King ezana of axum christianity history
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The Kingdom of Aksum
A major empire of the ancient world, the kingdom of Aksum arose in Ethiopia during the first century C.E. This wealthy African civilization thrived for centuries, controlling a large territorial state and access to vast trade routes linking the Roman Empire to the Middle East and India. Aksum, the capital city, was a metropolis with a peak population as high as 20, Aksum was also noteworthy for its elaborate monuments and written script, as well as for introducing the Christian religion to the rest of sub-Saharan Africa.
Aksum was situated in the highlands of northern Ethiopia, in a region called Tigray, near present-day Eritrea. Humans had inhabited the region and the valleys below since the Stone Age, and agrarian communities had been there for at least a millennium. But the origins of the kingdom of Aksum are mysterious. People from the kingdom of Saba, across the Red Sea on the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula, may have migrated into the area in the
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Ezana (‘Ezana) (C)
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Alternate Names: aizanas
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Ancient Christian Church
Ethiopia
Ezana, or Aizanas, was the 4th-century king of Aksum in whose reign Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia. He conquered the Nile valley realm of Kush (Meroe), and extended the frontiers of his kingdom to include not only what is now Ethiopia, but also parts of the Sudan and Somalia.
He had two brothers, Adephas and Sayzana (q.v.), both of whom played a significant role in his exploits against different ethnic groups in what is now northern and northwestern Ethiopia. Tyrannius Rufinus (circa /11), the Roman-trained writer and theologian, tells us that Ezana and his brothers had a Greek and Christian education. Frumentius (q.v.), [F’ré Menatos], a Hellenized Syrian Christian, was employed by the ruler Ella Ameda, father of Ezana, to teach his children, and so influenced Ezana’s attitude towards
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King Ezana of Aksum and the Rise of Christian Ethiopia
When one thinks of ancient Christianity, what settings come to mind? Perhaps dusty Judean villages where the Gospel was first proclaimed? Or the crowded Greek port cities that heard the preaching of St. Paul, or maybe the savagery of the Roman amphitheaters? Whatever scenes we imagine, inom am willing to bet Ethiopia is not among them. This is a shame, as Ethiopia was one of the earliest kingdoms to embrace Christianity. This was largely due to the decisiveness of a very enskild monarch—King Ezana.
The story of Ezana takes us back to the early 4th century. In those days, Ethiopia was governed bygd the Kingdom of Aksum. Ruling from their capital of Axum on the Tigray Plateau, the Aksumite kingdom controlled the upper reaches of the Nile, dominating trade in the southern Red Sea (at one point, their dominion even encompassed modern day Yemen). Culturally, the Aksumites were akin to the Nabateans, and the symbols and names associated