Introduction

One of the mightiest agricultural societies formed in East Africa. It is called the Aksum Empire. The empire was strongest during the 200s CE. Some ancient writers believed it was one of the four great powers of the world. The other three were Rome, Persia, and China.

Agriculture started late in Africa. In 3000 BCE, early humans in West Africa discovered agriculture on their own. One reason for this late start is that communities in this area already had other resources. Many foraged and raised animals. Some communities also avoided agriculture. They believed agriculture would make life less healthy and enjoyable.

Collective Learning from Two Agrarian Networks

Agriculture began in the Fertile Crescent. This area includes modern-day countries like Egypt and Iraq. Thousands of years later, the Fertile Crescent grew larger. It had more communication with the Northern Horn. The communities of the Northern Horn learned about agriculture from Egypt and Southwest Asia.

By 2000 BCE, most communities in the Northern Horn were semi-nomadic. They made use of foraging, farming, and pastoralism. They still used stone tools, as copper and bronze were rare in the region. But they eventually began to use iron. Some people in the region still foraged without making the shift to farming.

But farming knowledge from Southwest Asia and Egypt eventually moved along trade networks. To the south, the rest of Africa started farming slowly. But East Africa was influenced by their location between these two major trade networks.

Early East African states

Around the same time, there was an agricultural society in the Northern Horn. It was called D’mt. This kingdom reached its height between 1000 and 500 BCE. When D’mt fell, the area was full of small kingdoms like Aksum.

For many years, Aksum was just a tiny settlement in the Northern Horn. Then in 30 BCE, something changed. The Romans conquered Egypt. This brought Aksum into contact with the Mediterranean. Aksum began focusing less on trade in the Persian Gulf. Instead, they focused on trade in the Red Sea, which connected India and the Roman Empire.

Aksum at the center of Afro-Eurasia

Aksum managed trade between India and the Mediterranean. It traded in gold, spices, exotic animals, and much more. This trade helped Aksum quickly become a powerful kingdom.

Many monuments were built in Aksum. It also had stone columns called stelae. Carvings on the stelae show the Aksum had a social hierarchy for ranking people in society. Archeologists have also found Aksum coins hundreds of miles away in places like Rome and India. This shows that Aksum participated in a large trade network.

During the 200s CE, Aksum began using its military to grow even larger. Aksum was one of the true powers of the ancient world. They could afford swords and ships. There were no other kingdoms in East Africa to challenge them. Aksum was in the center of an ancient trade network that connected Africa, Europe, and Asia. This made it easy for them to learn about new technologies.

Social and political history of Aksum

Aksum was made up of smaller kingdoms, each with their own king. However, the Aksum king was the “king of kings.” The smaller kingdoms gave him a payment called tribute. The Aksum king put warriors in these smaller kingdoms to keep them from rebelling.

Agriculture and herding were the main ways the Aksum kingdom made money. As the population grew, certain cities did too. The city of Aksum became the main center for kings and the royal court. The city of Adulis grew into a large market town.

New ideas were traded, too. The upper-class Aksum adopted parts of Greek culture. Aksum religion also changed. It began as a belief in many different spirits. It later changed to include gods inspired by the stars and planets.

As Aksum grew, so did its trade connections with the Roman Empire. Christianity had recently become the state religion of the Roman Empire. Later, it also became the official religion of Aksum. Christianity probably came to Aksum on trade networks. Christianity linked Aksum with the Roman Empire.

Some historical sources say the Aksum royal children had a tutor from the Roman Empire named Frumentius. Frumentius may have influenced the royal family to adopt Christianity. However, Aksum still blended its traditions with Christianity.

Decline

The kingdom of Aksum continued even after the Western Roman Empire fell in the 400s CE. However, its desire to expand ended up destroying it. In the 500s CE, Aksum ran out of money for its conquests. Upper-class Aksum people were fighting each other. Around 541 CE, Aksum was hit with the Justinianic Plague. Experts believe this plague was the same disease that caused the Black Death in the 1300s CE. Aksum survived off profits from trade, but its territory shrank.

Note: This original version of this article is from the Big History Project (lesson 7.1). It has been modified for WHP.