Axum

Axum, once capital of an Ethiopian kingdom, is now in the modern Abyssinian province of Tigré, and lies mainly in ruins. Pop. 2000. The former greatness of the city is testified by yet remaining structures cut in granite, of which the most notable are a church, broken columns, and a great obelisk. Some of the ruins bear inscriptions, from which it appears that the Axumite empire extended over Abyssinia, and even over Yemen and Saba in Arabia, and possessed the command of the Red Sea. This country was the farthest point southward that Greek civilisation reached. Under King Aizanes (4th century), Christianity was introduced into the country from Egypt by the two apostles Frumentius and Aedesius. The new doctrine soon spread over the whole country; Frumentius was made the first Bishop of Axum, and the Axumite form of the language became the ecclesiastical language of Abyssinia. The Axumite empire formed the outermost bulwark of Christianity; and, as such, in its interference in behalf of the Christians in Arabia, it became the natural antagonist of Mohammedanism. The contests in which it soon became involved with that power caused its fall.