CHAPTER 6 LESSON 2 The Kingdom of Aksum
King Ezana ruled Aksum during the fourth
century A.D. He became a Christian and made
Christianity the official religion of his kingdom.
King Ezana ruled the African kingdom of
Aksum from A.D. 325 to 360. His kingdom
was large. It extended throughout much of
what is now Ethiopia. He also may have had
influence in the Arabian kingdom now known
as Yemen. It is even possible that Ezana had a
foothold across the Red Sea in Yemen. In any
case, Ezana’s reign occurred at the beginning
of Aksum’s period of greatest power, from the
fourth through the sixth century A.D.
Ezana’s Coins Much of what historians know
about ancient Aksum comes from one of two
sources—stone pillars, called steles, and coins.
Aksum minted coins during a period of about
300 years. It was the only African civilization
to do so. Although an earlier Aksumite king
named Endubis was the first to produce coins,
Ezana was the first to mint coins bearing the
Christian symbol of a cross. The cross replaced
the crescent that appeared on earlier coins. The
crescent may have represented the god of the
sun or the moon. The use of the cross reflected
Ezana’s desire to spread Christianity.
Conversion to Christianity Sometime
between A.D. 330 and 440, Ezana became
a Christian. He also made Christianity the
official state religion. This was perhaps his
most important contribution to Ethiopian
culture. The story of Ezana’s conversion is told
by Rufinius, a fourth-century historian.
According to Rufinius, two Syrian boys
—Frumentius and Aedesius—grew up in the
court of King Ella Amida, Ezana’s father. The
boys had been aboard a trading ship that was
seized in the Red Sea. They somehow survived
the incident and were taken to Ella Amida. The
king treated them kindly and, as they got older,
gave them official tasks to perform. When the
boys were grown, Ella Amida also granted them
their freedom. Soon afterwards he died, leaving
Ezana as his only heir. At that time, Ezana was
CHAPTER 6
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Ezana: King of Aksum
only an infant. His mother turned to the two
Syrians for assistance. She asked them to remain
at court until her son was old enough to rule.
Frumentius was especially loyal and
honest. He also was a Christian and promoted
Christianity. One way he did this was to
seek out and assist Christian traders. After
Ezana became king, Frumentius traveled to
Alexandria. He asked the head of the Eastern
Orthodox Church to send a bishop to Aksum.
Instead, Frumentius was appointed bishop.
He returned to the kingdom as Ethiopia’s first
Christian bishop. The influence of Frumentius
led to Ezana’s conversion to Christianity.
Ezana is also linked to the Ark of the
Covenant, which is sacred to both Jews and
Christians. The Ark was the cabinet built to
contain the stone tablets that God gave to Moses.
The Ten Commandments were written on the
tablets. According to the Torah (the Hebrew
Bible), the Ten Commandments were part of
an agreement, or covenant, between God and
the Hebrews. They form the basis of the Jewish
religion and are also honored by Christians.
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HISTORY MAKERS: EZANA CONTINUED
12
and windows probably looked much like those
carved in the stele. Carved square beam-ends
resemble the wooden beams used in Aksumite
construction.
The stele is inscribed in three languages—
Greek, Sabaean, and Ge´ez, the language
spoken in Axsum. Sabaean is a language once
spoken in southwestern Arabia. The Greeks
were known to trade with Aksum, which may
explain the use of Greek. Ezana used the
traditional title negusa nagast, meaning “king
of kings,” to show that he ruled over the heads
of many small states. The inscription describes
his victory over rebellious peoples.
Review Questions
1.
What ancient kingdom did Ezana rule?
2.
How have historians learned about
Ezana’s reign?
3.
What change did Ezana make to the coins
of Aksum? Why?
Critical Thinking
Why did Ezana
and other ancient kings tell of their
military victories in stone inscriptions?
4. Drawing Conclusions
5. Understanding Cause and Effect
What lasting effect did Ezana have on
Ethiopian culture?
Why might Ezana
have protected the Ark of the Covenant?
6. Making Inferences
Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
CHAPTER 6
During the reign of King Solomon of
Israel, the Ark of the Covenant disappeared
from Jerusalem’s temple. There is more than
one version of how this happened, but they
all center around Menelik. According to one
legend, Menelik was the son of King Solomon
and Sheba, the queen of Ethiopia. Menelik,
while a young man, spent three years with his
father in Jerusalem. When Menelik returned to
Aksum, many people accompanied him. One
of them was Azariah, whose father was the
high priest of the temple of Jerusalem. Before
leaving Jerusalem, Azariah had a dream
telling him to take the Ark of the Covenant
to Ethiopia. Then Azariah stole the Ark and
replaced it with a copy. When Solomon found
out, he tried to recover the Ark. Then he too
had a dream, telling him that the Ark should
stay with Menelik. This supposedly happened
many hundreds of years before Ezana’s reign.
What happened to the Ark of the Covenant
after Menelik arrived in Ethiopia is still
unknown. However, it appears that the Ark
may have been brought to Aksum during
Ezana’s reign. Many believe that the Ark
is now being kept at Saint Mary’s of Zion,
a church established by Ezana. In 1965,
Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie had a small
chapel built at St. Mary’s to house the Ark. A
guardian of the Ark is chosen from among the
monks living in the compound at Saint Mary’s.
He is the only person who may enter the
chapel. The Ark of the Covenant has become
important in the Ethiopian Christian tradition.
Many of the country’s churches contain a
replica of the Ark.
Ezana’s Inscriptions Like many rulers
of ancient kingdoms, Ezana had his deeds
inscribed on stone pillars, or steles. A group
of about 50 steles are located on the northern
edge of Aksum. Some date back to prehistoric
times. At 24 metres (78.74 feet), King Ezana’s
is the tallest one still standing. The stele of King
Ezana is one of several carved to look like
tall buildings. Although Aksum’s buildings were
not nearly as high as the pillars, their doors
Chapter 6, Lesson 2
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