Axum

   The ancient kingdom (also called Abyssina) that stretched westward to the valley of the Nile and southward to the Somali coast, in what is today northern Ethiopia. Its capital city was also called Axum. Its port of Adulis, on the Red Sea (q.v.), was a market for African slaves, ivory (qq.v.), papyrus, and gold, as well as spices from India (q.v.). Like Byzantium (q.v.), it minted gold coins, and had a sophisticated court where Greek was spoken. Its economic and diplomatic influence extended to Arabia and Persia (qq.v.). Christianity was probably established during the fourth century, perhaps during the reign of king Ezana (q.v.). Its Monophysite (q.v.) church was dependent on the patriarch of Alexandria (qq.v.). Justin I persuaded king Elesboam to invade Himyar (q.v.), i.e., southern Arabia (Yemen), in 525, to counteract any Persian attempt to control the area. In 531, Justinian I (q.v.) sent an embassy to Axum to persuade the Ethiopians to destroy the Persian silk trade by transporting silk between Ceylon and the Red Sea ports. However, nothing came of this scheme. In the seventh centuries, Axum lost its Red Sea ports to the Arabs (q.v.), precipitating its decline. However, from the fourth to the seventh centuries, Axum was the greatest power in Africa (q.v.) after Byzantium.