Overview and Geography of The Kingdom of Aksum

Axum also was known as present-day Eritrea is located near the red sea and is close to Ethiopia’s northern border. Aksum had a region of high central plateaus that differ from 1,290 to 3,000 ft above sea level and the highest mountain reaching at 14,872 ft. A various number of rivers cut across the plateau like the Lake Tana and the Blue Nile. Most all of the large rivers flow in the direction of the Nile.

The climate varies from February to April it has short rains and from mid-June and mid-September, it has big rains the max temperature is usually 78.8 °F and the min is 39.2 °F.

Natural resources were gold, platinum copper and natural gas. 20% of the land is under cultivation and some of the lands were too rugged or dry for agriculture.

Axum is known as one of the most innovative city/states in the African region. Axum was quickly becoming a dominant region in terms of politics. Axum’s government was ruled by a monarch. The first king to ever rule the great land of Axum was King Zoskales. By the third century A.D. Axum had established its own currency. It began its manufacturing of coins, the first city in Africa to do so, by using its depictions of leaders and the cross of Christianity. Around this time, King Ezana was the ruler of Axum and was the first king to introduce Christianity as the dominant religion of Axum. Most citizens of Also, Axum did in fact own slaves that were used to do mostly farm work.

Axum’s demographics can be quite surprising. The city/state held an estimated 56,000 people with around 26,000 being female and 30,000 being male.

The economy in Axum was one of the strongest in the African Region. They were one of the first African kingdoms to adopt their own form of currency. King Endubis around 270 A.D. was the first king to introduce the currency along with mints to create the new coin. Eventually, the Islamic Empire took control of the Red Sea and most of the Nile, forcing Axum into economic isolation. One of the reasons for the strong economy is the many trading connections they have with much larger empires like India and Persia. The reason for these connections was because of being directly between the two empires near the Red Sea.

The great kingdom of Axum has many sights to see. One of the most important sites to visit would be the obelisks around Axum. These monuments tower at around 34 meters and are around 1,700 years old. These obelisks are seen today as a symbol of identity to the Ethiopian people. Another sight to see would be the old cathedrals of St. Mary of Zion. These cathedrals were originally built by King Ezana.

Aksum was located in East Africa and existed from 100 AD to 940 AD and was influenced by many religions like Christianity and Judaism and this also affected how the government was run. During 50 A.D and 600 A.D they were the most influential. Goods from many other countries were sold in Aksum and immense wealth traveled in to Aksum. They exported goods to Egypt, Rome, Arabia, and Greece. The goods they transported were ivory, spices, and gold and in exchange, they would get metals, jewelry, and cloth they also got ideas and news from the other countries. Being a farmer in Aksum was tough but there were ways to make your life easier. Building dams or they could make a pond to hold water.

Aksum had many hills so that made so the land couldn’t hold moisture very well to solve this problem they build these thing called terraces which worked by building levels areas of land and that keep moisture better and made it a lot easier to farm.