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400 BCE
The Great Temple of Yeha
South Arabian immigrants began to arrive in the Ethiopian highlands from across the Red Sea, bringing with them a belief in diverse gods, a system of writing,& a tradition of monumental stone building that would profoundly influence the region’s architectural and religious traditions. The most famous early manifestation of this influence still extant is the 60 x 50–foot stone structure at Yeha in modern-day northern Ethiopia, estimated to have been constructed around the 5th or 4th century B.C. -
Period: 1 CE to 100
The Kingdom of Axum is born
Occupied by agrarian communities similar in culture to those in southern Arabia since the Stone Age, Axum began to prosper thanks to its rich agricultural lands, dependable summer monsoon rains,&control of regional trade. This trade network included links w/Kemet to the north, east&along the East African coast &southern Arabia. When wealth through trade&military might was added to this prosperous agricultural base a single king replaced a confederation of chiefdoms and forged a united kingdom. -
Period: 303 to 350
King Ezana I Officially adopts Christianity
In addition to Frumentius, traders and Kemetian missionaries had brought Christianity to the region during the early centuries of the 1st millennium CE, &the official acceptance by Aksum may have occurred because the kingdom had important trade connections to the North African provinces of the Roman Empire, which had adopted Christianity a couple of decades earlier. It's probable these trade&diplomatic connections directly between Constantinople and Axum introduced Christianity into Ethiopia. -
340
St. Frumentius First Bishop of Axum
According to traditional accounts, it was Frumentius, a 4th-century CE shipwrecked traveller from Tyre, who introduced Christianity to the kingdom. Frumentius gained employment as a teacher to the royal children, and then he became treasurer and advisor to the king, probably Ella Amida. When Ella Amida was succeeded by his son Ezana I, the king was persuaded to adopt Christianity. Frumentius became the first bishop of Axum. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is the largest & oldest in Africa. -
350
Axum Expands
The kingdom of Axum really started to take off around 350 CE. Axum had already established some form of dominance over Yemen (then called Himyar) in southern Arabia as well as Somalia in the southeast, modern-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, and several smaller tribes to the southwest. Subjugated tribes, although left semi-autonomous, had to pay tribute, typically in the form of hundreds of heads of cattle. -
Period: 350 to 700
Major Trading Power between Ancient Rome & India
Gold and ivory (from Africa’s interior) were Axum’s main exports- but other goods included salt, slaves, tortoiseshell, frankincense and myrrh, rhino horns, obsidian&emeralds (from Nubia). They were exchanged for goods brought by Arab merchants such as Egyptian&Indian textiles, swords&other weapons, iron, glass beads, bronze lamps,&glassware. That Axum trade was booming is evidenced by the finding of the kingdom’s coinage at such far-flung places as the eastern Mediterranean, India&Sri Lanka. -
Period: 500 to 700
Decline of the Kingdom of Axum
Axum went in decline from the late 6th century CE, due to overuse of agricultural land or the incursion of western Bedja herders who grabbed parts of Aksum territory for grazing their cattle&persistently attacked Axum’s camel caravans; in addition to conquered tribal chiefs rebellions. Finally, there was from the early 7th century CE stiff competition for the Red Sea trade networks from Arab Muslims. By the late 8th century CE the old Axum Empire had ceased to exist.
