External and Internal Troubles
By Stuart Munro-Hay
There are several hints that things began to go wrong in the Aksumite state in the later sixth and the early seventh century. Kaleb seems to have lost both prestige and an expensive war during his contretemps with Abreha, though after his death some sort of peace was patched up. The invasion may have been too costly a gesture for Aksum at the time, and the outlay in men and money must have had a deleterious effect on Aksumite power at home. Possibly the great plague of the 540s (Procopius; ed. Dewing 1914: 451ff), said to have emerged from Pelusium in Egypt, also had some effect on Aksum, as it did on the Roman world from the Mesopotamian provinces to Gaul, and across to Persia. The general political and commercial climate after first Yemen and then Jerusalem and Alexandria fell to the Persians must have much damaged Ethiopia’s trade in the Red Sea, and accordingly its prosperity.
To an unknown extent, troubles at the center must have generated the hope in the outlying parts of the kingdom that it was time to essay another trial of strength with the Aksumite rulers, and revolts may have occurred which further weakened the kingdom by cutting off certain internal resources and routes (see below). For example, the Beja tribes, some of which had been crushed by Ezana long ago, later became independent of the najashis (see al-Ya`qubi’s comments; Vantini 1975: 71-3) and may have caused trouble to their theoretical overlords for some time before. The Agaw who later came to power with the Zagwé dynasty may also have been involved in the unrest.
Anfray, working at Adulis, found a thick layer of ashes over some structures, and deduced that the town’s end had been brutal (1974: 753). Some historians have thought that the town was destroyed by a Muslim expedition in 640 AD, but the Arab records regard this expedition as a disaster; and it seems unlikely that it was even aimed at the Ethiopian kingdom itself, but rather against Red Sea pirates (Munro-Hay 1982i). Increasing Ethiopian inability to keep the sea-lanes free may, however, have encouraged the Arabs to occupy the Dahlak Islands later on, probably in 702AD (Hasan 1967: 30). A certain Yazid b. al-Muhallab was exiled there by the khalifa `Umar in 718/9AD. In spite of this, later Arab historians mention Dahlak as part of the dominions of the najashis.
Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity
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
- 3-1. 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
- 4-1 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
- 5-1. 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
- 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
- 8-1. 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
- 9-1. 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
- 10-1. The Pre-Christian Period
10-2. The Conversion to Christianity
10-3. Abreha and Atsbeha
10-4. Ecclesiastical Development
10-5. Churches
- 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
13. Language, Literature, and the Arts
- 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