December 5, 2018

Aksumite Materials

A very large number of stone tools are noted by various excavators at Aksum and other sites. They generally seem to be smallish scrapers, made of such materials as agate, chalcedony, and obsidian (Munro-Hay 1989; Anfray 1963: pl. CXIb). Probably they were used to treat some other material, such as skins, wood, or ivory. Paribeni (1907: 450) noted that the obsidian and other utensils found at Adulis did not mean that the levels from which they came were of great antiquity; he suggested that perhaps such implements continued in use among the poorer elements of the population long after metal tools were made or imported, and either this or some specialist use as suggested above doubtless explains their presence in a number of contexts at Aksum (Munro-Hay 1989; Puglisi 1941). Larger axes of polished stone were found also at Matara, one made of serpentine (Anfray and Annequin 1965: pl. LXIV, 4; LXV, 2). All sorts of grind-stones or polishers, and a variety of stone mortars come from Aksumite sites, doubtless used for grinding everything from grain to eye-paint and spices (Anfray 1963: pl. CXIIb-c; Anfray and Annequin 1965: pl. LXVII, 4). A lava specimen from Adulis was found complete, with an upper and lower stone, the former furnished with a pivot, the latter with a hole for the pivot and two lateral holes for wooden handles to assist in the rotation (Paribeni 1907: 498: fig. 26). From Matara and Adulis came stone images of very plump females, a type which has also been found in pottery from the same places (Anfray 1968: fig. 13; Paribeni 1907: 498-9, fig. 27, 486).

Ivory artifacts from the 4th C. Tomb of the Brick Arches furniture panel. The British Acadamy

Two small stone objects have been found which may have served as seals, both being pierced for suspension. One, from Aksum, was of white stone with an indistinguishable design carved on one end, and another, from Adulis, in black and white variegated stone, was pierced longitudinally like a bead, and bore the image of two winged griffins, summarily carved (Munro-Hay 1989; Paribeni 1907: 493, fig. 23). The onyx bezel of a ring engraved with an eagle on a globe, an opal bezel bearing an image identified as Jupiter Ammon, and a carnelian inscribed with four letters in perhaps an Indian script, as yet unidentified, were also found at Adulis (Paribeni 1907: 521, 526, 529). Objects of this class may well have belonged to members of Adulis’ international merchant community. Only one little leather object, somewhat of the shape of the stelae-tops at Aksum (Chittick 1974: fig. 24c), and a few fragments of ivory, including possible gaming pieces from Adulis and part of a decorated ivory vase from Matara (Paribeni 1907: 454, 486; Anfray 1963: pl. CXIa), now remain to testify to these industries.

Details of ivory furniture panels from the Tomb of Bricks. The British Acadamy

Bone appears to have been used for knife-handles, in one case decorated with bronze nails (Paribeni 1907: 480). Tiny fragments of ostrich eggshell from Adulis (Paribeni 1907: 454, 458, 517) may hint at its use, perhaps in one of the forms still seen in Ethiopia — cut into discs and pierced as beads, or used entirely to decorate roof-finials, particularly on churches. Shells were used as decoration, at least at Adulis, where they were easier to obtain. They were probably sewn, as in relatively recent times, onto cloth or skins (Paribeni 1907: 485-6), and one example even bore an inscribed word in Greek letters (Paribeni 1907: 490). Fragments of coral (and even sponge) were also found at Adulis, as well as a large piece of amber (Paribeni 1907: 517, 519, 524, 528). Wood from Aksumite times is rare, but is known as a building material, and was also probably used for furniture. In the Tomb of the Brick Arches at Aksum traces of wood were found on glass-inlaid bronze plaques, which seem to have come from a wooden chest, and the coins of king Armah depict a tall-backed chair or throne, perhaps made of carved or turned wood. There must have been other Aksumite wooden furniture, as well as structural elements in buildings, such as pillar shafts, capitals, doors or shutters, or roof-paneling such as at Debra Damo. Traces of some of this ancient work may still survive in some of the old churches of Tigray and other provinces of Ethiopia, but what little has been found is very hard to date.