Stone Bowls

By Stuart Munro-Hay

In what seem to be rooms belonging to one of the mansions excavated in the Addi Kilte district of Aksum the remains of many purplish breccia bowls were found (Chittick 1974: fig. 25), lathe-turned and finely made. They appear to have been smashed and incorporated in the rubble make-up for a plaster floor in a room later destroyed by an intense fire; none were recovered completely. The shapes ranged from a squat flat-based bowl to a stem cup. They were probably part of the luxurious equipment of some prosperous Aksumite. Nothing like them is known from elsewhere in Ethiopia (though a few fragments of marble plates were found at Matara; Anfray and Annequin 1965: pl. LXVII, 3), and they may have been imported. A number of basins of marble and alabaster were found at Adulis, some of the impressive dimensions; a few were decorated with relief carving (Paribeni 1907: 458, 491).

Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity

1. Introduction

2. Legend, Literature, and Archaeological Discovery

• 2-1. The Legends of Aksum
  2-2. Aksum in Ancient Sources
  2-3. The Rediscovery of Aksum in Modern Times

3. The City and the State

• 3-1. The Landscape
  3-2. Origins and Expansion of the Kingdom
  3-3. The Development of Aksum; an Interpretation
  3-4. Cities, Towns, and Villages
  3-5. The Inhabitants
  3-6. Foreign Relations

4. Aksumite History

• 4-1  The Pre-Aksumite Period
  4-2  Early Aksum until the Reign of Gadarat
  4-3  Gadarat to Endubis
  4-4  Endubis to Ezana
  4-5  Ezana after his Conversion, to Kaleb
  4-6. Kaleb to the End of the Coinage
  4-7. The Post-Aksumite Period

5. The Capital City

• 5-1. The Site
  5-2. The Town Plan
  5-3. Portuguese Records of Aksum
  5-4. Aksumite Domestic Architecture
  5-5. The Funerary Architecture
  5-6. The Stelae

6. The Civil Administration

• 6-1. The Rulers
  6-2. Officials of the Government

7. The Monarchy

• 7-1. The King and the State
  7-2. The Regalia
  7-3. Dual Kingship
  7-4. Succession
  7-5. The Royal Titles
  7-6. The Coronation

8. The Economy

• 8-1. Population
  8-2. Agriculture, Husbandry, and Animal Resources
  8-3. Metal Resources
  8-4. Trade, Imports and Exports
  8-5. Local Industries
  8-6. Food

9. The Coinage

• 9-1. The Origins
  9-2. Introduction and Spread of the Coinage
  9-3. Internal Aspects of the Coinage
  9-4. The Mottoes
  9-5. The End of the Coinage
  9-6. Modern Study of the Coinage

10. Religion

• 10-1. The Pre-Christian Period
  10-2. The Conversion to Christianity
  10-3. Abreha and Atsbeha
  10-4. Ecclesiastical Development
  10-5. Churches

11. Warfare

• 11-1. The Inscriptional Record
  11-2. The Military Structure
  11-3. Weapons
  11-4. The Fleet
  11-5. The Aksumite inscriptions

12. Material Culture; the Archaeological Record

• 12-1. Pottery
  12-2. Glassware
  12-3. Stone Bowls
  12-4. Metalwork
  12-5. Other Materials

13. Language, Literature, and the Arts

• 13-1. Language
  13-2. Literature and Literacy
  13-3. The Arts
  13-4. Music and Liturgical Chant

14. Society and Death

• 14-1. Social Classes
  14-2. Funerary Practice

15. The Decline of Aksum

• 15-1. The Failure of Resources
  15-2. The Climate
  15-3. External and Internal Political Troubles
  15-4. The Najashi Ashama ibn Abjar
  15-5. The NatsaniDaniell

16.The British Institute in Eastern Africa’s Excavations at Aksum