Aksum: A Great African Empire

Figure 1: Map of the Aksum Empire (Source: The British Museum)

When one thinks of empire a great number of groups may come to mind, such as the empire of Egypt, Rome, China, South America, or others.  What most likely will not come to mind for many is the great African empire of Aksum, one of Africa’s earliest empires and state level societies.  Today’s blog post will correct this oversight by providing information pertaining to this empire, covering its full and rich cultural history.

Aksum (aka Axum) was an empire that began in the 4^th or 3^rd centuries B.C. and existed until about the 7^th century (A.D.).  It spanned across much of northeastern Africa, covering what is now called the horn of Africa (Figure 1).  The heart of this empire was in the Hatsebo plain (in modern day Ethiopia).  The Aksum state (and later empire) was controlled by a paramount king and potentially lesser kings who maintained the boundaries of the empire.  There were levels of hierarchy within the empire, which included the nobility and upper and lower classes of the citizenry, which was made up of traders, farmers, craftspeople, religious officials, and more.  Each played a crucial role in the society.  Traders were pivotal as Aksum is best known for its trading networks where ivory, gold, salt, and iron were traded to civilizations across northern Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  It was through these trading networks that Christianity was introduced to the Aksum king, and when he converted in the mid-300s it is believed that his entire state and empire may have, too.  There is evidence, however, that there was a segment of the population who practiced Judaism, which demonstrates a cosmopolitan empire. 

Figure 2: Aksum ruins

Aksum is also known for a variety of other achievements.  One of those is the production of the earliest written African script, Ge’ez.  The Aksumites were also known as prolific builders (Figure 2).  Many of their megalithic sandstone structures still stand today, which is a testament to their craftsmanship and ingenuity as these monuments never used a drop of mortar.  Aksum also was one of the earliest empires to mint their own coins (Figure 3).  It is also known that Aksum maintained large scale agricultural exploits, growing wheat and barley and raising cattle, sheep, and camels, which most likely were used to feed their large populations.

Unfortunately, the Aksum empire fell in the 7^th century.  It is imprecisely known why this occurred, but it may have been any number of factors.  It is known that the Aksumites were at war with neighboring groups, which ended their vast trading networks and may have also introduced disease to the population.  Extended period of drought also affected the populations as they were unable to sustain the food resources necessary to feed their growing populations.  Although the empire did fall it is still hailed both in the past and today as one of the greatest earliest empires of that period, being heralded as one of the top four according to early Alexandrian historians.  Today, it is still not forgotten and remains considered one of the most unique empires of the period.

Figure 3: Askum currency

Works Cited

Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. “Foundations of Aksumite Civilization and Its Christian Legacy (1st–8th Century).” In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aksu_1/hd_aksu_1.htm (October 2000)

Sullivan, Kelly. The Kingdom of Axum: Facts and Legends of a First Millennium Powerhouse. 13 April 2019. Electronic. 23 December 2019.

The British Museum, "The kingdom of Aksum," in Smarthistory, September 23, 2016, accessed December 23, 2019, https://smarthistory.org/the-kingdom-of-aksum/.