Axum Kingdom

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the powerful ancient kingdom centred on the city of Axum in the northern Ethiopian highlands, at its height between approximately 100 and 940 CE, and one of the great powers of the ancient world alongside Rome, Persia, and China according to the third-century Persian prophet Mani; the Axumite state controlled trade routes linking the Mediterranean, Red Sea, and Indian Ocean, exporting ivory, gold, and frankincense in exchange for silk, spices, and ceramics; Axum is notable for adopting Christianity as its state religion under King Ezana around 330 CE, making it one of the world's first Christian states; the kingdom erected towering stone obelisks or stelae as monuments, several of which still stand in modern Axum, Ethiopia; the Axumite state is considered the cultural and political ancestor of the modern Ethiopian state