UNESCO Ancient Civilizations of Africa (Editor G. Mokhtar)

Ancient Civilizations of Africa
Aksumite area: several others, of south Arabian type, belong to the second
half of the last millennium before our era. The south Arabian script was
the model for the Ethiopie. The shape of the letters changed considerably
in the second century of our era, moving away from the south Arabian
script.
It is certain that other vestiges of these early centuries exist, apart from
the writing; remains of buildings, pottery and other objects. But in the
present state of research it has not been possible to identify them. Several
monuments of the third or the beginning of the fourth century, such as
the stelae at Matara and Anza, show that Aksumite civilization did not
break completely with the culture of the pre-Aksumite period. They show,
engraved or in relief, the lunar symbol of a disc over a crescent in the same
form as on the perfume-braziers of the fifth century before our era. The
same symbol is also found on the coins. Writing with south Arabian
affinities is still to be seen on the great stones of Ezana and Kaleb. But there
are important changes. The inscriptions show that religion had altered.
The old gods were no longer invoked, and all the other emblems - ibex,
lion, sphinx and so on - had been abandoned, with the exception of the
lunar symbol. For at this period a new form of civilization was coming into
being, quite distinct from that of the preceding period, for this reason
known as the pre-Aksumite. In so far as the sites reveal it, this phenomenon
can be observed in many other aspects of cultural life.
Aksumite sites
Adulis and Aksum which, according to the Periplus, were at the two ends of
the route used in antiquity, are the most important of these sites, and also
the only ones where the ancient name, attested in texts and inscriptions,
has been preserved locally down to the present. Adulis is a deserted site,
but the people of the nearby villages still call the ruins Azuli. All, or nearly
all, the other ancient sites have names which are certainly not those of
Aksumite antiquity. They are mainly concentrated in the eastern part of
the area, from Aratou in the north to Nazret in the south, and include
Tokonda, Matara, Etch-Marè and the great sites at Kohaito, which is
identified not implausibly with Koloè. (See the map included in Chapter 16.)
Aksum
The city of Aksum, and the kingdom of the same name, enjoyed a great
reputation in the third century of our era, according to a text of the period
attributed to Mani, which describes the kingdom as the 'third in the world'.
And indeed in the town itself, great buildings and much other material
evidence preserve the memory of a great historical epoch. Gigantic stelae
(one of them the tallest carved monolith there is), a huge stone table, massive
throne bases, fragments of columns, royal tombs, what appear to be
extensive remains underneath an eighteenth-century basilica - all these,
together with legends and traditions, tell the visitor of a glorious past.
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