The Kingdom of Aksum
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| Source: SlidePlayer |
By Evan Andrews
During the same period that the Roman
Empire rose and fell, the influential Kingdom
of Aksum held sway over parts of what are now Eritrea and northern
Ethiopia. Surprisingly little is known about Aksum’s origins, but by the 2nd
and 3rd centuries A.D. it was a trading juggernaut whose gold and ivory made it
a vital link between ancient Europe and the Far East.
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Source: SlidePlayer
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The kingdom had a written script
known as Ge’ez—one of the first to emerge in Africa—and it developed a
distinctive architectural style that involved the building of massive stone
obelisks, some of which stood over 100 feet tall. In the fourth century, Aksum
became one of the first empires in the world to adopt Christianity, which led
to a political and military alliance with the Byzantines. The
empire later went into decline sometime around the 7th or 8th century, but its
religious legacy still exists today in the form of the Ethiopian Orthodox
Church.
Source: History
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