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An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity
November 4, 2018

Metal Resources

Local exploitation of mineral resources is not well documented, but gold seems to have come from Sudan (Sasu), some southern Ethiopian regions and possibly Gojjam, Eritrea, and the Beja country, and iron ore, silver, lead and tin are also mentioned, though mostly from Portuguese sources (Connah 1987: 72; Pankhurst 1961: 224-9). The gold trade from the south is known from the sixth century (Kosmas, ed. WolskaConus 1968: 360-1), and reports about Ethiopia’s wealth in gold reached ludicrous heights in later times (Pankhurst 1961: 224-7). Kosmas’ story about the exchange of gold for iron, salt and cattle is supported by de Almeida’s account (Beckingham and Huntingford 1954: 149) of gold obtained in his day from Cafraria (a general name for the lands extending from the southern kingdom of Enarya east to Malindi and west to Angola), where the Cafres exchanged it for clothing, cows, salt and other goods. Even when Bruce was in Ethiopia, gold from the south was exchanged for similar products, iron and copper, skins and hides, and beads (Pankhurst 1961: 227). Alvares (Beckingham and Huntingford 1961: 159-60, 457) was tempted to try his own experiments at gold-washing in Aksum, inspired by reports that much gold was found after storms. His attempts may have been doomed to failure through a misunderstanding; doubtless, his informants referred to the finding of small gold objects, such as coins, rather than actual gold in the soil as occurred in Damot or Enarya far to the southwest (Pankhurst 1961: 224-7).

Even now the people of Aksum find considerable quantities of ancient coins after the rains have washed the soil away. Some gold has also been reported from Gojjam, much closer to Aksum (Pankhurst 1961: 224; Kirwan 1972: 171; Crawford 1958) and ancient gold workings are claimed in Eritrea (Tringali 1965: 151-2; see also the brief note on material from the Museum of Mankind appended to the account of the Adulis excavations of 1868, Munro-Hay 1989i) and in the Beja territory (Kobishchanov 1979: 134), where there was much activity from the ninth century when the Arabs became interested (Hasan 1973: 50). The greater part of the gold, that from the south, was found by panning or by searching river beds and was not from mines. Silver seems not to have been common, but some reports of mines exist from the Portuguese period (Pankhurst 1961: 227-8). Possibly the considerable issues of silver coins, over some 300 years, depended on imported silver, but this seems very unlikely in view of the amounts used and the fact that many silver issues were adorned with gold overlay, scarcely necessary if the metal itself were already a rarity.

It seems probable that the Aksumites had local silver sources, possibly including some of those mentioned by the Portuguese in later centuries. Doubtless, the exploitation of precious metals was kept as much as possible under state control. Sources of iron ore were apparently fairly common in Tigray (Pankhurst 1961: 228-9; Fr. Raffaello Francescano in Monneret de Villard 1938: 60). Copper and bronze do not seem to be noted except as an import in the Periplus (Huntingford 1980: 21-2), though tin was apparently available in later times (Pankhurst 1961: 229).

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

The Coronation Modern Study of the Coinage

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