Aksumites

The Aksumites were the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Aksum, a powerful trading state in what is today northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. Flourishing from the 1st through the 7th centuries CE, the Aksumite state grew into a major power in the region, controlling parts of the Red Sea littoral and inland caravan routes. The kingdom emerged as a successor to the earlier D'mt polity and established Axum (Aksum) as its capital.

The Aksumite economy rested on long-distance trade in gold, ivory, frankincense, textiles, and other commodities. They maintained a dominant position in Red Sea commerce, linking the African interior with port towns such as Adulis. They minted coins from the 4th century onward, often bearing the king’s portrait and inscriptions in Greek or South Arabian scripts, reflecting Hellenistic and Near Eastern influences.

Architecturally, the Aksumites are known for monumental stelae and obelisks, royal tombs, and rock-cut churches. They adopted Christianity in the 4th century, with Ezana and the missionary Frumentius among the key figures, making Christianity the state religion and fostering a distinctive Christian culture in the region.

In the later centuries, pressures from the expansion of Islam and shifting trade networks contributed to the decline of the Aksumite state, with political power fading by the 7th–8th centuries. The legacy of Aksumite statecraft and Christian heritage persists in Ethiopian and regional history, and in archaeological remains such as the city of Axum and its stelae.