The object of the author, or compiler, and the later editors of the KEBRA NAGAST (no matter what its original form may have been), was to glorify ETHIOPIA by narrating the history of the coming of the “spiritual and heavenly ZION“, the Tabernacle of the Law of the God of Israel, of her own free will from JERUSALEM to ETHIOPIA, and to make it […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay The most significant of the Portuguese accounts of Aksum is undoubtedly that of Francisco Alvares (or Alvarez), who came to Aksum in 1520. He was a careful and sympathetic observer who noted a good deal about the town, including details of many of the then extant monuments. His account has the special […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay These are the most famous of all the monuments of Aksum. They range from very rough and simple stones erected to mark grave-pits, to massive sculpted towers which represent soaring multi-storeyed palaces. Such huge monuments represent an enormous outlay of labour and skill, particularly in the most elaborate specimens. There are six […]
by Stuart Munro-Hay The Legends of Aksum The town of Aksum is today only a small district center, not even the capital of the northern Ethiopian province of Tigray in which it is situated. However, despite this relative unimportance in modern times, Aksum’s past position is reflected by the prime place it occupies in the […]
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 […]
11-1. The Inscriptional Record By Stuart Munro-Hay An important aspect of the Aksumite kings’ responsibilities was the conduct of military campaigns, the main theme of almost all the Aksumite royal inscriptions which have survived (see Ch. 11: 5). The significance of this element for the kings is emphasized by Ezana’s identification in the pagan period […]
Aksumite Ethiopia possessed a mainly agricultural and pastoral economy, and its geographical situation gave it access to an unusual variety of environments which could be seasonally exploited for crop growing or grazing (Connah 1987; Phillipson 1989). The agricultural resource base, depending on rainfall and soil quality, seems to have been of far richer potential in […]
India has always been a land of mystery. The facts of her beginning and the origin of her culture have been the subject of much contradiction. Some would pronounce her a land of late development and that her rock-hewn temples and hoary monuments were built after the beginning of the Christian era. Rawlinson says of […]
Ancient Origin By Robin Whitlock Ever wondered where the Queen of Sheba got her gold from? Sudan and Ethiopia are both in the region of what was the kingdom of Sheba, and both have ancient mines. In fact, the Asosa zone of Ethiopia could contain the oldest gold mine in the world at 6000 years […]
This volume contains a complete English translation of the famous Ethiopian work, The “KEBRA NAGAST“, i.e. the “Glory of the Kings [of Ethiopia]”. This work has been held in peculiar honor in ABYSSINIA for several centuries, and throughout that country it has been, and still is, venerated by the people as containing the final proof of their descent […]
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