mix of Kushitic speaking people in Ethiopia and Semitic speaking people in southern Arabia who settled the territory across the Red Sea around 500 BC. These Southern Arabian immigrants brought with them a belief in diverse gods, a system of writing, and a tradition of monumental stone building that would profoundly influence the region's architectural and religious aspects. Aksum was located in modern day Ethiopia, and lies high on a plateau 7200 ft above sea level, with a region of influence including both sides of the red sea. Because of its fortunate placing near the red sea. Aksum enjoyed trade routes between Yemen (in the south of the Arabian peninsula) and the cities of Nubia, putting Aksum right in the middle of prospering trade routes between Africa, Arabia, and India.

Aksum trading its agricultural resources and its gold and ivory through the port of Adulis into the Red Sea trade network and thence to the Roman Empire. Trade connected eastward to India as well, providing Aksum and its rulers a connection between Rome and the East. As a result, it became tremendously wealthy and its major cities, Adulis, Aksum, and Ma tara, became three of the most important cosmopolitan centers in the ancient world. Also due to its location, Aksum was culturally diverse. It served as a crossroads to Egyptian, Sudanic, Arabic, Middle Eastern, and even Indian cultures. One reason we know what we do about Aksum is the importance placed on written documents by its rulers, particularly Ezana.

In the early 4th century AD, Ezana spread his realm north and east, conquering the Nile Valley region and becoming ruler over part of both Asia and Africa. He constructed a lot of the monumental architecture of Aksum, including a reported 100 stone obelisks, the tallest of which loomed 98 ft and weighed 517 tons. Ezana is also known for converting much of Ethiopia to Christianity, around 330 AD. One legend has it that the Ark of the Covenant containing the remnants of the 10 commandments of Moses was brought to Aksum, and monks have protected it ever since. Before Ezana's conversion, the Aksum ite religion was actually derived from a polytheistic Arabic religion which believed that the gods controlled the natural forces of the universe. Christianity was originally limited to Aksum's royalty, but in the later fifth century it was spread to the general populace through missionaries coming into Ethiopia from the Eastern Roman Empire.

Ethiopian Christianity was also slightly different from its origins. They believed that Christ had a single rather than a double nature (man and god): this is called Monophysite (mono = single, phys is = nature) Christianity and was considered heretical in the European churches. In the fifth century AD, the Aksum ites replaced Greek in the liturgy and began using their own native language, Ge " ez. Finally, because of their Semitic origins, the Ethiopians believed that they were descendants of the Hebrews, who were also Semitic. They traced their origins all the way back to David. So the Ethiopians, unlike other Christians, really saw themselves as inheriting the covenants that Yahweh entered into with his chosen people.

Aksum flourished until the 7th century AD, maintaining its trade connections and a high literacy rate, minting its own coins, and building monumental architecture, But Aksum met its decline when increasing Muslim dominance of the region cut off access to international trade. The Ethiopian (or Abyssinian) Church has lasted until the present day. It is still a Monophysite church and its scriptures and liturgy are still in Ge " ez. Aksum was a powerful and wealthy kingdom in ancient African civilization.

It was of great importance due to its strategic location in the dead center of the commercial trade crossroads. Aksum also started the Christian roots for modern day Ethiopia. This kingdom had both rare cultural diversity and impressive architectural accomplishments. Aksum was a prosperous empire with promising ambition had it not been cut off by Muslim rule in the late 7th century.

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Bibliography

1) Ancient African Timeline 2 web Sep 20 2003 2) About: Archeology web Sep 17 2003 3) Met Museum Article web Sep 19 2003.