Aksum Empire Ethiopia - The Source of Christianity and Civilization of the World

 

 

'Obelisk at Axum'. Daniel Havell, after Henry Salt. From Twenty-four views taken in St Helena, the Cape, India, Ceylon, the Red Sea, Abyssinia & Egypt. 1809.

 

The city of Aksum is the capital of the East African Empire of Aksum and has been thriving since the 1st century AD. The 3rd-century Persian prophet Mani named the Aksumite Empire as one of the ‘four great kingdoms on Earth’ together with Babylon, Persia, Rome and China.

The city of Aksum is situated approximately 50 kilometres northeast of the Takezze River and 150 kilometres southwest of the Red Sea, at an altitude of approximately 2,100 metres. It is in a plain area between the hills of Beta Giyorgis, to the north west, and May Qoho, to the north east.

The city itself extends over an area of more than 1.2 square kilometres and is the largest city in this region. While not as large as some of the major cities in East Africa, such as Alexandria, it is slightly smaller than Roman London and approximately the same size as pre-Islamic Damascus.

 

Eduard Zander (1813–1868), drawing of a view of the Cathedral of Aksum from a sketchbook recording scenery and people of Ethiopia. Pen and black ink, 1853.