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BRIDGING TWO WORLDS

The Aksum-Arabia AxisThe importance andinfluence of Aksum, anancient empire that onceheld sway over both sidesofthe Red Sea, is exploredby Stephen Williams.

EPARATED AT THE

point by just the 50kmwidth ofthe Bab AlMandeb straits, southernArabia and Africa havehistoric ties that dateback to the rise of one ofAfrica's greatest ancientcivilisations. Aksum (or

Axum in modern spelling) is best knownto the outside world for the enormousmonolithic stelae or obelisks that wereerected during tbe third and fourthcenturies AD. These mark the tombs oftheruling elite of a truly remarkable peoplethat controlled commerce and trade routesfrom Africa's interior across the Red Sea.

Aksum's foundations are thought tohave originated as early as 500BC althoughrelatively little archaeological work hasbeen executed, given that it is the centreof such an important ancient civilisation.Much ofthe published work relates totwo major excavation projects, the firstundertaken by a German expedition in1906 funded by the Kaiser, the second inthe early 1970s by the British East AfricaSociety, cut short by the overthrow of HaileSelassie in 1974.

Little is known ofthe pre-Aksumiteperiod and what has been written about itis hardly more than conjecture awaitingthe confirmation of hard evidence. Butwhat is clear are the links between Aksumand southern Arabia. A recent excavationhas uncovered evidence of a temple datingfrom around 500BC dedicated to the

SB TheMiddleEasT December 2006

moon-god Almaqah that bares strikingsimilarities with temples ofthe sameperiod uncovered in southern Arabia.

While it has been noted for sometime that the cultures of Aksum andsouthern Arabia have commonalities - forexample, the ancient Ethiopian languageof Ge'ez shares South Arabian roots

- some linguists are making startlingclaims that previous research has beencoloured by racist preconceptions. Thosepreconceptions hold that any developmentof African civilisations and culture canonly have been due to outside influences.

These linguists now suggest that itis possible that all Semitic languageshave their roots in a language thatwas developed in Ethiopia and spreadthroughout the Middle East from there.Similarly, some historians now believe thatthe development ofthe ox-drawn ploughmay have originated in Ethiopia not, ashad previously been assumed, importedinto Africa. What seems most likely is thatthere was a lively interchange of peoples,culture and technologies between Aksumand southern Arabia.

The Aksumite kingdom's capital owedmuch of its prosperity to its location, andits very name gives an indication oftheadvantage it held. Aksum is thought toderive from ak and shum meaning 'thechieftain's water'. Potable water was aprecious and rare commodity for anysettlement in the Red Sea region, andAksum, at a 7,200ft elevation, aiso enjoyed atemperate climate permitting the cultivationof cereals and raising of livestock.

The city-state's fertile locationproduced enough food for its population aswell as its exotic animals, such as elephantsand rhinoceros. Its proximity to the BlueNile basin and the Afar depression - theformer rich in gold deposits, the latter insalt - would also have been an importantasset to the economy.

Enjoying all these advantages, it wasalso within an accessible distance oftheRed Sea port of Adulis, and could develop

It*-

trade links with other nations ofthe ancient1̂ world. Adulis rose to prominence wilhU the growth of Roman trade, but there is1= plentiful evidence, in the form of ceramic

itrtefacts, that it was part of a vibrant RedSea trade network as early as 2000BC.

During (he zenith of Aksuni'siiiHuence, the South Arabian states of Saba,Himyar and the Hadhramawt had veryclose ties to the African empire. From thebeginning ofthe third century AD thereare several records of Aksuniite diplomaticand military excursions - some invited andwelcomed, others expeditions of conquest.V^arious treaties were entered into and theAksumite rulers, from the time of KingHzana in the fourth century, adopted thetitleof "King of Saba and Himyar'.

In the reign of Ezana's successor.King Kaleb, the use of Arabian titles wasexpanded to copy the current style in usein Arabia after Kaleb destroyed the regimeof Yusuf Asar, the lewish king who hadseized power in a region of what today isknown as Yemen. Aksumite influence alsoextended to diplomatic ties being made withthe Quraysh tribe, the mercantile rulers ot"Mecca. It i.s even suggested that Bakum, theman who rebuilt the Ka'ba, the holy shrineat Mecca in 608AD was an Aksumite.

Certainly, the master masons ofAksum were renowned for their skills,their most spectacular achievements beingthe giant stelae they erected over royaltombs. A number are still standing, thetallest heing the 23ni block of carved solidgranite usually attributed to King Ezana.The stela is intricately carved with therepresentation ot'a nine-storey house that

strikingly similar to the architectural

SUM IS BEST KNOWNFOR THE ENORMOUSMONOLITHIC STELAE OR

ELISKS THAT WEREECTED IN THE THIRD

AND FOURTH CENTURIES

MOST spectacular achievements of the masterns of Aksum were the giant obelisks they erect

December 2006 TheUiddleEast 59

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style of building still used at Hadramautin southern Yemen. But Ezana's stela is notthe biggest. Lying next to it is the obeliskusually accredited to the third century rulerKing Ranihai measuring 33m and estimatedto weigh more than 500 tons. It appears tohave toppled over either during, or shortlyafter, its erection.

Another stela lies close by under a metalshelter awaiting re-erection. This is the 26mstructure taken to Italy in three sections byBenito Mussolini, that stood in Rome untilbeing returned to Ethiopia last year. Expertsare now trying to work out how to re-erect i!

- no small task even wilh modern heavy-liftmachinery and technology.

That this stela is in three sectionsdoes assist the process, but it puts intoperspective just what an extraordinaryachievement it was for Aksumites to firstmine the solid granite blocks, carve themso precisely, move them some 4km fromtheir quarries to the royal burial site andthen erect them. Even today there are onlya handful of counterweight and boom-typeland based cranes in the world able tohandle weights of around 200 tons - andnone able to lift 300 tons.

Almost certainly, the Aksumite rulerswere able to co-ordinate the work of anarmy of masons to make the obelisks,and most probably used elephants andwooden rollers to drag the giant blocks ofstone. But just how they lifted them to theperpendicular remains a mystery - thoughto the faithful of tbe Ethiopian OrthodoxChurch, the explanation is simple. Itwas through the power of the Ark of theCovenant - according to legend bought to

COFFEE DRINKINGWAS MADEPOPULAR BYYEMEN'S SUFIS,WHO USED THEBEAN'SSTIMULATINGPROPERTIES INDEVOTIONALRITUALS

Aksum by Menelik I, the son ofthe Queenof Sbeba and King Solomon of Israel.

Close to the stelae field where KingEzana's obelisk stands - the King who,legend has it, was converted to Christianityby a Syrian priest in 344AD - is theCathedral of Saint Maryof Zion. HaileSelassie built a modern domed cathedralnext to the fourth century original.

THE'WINE'OFARABYHE LINKS BETWEENEthiopia and Arabiaalso extend tothe very earliestconsumption ofcoffee, sometimesreferred to as the'Wine of Araby'. Evenat today's record low

prices, after oil and certain preciousmetals, coffee is the world's mostvaluable, legally traded commodity.

Coffee drinking can be traced hackin time more tban 500 years, and is ahabit thought to have been miide popularby Yemen's Sufi sects who used the coffeebeans' miraculous stimulating propertiesin all-night devotional rituals.

There is a popular legend that a boynamed Kaldi, an Ethiopian goatherd,observed the effect of coffee on his flockafter they chewed the beans of a wild

»plant.Although agreeing that coffee

was originally indigenous to Ethiopia,according to the historian and coffeetrader Antony Wild, in his book Cojfee-A Dark History, we must tbank theChinese and, ironically, their habit of teadrinking for the adoption of this drink.

Wild suggests thaL the celebratedtreasure fleets sent by the ChineseMing dynasty Yongle Emperor tothe Indian Ocean (there were sevenvoyages between 1405 and 1433) broughtwith them the habit of brewing teasby infusion. After the Chinese ceasedmaking tbeir visits to the Red Sea regionand because tea was unknown in Arabiaat that time, efforts were made to find asuitable alternative.

Given that there were extensivecontacts between Arabia and Ethiopia,it could well be that a trader seeking atea substitute' learnt about the Africanplant. Alternatively, the coffee plant

may have been imported into Yemenfrom Ethiopia as a botanical sample andcultivated during the Rasulid period atTa'izz in the king's gardens, the beansbeing only later identified as suitable foruse as a drink.

In his hook. Wild adds weight to the'Chinese' hypothesis by describing howcoffee was served amongst Yemen's Sulicommunities, and the glazed potterythey used, especially the small bowls,bear a striking resemblance to Chineseporcelain tea-drinking bowls of the sameera and sotne even have rudimentaryimitations of the classic blue and whiteChinese patterns.

Sufis did not live in cloisteredisolation and coffee seems to have spreadto the Yemini population at large bythe late 15th and early 16th centuries,coinciding with the rise of the OttomanEmpire, After much initial debate,controversy and prohibition, the spreadofthe Ottoman Empire went hand inhand with the spread of the consumptionofthe beverage.

Interestingly, there is not a trace of]evidence tbat coffee was drunk in theAksum empire itself, so even thoughthe plant itself originated in Ethiopia it̂would appear that drinking coffee wasnot but, instead, was introduced backinto the region from Arabia.

Yet, as Wild himself adds in anappendix to his fascinating book, thediscovery of two carbonised coffeebeans at Kush in the UAE adds afurther twist to the date ofthe originsof coffee drinking. An archaeologicaldig discovered the beans, along with thepresence of shards of Yemini potterythat can he accurately dated, indicatingthe possibility that the trade in coffeeactually predates the known evidenceof its ritual use by Sufis by more than300 years.

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supposedly because women were forbiddenentrance to the old church. Between thetwo is a small building where, it is said,resides Aksum's most famous religiousartefact, the Ark of the Covenant.

The story regarding the Queen of Shebaand her visit to King Solomon has spawnedmany different legends throughout theMiddle East and Africa. The Ethiopianversion is derived from a text written inthe 14th century that says that the Queenof Sheba was Makeda, the daughter ofthe legendary hero Angabo who ruledAksum in the first century AD. Legendhas it that Makeda, hearing of Solomon'sgreat wisdom, went to lerusalem witha large retinue carrying expensive gifts.Solomon welcomed her and they becamelovers. When Makeda (the Queen ofSheba) returned to Aksum, she had bothconverted to Judaism and was pregnant.She gave birth to a son, Menelik, and when

he grew up, she sent him to Jerusalem tomeet his father.

After three years in Teruslaem, Menelikdecided to return to Aksum, accompaniedon the king's instructions by Solomon'shigh commissioners' eldest sons and1,000 members of each ofthe 12 tribes ofIsrael. One ofthe sons who accompaniedhim. Azariah, the first-born son ofthehigh priest ofthe temple of Jerusalem,apparently was told by God to take withhim the Ark of the Covenant. Menelik alsodreamed that God had instructed him tocarry the Ark with him, and Solomon, whohad a similar dream of the Ark, agreed,although he insisted the disappearanceshould be kept a secret from his people.

Many historians dispute this legendand treat it as a myth, but most Ethiopiansbelieve in it implicitly and that makesAksum, as well as the most historicallysignificant town, the holiest place in the

EVEN WITH today's record low prices, afteroil and certain precious metals, coffee is theworld's most valuable legally traded commodity

country. What is interesting is that mostacademics believe the biblical Queen ofSheba was Queen Bilkis of Sabea in presentday Yemen - another cultural link betweenEthiopia and Yemen.

And historians discount local legendsat their cost - as the story of the ruins ofthe Queen of Sheba's palace attest. Theseruins, just outside Aksum, were untilquite recently dismissed by westernarchaeologists as probably being built in theseventh century AD, more than 1,500 yearsafter the queen would have died. However,carbon dating tests have subsequentlyindicated that the 50-room palace may infact date to the pre-Christian period andthose archaeologists are now busy revisingtheir theories. •

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