Aksum An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity Stuart Munro-Hay

Schneider (1961: 61-2), whose particular study has been the pre-Aksumite inscriptions, 
have come to the conclusion that even in the time of the kingdom of D`MT this contrast 
was used. The expression `the entire kingdom' was rendered in the geographical sense by 
the phrase `its east and its west', while the different characteristics of its population were 
illustrated by the words `its red (people) and its black (people)'. If this is correct, and the 
two phrases are intentionally balanced, it might indicate a predominance of the `red' or 
semiticised population in the eastern and central part of the kingdom, as would be 
expected given the South Arabian influences apparent from the material remains found 
there.  
  
6. Foreign Relations 
 
Aksum had diplomatic and commercial relations with many foreign countries, increasing 
as the kingdom's own importance developed. There are several accounts of ambassadors 
and messengers sent to or from distant or neighbouring powers, and even, occasionally, 
some clues as to the purpose of their missions. In addition, a number of archaeological or 
chance finds have produced objects which attest to contacts of one sort or another 
between Aksum and certain foreign countries.  
Egypt. 
 
All the proposed connexions between Aksum and (pre-Roman) Egypt remain very 
uncertain, and indeed it seems as if Aksum itself was only in its very earliest stages of 
development when the Ptolemaic dynasty fell with Cleopatra VII's death in 30BC. There 
are a few objects which might have come from Egypt, such as the cippus of Horus given 
to Bruce, and illustrated by him (
Ch. 2: 3
), and a few amulet figurines of blue faience (de 
Contenson 1963ii: 48, p. XLIX b and c) or cornaline (Leclant 1965: 86-7) found at 
various sites in Ethiopia. The latter, with its double- uraeus, could perhaps have come 
instead from Meroë. From Adulis came a glazed Egyptian scarab carved with a design 
somewhat resembling a ship, probably dating to a very late period (Paribeni 1907: 5, fig. 
3). Other signs of contact between the regions are the inscription of Ptolemy III copied by 
Kosmas at Adulis and an `ankh'-sign engraved on one of the stelae (Anfray 1972). It is 
not beyond possibility that the accounts of Egyptian expeditions to Punt may be the 
earliest extant references to peoples of the Ethiopian/Sudanese coast and interior; 
provided that Punt (Pwene) always meant the same thing to the Egyptians over the long 
period that mentions of the country occur in their records. If so, these are important 
witnesses to trade- links stretching at least as far back as the time of the pharaoh Djedkare 
Isesi, eighth king of the fifth Egyptian dynasty, c.2400BC, and still continuing in the time 
of Rameses III around 1200BC. Later contacts, under the Romans, are much better 
documented and are described below.  

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Illustration 8. One of the rough stele in the Northern Stele Field at Aksum, with a carved 
symbol representing the ancient Egyptian word for life, ankh. Photo BIEA.  
Meroë and Africa. 
 
Virtually nothing is known of what sort of contacts Aksum had with its western 
neighbour, the kingdom of Meroë or Kasu and its large but probably loosely controlled 
area of more or less effective influence. It has been suggested that perhaps the famous 
rock-relief of the Meroitic king Sherkarer, at Jabal Qayli, the easternmost Meroitic 
monument known, was connected with some conflict with a rising Aksum, but there is no 
proof either way. Only a few objects to which a Meroitic origin has been attributed have 
been found in Ethiopia, most notably some bronze bowls from Addi Galamo (Atsbi Dera) 
— which could also have come from Roman Egypt (Doresse 1960: 425ff) — possibly the 
diorite thumb-ring (archer's loose) found by the BIEA expedition at Aksum (illustrated 
by Chittick, 1974, PL.XIV), and a corna line amulet of Harpocrates with the typical 
double-uraeus of the Meroites on its forehead (see above, Leclant 1965: 86-7). The most 
powerful evidence for contacts are the fragments of two Aksumite inscriptions from 
Meroë which may indicate that Aksumite campaigns reached the city; and also some 
Ge`ez inscriptions roughly cut on the pyramids there (
Ch. 11: 5
). When king Ezana of 
Aksum led his expedition to the Nile (
Ch. 11: 5, DAE 11
), the Meroitic kingdom had 
probably ceased to exist. Its successors, the Noba, apparently behaved insultingly to the 
Aksumite ambassadors sent to them, and were punished by a military expedition. Certain 
tribes, the Mangurto, the Barya, and the Khasa had asked for Ezana's support against 
these aggressors, and either regarded Aksum as a usefully powerful neighbour who could 
be invoked to help check Noba ambitions, or possibly even as a suzerain. Ezana's 
expedition also attacked the Kasu, the remnants of the Meroitic state. Both the Noba and 
the Beja, as well as the Kasu, were officially noted in the titulature as comprising part of 
Ezana's kingdom.  
These records, and certain other accounts of military expeditions within or on the borders 
of Aksum, are almost the only fragments of information which have come down to us 
about Aksumite dealings with their African neighbours. There is a brief mention of some 
missionary activity in the southern Nubian kingdom of Alodia/Alwa (see 
Ch. 10
), and 
Kosmas Indikopleustes wrote about Aksum's `silent trade' with the gold-gatherers of Sasu 
(Wolska-Conus 1968). However, it seems likely that, unless the main elephant-hunting 
areas were already within Aksum's direct control, there must have been close and 
protracted trading contacts with the suppliers of ivory from beyond the Nile; an excellent 
reason for the maintenance of generally peaceful conditions to encourage this important 
commerce.  
South Arabia. 
 
The South Arabian states, such as Saba, Himyar, and the Hadhramawt, had a long and 
special relationship with Ethiopia. Aksum seems to have been quite strongly influenced 
by the same cultural tradition as prevailed in these countries, and in language, religion, 

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