EAS_Foundations _PPC_20mm_v2:B+B 20.04.2011 15:41 Page 1 EASTERN AFRICA SERIES P H his well-illustrated book presents an up-to-date survey of a key period I L in the history of northern Ethiopia and south-central Eritrea when the L region’s unique civilisation arose. The evidence derived from I P archaeological and linguistic research is used alongside oral and S O written sources to provide a comprehensive overview. The result offers N not only a major contribution to understanding the African past in its widest setting, but also a stimulating example, the importance of which AF is not restricted toAfrican studies, of how different disciplines combine Ko to illustrate the past. S u U During the last millennium BC, literate communities flourished in the Mn northern Horn, giving rise to the Aksumite civilisation whose d & achievements and intercontinental significance are today increasingly a T recognised. Aksum is now seen as the ancestor of the region’s medieval t H i Christian kingdom whose churches and associated art draw ever- Eo increasing numbers of tourists to Ethiopia. The book is presented in a Nn manner accessible to the general reader, but with comprehensive Os references and guidance to controversies and research needs that will Ro render it invaluable to specialists and students. T f H David W. Phillipson is the former Director, Cambridge University Ea Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, & Professor of African Rn Archaeology, Cambridge University. He is a Fellow of the British N Academy and past-President of the British Institute in Eastern Africa. A H He directed major archaeological excavations at Aksum in the 1990s Of r and has recently published a study of early Ethiopian churches. Ri Nc Contents: Introduction & Background – The Last Millennium BC – Aksumite a David W Phillipson Civilisation – After Aksum – Postscript – Bibliography 1n 0 Foundations 0 Cover: Published in association with the British Institute in Eastern Africa 0C B i Arada Books (Addis Ababa)? Cv of an African i –l i As Civilisation Da t 1 i 3o 0 0n AKSUM & THE NORTHERN HORN an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd 1000 BC – AD 1300 PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF and 668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620, USA www.boydellandbrewer.com www.jamescurrey.com Eastern Africa Series FOUNDATIONS OF AN AFRICAN CIVILISATION Eastern Africa Series Women’s Land Rights & Privatization in Eastern Africa BIRGIT ENGLERT & ELIZABETH DALEY (EDS) War & the Politics of Identity in Ethiopia KJETIL TRONVOLL Moving People in Ethiopia ALULA PANKHURST & FRANçOIS PIGUET (EDS) Living Terraces in Ethiopia ELIZABETH E. WATSON Eritrea GAIM KIBREAB Borders & Borderlands as Resources in the Horn of Africa DEREJE FEYISSA & MARKUS VIRGIL HOEHNE (EDS) After the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan ELKE GRAWERT (ED.) Land, Governance, Conflict & the Nuba of Sudan GUMA KUNDA KOMEY Ethiopia JOHN MARKAKIS Resurrecting Cannibals HEIKE BEHREND Pastoralism & Politics in Northern Kenya & Southern Ethiopia GŰNTHER SCHLEE & ADULLAHI A. SHONGOLO Islam & Ethnicity in Northern Kenya & Southern Ethiopia GŰNTHER SCHLEE with ADULLAHI A. SHONGOLO Foundations of an African Civilisation DAVID W. PHILLIPSON Regional Integration, Identity & Citizenship* in the Greater Horn of Africa KIDANE MENGISTEAB & REDIE BEREKETEAB (EDS) * forthcoming Foundations of an African Civilisation Aksum & the northern Horn 1000 BC - AD 1300 DAVID W. PHILLIPSON Litt.D., F.B.A., F.S.A. James Currey is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 3DF (GB) and of Boydell & Brewer Inc. 668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 (US) www.boydellandbrewer.com www.jamescurrey.com © David W. Phillipson 2012 First published 2012 1 2 3 4 5 15 14 13 12 All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system, published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted, recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means, without the prior permission of the copyright owner The right of David W. Phillipson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 The publisher would like to acknowledge the assistance of the British Institute in Eastern Africa in the publication of this book. The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available on request from the British Library ISBN 978-1-84701- 041-4 (James Currey Cloth) Papers used by Boydell & Brewer are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests Typeset in 8.5/9.5pt Cordale by the British Institute in Eastern Africa Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY Contents List of illustrations vii 1 General introduction 1 Part One BEFORE AKSUM 2 The northern Horn 3000 years ago 9 3 The first millennium BC 19 Part Two THE KINGDOM OF AKSUM 4 Aksumite civilisation: an introductory summary 47 5 Aksumite languages and literacy 51 6 Some written sources relating to Aksumite civilisation 57 7 The emergence and expansion of the Aksumite state 69 8 Aksumite kingship and politics 79 9 Aksumite religion 91 10 Cultivation and herding, food and drink 107 11 Urbanism, architecture and non-funerary monuments 119 12 Aksumite burials 139 13 Aksumite technology and material culture 159 14 Aksumite coinage 181 15 Foreign contacts of the Aksumite state 195 16 Decline and transformation of the Aksumite state 209 Part Three A FTER AKSUM 17 The Zagwe dynasty 227 18 Epilogue: The future of the past in the northern Horn 245 Bibliographic references 249 Index 283 vv List of Illustrations Figure 1 Map of the northern Horn x 2 Language distribution map 12 3 Map of principal archaeological sites 20 4 Ona plan 22 5 Yeha Great Temple exterior 25 6 Yeha Great Temple interior 25 7 Yeha ibex frieze 27 8 Grat Be’al Gebri 27 9 Maqaber Ga‘ewa altar 28 10 Maqaber Ga‘ewa inscription & statuette 28 11 Hawelti 31 12 Identity marks 35 13 Inscriptions: monumental and graffiti 37 14 Bulls’ heads 40 15 Beta Giyorgis shaft tomb 43 16 Ezana inscriptions 53 17 Tabulation of inscriptions 58 18 Cosmas’ map of Adulis and Aksum 67 19 Map of the Aksum area 70 20 Phasing tabulation 72 21 Map of Aksumite expansion 76 22 Chika-Beret sphinx 77 23 gdr sceptre 80 24 Tabulation of kings 82 25 mhdys gold coin 86 26 ‘Stela of the Lances’ 86 27 Plan of ‘palace’ 89 28 Ousanas silver coin 97 29 Abba Garima evangelist 100 30 Abba Garima canon table 101 vii Foundations of an African Civilisation 31 Map of ‘nine saints’ 105 32 Tabulation of crops 109 33 Painting of plough 112 34 Bowls with yoked cattle 113 35 Matara plan 120 36 Wall construction 122 37 Metal clamp 123 38 House-model 125 39 Old Cathedral from bell-tower 128 40 Original Cathedral reconstructions 129 41 Screen-pillar at Aksum 130 42 Plan of Enda Kaleb superstructure 131 43 Debra Damo 132 44 Throne-bases 133 45 Thrones reconstructions 135 46 Statue-base 136 47 Stelae Park 140 48 Stela detail 141 49 Stela apex 142 50 Mausoleum 144 51 Brass disc 145 52 Stela 4 146 53 Stela erection 146 54 Nefas Mawcha 148 55 Tomb of Bazen 148 56 Tomb of the False Door 150 57 Inside Tomb of Gabra Masqal 152 58 Matara tomb 155 59 Pottery 160 60 Glass 163 61 Inlaid plaques 164 62 Metalwork 168 63 Carved ivory 170-1 64 Ivory figurine 173 65 Quarry 175 66 Lithics 177 67 Gobedra lioness 178 68 Paved road 179 69 Endybis gold coin 186 70 Gilded silver coin of agd 186 viii List of Illustrations 71 Ezana gold coin 186 72 Anonymous copper coin 188 73 Israel gold coin 190 74 Gersem copper coin 190 75 Armah copper coin 190 76 Amphora 198 77 Map of Tigray churches 213 78 Maryam Beraqit nave 215 79 Plan of Abraha-wa-Atsbaha 216 80 Interior of Tcherqos Wukro 217 81 Gazien ceiling 219 82 Debra Selam exterior 221 83 Debra Selam screen 221 84 Table of Tigray churches 222 85 Gabri’el-Rafa’el façade 230 86 Emmanuel 232 87 Maryam exterior 233 88 Giyorgis window 233 89 Tabulation of Lalibela churches 234 90 Plan of earliest Lalibela features 236 91 Imrahana Kristos exterior 239 92 Imrahana Kristos interior 239 93 Ganata Maryam exterior 240 94 Ganata Maryam interior 241 ix