The Return of ZADOK the Priest, and the giving of the Gift When ZADOK the priest returned to SOLOMON the King he found him sorrowful. And the King answered and said unto ZADOK the priest, “When the Queen came there appeared to me by night this vision: It seemed as if I were standing in the chamber of JERUSALEM, and the sun came down […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay Aksum was, oddly as it might seem at first, situated in the western part of the future Aksumite kingdom. This, however, must reflect the prevailing political, economic and commercial conditions long before Aksumite ambitions could have reached to an outlet on the Red Sea coast, and probably implies that the original significance […]
by E.A. Wallis Budge, [1932] The Queen of the South How this Queen was born I have discovered written in that manuscript, and in this manner also doth the Evangelist mention that woman. And our Lord JESUS CHRIST, in condemning the Jewish people, the crucifiers, who lived at that time, spake, saying: “The Queen of the […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay There are numerous occasions when ships and shipping are mentioned in Aksumite contexts. The various expeditions and trading ventures overseas would suggest that Aksum was mistress of a fleet of some kind. Though there is no really clear statement to that effect in the local sources, a fleet is mentioned in the […]
The vigorous trade which Aksum undertook was an important element in the acquisition of its power and position in the early centuries AD and was probably the origin of a good part of its wealth. Policing of the trade-routes was therefore of vital importance, and it is mentioned in the anonymous Monumentum Adulitanum inscription (Ch. […]
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 […]
In the mythology of the Greeks, we find the most probable origin of the Modes and the records of the Hindu give us the source of the Persians. Yet this may or may not have meant that they were of the same race. The Persians so famous under Cyrus were anciently called Elamites. The Code […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay There is one internal clue to the end of Aksum as a power center; the inscriptions of a certain Hatsani (ruler, or perhaps at this time merely commander or general) Daniel, found on one of the ancient granite pedestals at Aksum (Littmann 1913: IV, nos. 12-14). The title Hatsani is that which became […]
The Aksumites would doubtless have served their food in some of their large range of pottery vessels, after preparing it in the coarse-ware cooking vessels on open fires, in ovens or on charcoal-fed stoves. Much of their diet would have consisted of products of the local environment. Beef or mutton, bread, beer (sewa), honey wine […]
By Stuart Munro-Hay The Aksumites belonging to the last three categories above are those for whom we can envisage burial in the main cemeteries at Aksum. Tomb architecture and the stelae have already been discussed (Ch. 5: 5 & 6); it can be assumed that only the upper echelons of society could have had a built […]
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