The Rise, Decline, and Collapse of the Aksum Empire
One of the most powerful empires of early Africa.
The Kingdom of Aksum was one of the earliest agrarian civilizations that took inhabitants in the Northern Horn of East Africa. The civilization prospered in the third century CE; having had taken control of North Ethiopia, parts of Sudan, the southern Arabian peninsula, and large parts of Yemen. At its highest, the civilization had its own coinage made of gold, a powerful navy military, and control over the the ports of the Red Sea that had been popularly used as the center for the trading network.
Geography
The kingdom of Aksum was located in the Northern Horn of East Africa, on the coast of the Red Sea. It had been surrounded by early civilizations such as Rome, Egypt, Arabia, Yemen, and Sudan.
Rise
The kingdom of D'mt populated the majority of the Northern horn which had developed much agriculture and expansion of trade with other empires like Egypt. After the fall of the D'mt kingdom many small kingdoms took its place and slowly came together as one large kingdom called, Aksum. Aksum rose to power in the first century after the son of a Solomon queen had expanded to the land near the red sea.
Religion
In the fourth century CE, the empire formally instated Christianity as the official religion. This decision had been made after the Romans had influenced the empire while interacting in the trade network. The empire had become isolated from civilizations when it came to trade after battling Arabian armies. Their religion segregated them and caused the downfall of their power over the trading ports on the Red Sea.
Military
The kingdom of Aksum was able to develop a strong naval military because of its large population, powerful weapons, and control over the Red Sea. Its powerful military allowed for Aksum to expand their frontiers and patrol their trade routes. The empires control spread to parts of North Ethiopia, parts of Sudan, the southern Arabian peninsula, Yemen. The military had spent much of its resource in desire to control all of Yemen but the empire over estimated its power and were defeated.
Legacy
The Kingdom of Aksum had been known as one of the four most powerful empires in the ancient world. It spread across 480,000 miles of land and had total control of the trade routes on the Red Sea that spanned from East Asia to India.
