Everything about Axum totally explained
Axum, or
Aksum, is a
city in northern
Ethiopia named after the long-lived
Kingdom of Aksum, a naval and trading power that ruled from the region ca.
400 BC into the
10th century—nearly a millennium and a half. The kingdom was occasionally referred to in medieval writings as "Ethiopia".
Located in the
Mehakelegnaw Zone of the
Tigray Region near the base of the
Adwa mountains, the city has an elevation of 2,130 metres.
It was the centre of the (eventual)
Christian marine trading power the
Aksumite Kingdom, which antedated the earliest mentions in
Roman era writings (around the time of the birth of
Jesus) in good correlation to the expansion of Rome into northern Africa, and later when it developed into the Christian kingdom, was a quasi-ally of
Byzantium against the day's
Persian Empire. Direct historical matters are however little known, primary sources being in the main limited to ancient church records.
It is believed it began a long slow decline after the
7th century due partly to Islamic groups contesting trade routes. Eventually Aksum was cut off from its principal markets in
Alexandria,
Byzantium and
Southern Europe and its trade share was captured by Arab traders of the era, which dovetails well with the Arab ethnic traditions and historical reputation as traders. The Kingdom of Aksum also quarrelled with Islamic groups over religion. Eventually the people of Aksum were forced south and hence, their city and civilization declined slowly, but surely. As the kingdom's power declined so did the influence of the city, which is believed to have lost population in the decline similar to Rome and other cities thrust away from the flow of world events. The last known (nominal) king to reign was crowned ca.
10th century, but the kingdom's influence and power ended long before that.
Its decline in population and trade then contributed to the shift of the power centre of the Ethiopian Empire so that it moved further inland and bequeathed its alternative place name (Ethiopia) to the region, and eventually, the modern state.
Based on figures from the
Central Statistical Agency in 2005, Axum has an estimated total population of 47,320 of whom 20,774 were males and 21,898 were females. Seventy-five percent of the people in the city are members of the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The remainder of the population is
Sunni Muslim and
P'ent'ay (Protestant and other non-Orthodox Christians).
Aksum is served by an
airport (
ICAO code HAAX,
IATA AXU).
Due to their
historical value, in
1980 UNESCO added Aksum's archaeological sites to its list of
World Heritage Sites.
The Aksumite kingdom and the Ethiopian Church
The
kingdom of Aksum had its own written language called
Ge'ez, and also developed a distinctive architecture exemplified by giant obelisks, the oldest of which (though much smaller) date from 5,000-2,000 BC. This kingdom was at its height under king
Ezana, baptized as Abreha, in the
300s (which was also when it officially embraced
Christianity).
The
Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum houses the
Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the
Tablets of Law upon which the
Ten Commandments are inscribed. This same church was the site Ethiopian emperors were crowned for centuries until the reign of
Fasilides, then again beginning with
Yohannes IV until the end of the empire. Axum is considered to be the holiest city in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages.
(External Link
) UNESCO has assumed responsibility for the re-installation of this stele in Axum.
Axum and Islam
Although Axumite Muslims have attempted to build a mosque in this most holy of Ethiopian towns, Orthodox residents, and the emperors of the past have replied that they must be allowed to build an Ethiopian Orthodox church in
Mecca if the Muslims are to be allowed to build a mosque in Axum.
The connection of Axum with Islam is very old. According to
ibn Hisham, when
Muhammad faced oppression from the
Quraish clan, he sent a small group that included his daughter Ruqayya and her husband
Uthman ibn Affan, whom
Ashama ibn Abjar, the king of Axum, gave refuge to, and protection to, and refused the requests of the Quraish clan to send these refugees back to Arabia. These refugees didn't return until the sixth year of the
Hijra (
628), and even then many remained in Ethiopia, eventually settling at
Negash in eastern Tigray.
There are different traditions concerning the effect these early Muslims had on the ruler of Axum. The Muslim tradition is that the ruler of Axum was so impressed by these refugees that he became a secret convert. On the other hand, one Ethiopian tradition states that the Muslim refugees who lived in Ethiopia during this time converted to Orthodox Christianity, thus becoming the first known converts from Islam to Christianity. Worth mentioning is a second Ethiopian tradition that, on the death of Ashama ibn Abjar, Muhammed is reported to have prayed for the king's soul, and told his followers, "Leave the Abyssinians in peace, as long as they don't take the offensive.
Sites of interest
The major Aksumite
monuments in the town are
stelae; the largest number lie in the
Northern Stelae Park, ranging up to the 33-metre
Great Stele, believed to have fallen during construction. The tallest standing is the 24-metre
King Ezana's Stele.
Another stele looted by the Italian army was only returned to Ethiopia in 2005 and is due for reinstallation. The stelae are believed to mark
graves and would have had cast metal discs affixed to their sides, which are also carved with architectural designs. The
Gudit Stelae, unlike the northern area, are interspersed with mostly
fourth-century tombs.
Other features of the town include
St Mary of Zion church, built in
1665 and said to contain the
Ark of the Covenant (a prominent
twentieth-century church of the same name neighbours it),
archaeological and
ethnographic museums, the
Ezana Stone written in
Sabaean,
Ge'ez and
Ancient Greek in a similar manner to the
Rosetta Stone,
King Bazen's Tomb (a
megalith considered to be one of the earliest structures), the so-called
Queen of Sheba's Bath (actually a
reservoir), the fourth-century
Ta'akha Maryam and
sixth-century Dungur palaces, the monasteries of
Abba Pentalewon and
Abba Liqanos and the
Lioness of Gobedra rock art.
Local legend claims the
Queen of Sheba lived in the town.
Sister cities
Further Information
Get more info on 'Axum'.
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