The End of the Coinage

By Stuart Munro-Hay

From the introduction of the `tremissis’, the Aksumite coinage denominations seem to have changed very little. The gold continued into the seventh century, stable in weight but more and more debased with silver, and increasingly degenerate in appearance, with often badly-written Greek legends. Probably, by this period, the internal decline of the country represented by the debasement of the gold coins was supplemented by the closure of trade routes by Persian and then Muslim activity, marking the end of the old Red Sea commerce. How long money continued to be used in preference to other currency goods such as salt blocks or cloth (which al-Muqaddasi says was used as a medium of exchange in Ethiopia in the 10th century; Vantini 1975: 176) is not known. The end of the coinage may have been gradual or resulted from an Aksumite military defeat. At any rate, severance of the trading links which had given the original impetus to the coinage, or instability in the country’s internal affairs, seems to have ended Aksum’s long experience of a monetary system not many decades after 600AD.

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