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The earliest state in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia was Dʿmt, dated around the 8th and 7th centuries BCE. D'mt traded through the Red Sea with Egypt and the Mediterranean, providing frankincense. By the 5th and 3rd centuries, D'mt had declined, and several successor states took its place. Later there was greater trade with southern Arabia, mainly with the port of Saba. Adulis became an important commercial center in the Ethiopian Highlands. The interaction of the peoples in the two regions, the southern Arabia Sabaeans and the northern Ethiopians, resulted in the Ge'ez culture and language and eventual development of the Ge'ez script. Trade links increased and expanded from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, with Egypt, Greece, and Rome, to the Black Sea, and to Persia, India, and China. Aksum was known throughout those lands. By the 5th century BCE, the region was very prosperous, exporting ivory, hippopotamus hides, gold dust, spices, and live elephants. It imported silver, gold, olive oil, and wine. Aksum manufactured glass crystal, brass, and copper for export. A powerful Aksum emerged, unifying parts of eastern Sudan, northern Ethiopia (Tigre), and Eritrea. Its kings built stone palatial buildings and were buried under megalithic monuments. By 300 CE, Aksum was minting its own coins in silver and gold.[42] In 331 CE, King Ezana (320–350 CE) was converted to Monophysite Christianity supposedly by Frumentius and Aedesius, who were stranded on the Red Sea coast. Some scholars believed the process was more complex and gradual than a simple conversion. Around 350, the time Ezana sacked Meroe, the Syrian monastic tradition took root within the Ethiopian church.[43] In the 6th century, Aksum was powerful enough to add Saba on the Arabian peninsula to her empire. At the end of the 6th century, the Persians pushed Aksum out of the peninsula. With the spread of Islam through western Asia and northern Africa, Aksum's trading networks in the Mediterranean were closed. The Red Sea trade diminished as it was diverted to the Persian Gulf and dominated by Arabs, causing Aksum to decline. By 800 CE, the capital was moved south into the interior highlands, and Aksum was much diminished.[44] It was considered on par with China, Rome, and Persia by Mani [45] |
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