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By the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine, Christianity had been taught all around the Roman Empire; in countries like Italy and Greece in southern Europe; in the countries like Syria and Turkey in the Middle East; and in countries like Egypt and Libya in North Africa. One of the most important early Christians, St. Augustine, was bishop of the North African city of Hippo. He was a famous teacher and writer. The very first monks lived in Egypt, usually out in the desert. The Egyptian city of Alexandria, which Alexander the Great had built so long ago, became important in the Christian world. The bishops of Alexandria were leaders in the early church.
Missionaries traveled beyond the Roman Empire, not only north into Europe but also south into Africa. Some of these missionaries went south of Egypt into Nubia and Axum. Nubia lay directly south of Egypt and today is called Sudan. Axum is southeast and is part of the modern nation of Ethiopia. You already know that Nubia has a history going back as far as Egypt’s history. Axum also has a long history that I will tell you now.
Axum was located on the shore of the Red Sea. It is just a short distance across the water from Arabia. A thousand years before Christ, some people from Saba on the tip of Arabia migrated to Axum, settled, and mixed with the people there. Later, the kings of Axum conquered and ruled Saba. You can see these two peoples had a lot to do with each other over the years.
One Queen of Sheba (a place also known as Saba) is said to have gone to Jerusalem at the invitation of the Hebrew King Solomon. Perhaps she was one of his wives. In any case, there is a legend that has been told for many years in Ethiopia that the kings there are descended from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Even the last king of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, who ruled until 1974, claimed that the famous Biblical king and queen were his great, great, great, great . . . grandparents.
Because of its long seacoast, Axum became a trading center. Ships from Axum sailed north along the Red Sea to Egypt, south in the Indian Ocean along the east coast of Africa, and across that ocean all the way to India. The ships carried valuable goods like gold and ivory and spices. Axum also sent caravans across the desert to trade with places that could not be reached by water. Axumite merchants traded with the Roman Empire. Merchants from Rome and Greece came to live in Axum to conduct business there. Axum became a very rich kingdom. The kings wore luxurious robes and rode in chariots pulled by elephants. One king of Axum is particularly famous. This is King Ezana, who came to the throne around 330 A.D., just around the time of the Roman Emperor Constantine.
Northeastern Africa
Like most ancient rulers, King Ezana was a military leader. He extended his empire by conquering his neighbors. But he is best known because he converted to Christianity. He was converted by two young Christians from Syria who were brought as slaves to Axum. Legend has it that these young men either were shipwrecked or were captured by pirates in the Red Sea. Since they knew how to write, they were brought to the king’s court to work as scribes. One worked particularly hard to convert King Ezana. When he succeeded, Ezana made Christianity the official religion of his nation. The Christians of Axum were in close contact with the Christians of Alexandria, Egypt. At first, Christians in both Egypt and Axum held their services in Greek. Later they began to worship in their own languages, Coptic in Egypt and Ge’ez in Axum. The king of Axum had the Bible translated into Ge’ez.
Axum remained a Christian kingdom through the centuries. In the Middle Ages, when the Christian countries in Europe were building the great cathedrals that you will read about in later chapters, the kings of Axum were also building great churches. Some of these are unlike any other churches that you will ever see. One king, a man named Lalibela, sent stone carvers into a remote mountain area. First the carvers cut deep down into underground rock and made trenches. Then the workers were lowered into the trenches to carve the actual churches out of the solid rock. One has the shape of a cross. The largest is more than one hundred feet long. Inside, beautiful paintings with bright colors and gold leaf decorate the walls and altars. If you travel to Ethiopia, you can still visit these churches today.
Several centuries after the time of King Ezana, Axum was cut off from most of the Christian world. Arabs, whom you will read about in the next chapter, conquered all of North Africa and established a new religion called Islam Some people in Egypt continued to be Christians, but most Egyptians and also many Nubians were converted to Islam. Axum was cut off from many of its old trade routes, so Axum’s wealth declined. The country did manage to preserve its independence and its religion. Because they were so far away, Europeans lost track of the Ethiopian Christians. But they were still there. And now we have rediscovered their history.