Kingdom of Aksum

trading nation in the area of Eritrea and Northern Ethiopia

16 dated entries naming Kingdom of Aksum, drawn from 16 separate years between 70 CE and 960 CE. Nothing here is written by us: each line is the sentence a Wikipedia year article used, and the link beside it opens the exact revision.

Also written as Aksumite, Aksumite Empire in the source articles; Wikipedia redirects those to the same subject, so their entries are on this page.

JSON Wikipedia article Wikidata Q139377

1st century

70Ze-Hakèlé (Zoskales in Greek) becomes king of Aksum.source

3rd century

270The Kingdom of Aksum (modern Ethiopia) begins minting its own gold coins to facilitate international trade, following the model of Roman coinage.source
274The Kingdom of Aksum attains great prosperity thanks to its control of Red Sea trade.source

4th century

341Coptic Christianity is introduced into Ethiopia by the Syrian apostle Frumentius. He and his colleague Aedesius ware captured by Ethiopians a year or two ago, and have become civil servants at the Aksumite court of King Ezana. Ezana is impressed with Frumentius' teachings and converts to Christianity. Frumentius becomes the first Bishop of Axum and encourages the Christian merchants present in the country to practise their faith openly.source

5th century

500Kaleb of Axum, Aksumite king responsible for the destruction of Himyarsource

6th century

505Saint Yared, Axumite composer (died 571)source
521Ma`adikarib Ya`fur becomes king, supported by the Aksumites; he begins a military campaign against the Arabian tribes.source
522Dhu Nuwas seizes the throne of the Himyarite Kingdom in Yemen. He attacks the Aksumite garrison at Zafar, capturing the city and burning the churches.source
525Kaleb, king of Aksum, collects a fleet and crosses from Africa to conquer Yemen. He establishes better trade ports on the Red Sea.source
570Abraha, an Aksumite army general, Islamic tradition places his death immediately after his expedition to the Hejazsource
571May 20 – Saint Yared, Axumite composer (born 505)source
574The Persian Empire overthrows the Axumite- and Byzantine-affiliated regimes in Yemen (Arabian Peninsula).source

7th century

615Several of Muhammad's followers begin to emigrate to the Aksumite Empire. They found a small colony there, under the protection of the Christian Ethiopian emperor Așhama ibn Abjar.source

8th century

701Muslims from the Arabian Peninsula destroy the then-Axum-controlled port of Adulis, thus causing the decline of Ethiopian Christianity on the African Red Sea coast (approximate date).source
702Ethiopian (Axumite) raiders occupy the port of Jeddah (modern Saudi Arabia).source

10th century

960The Kingdom of Aksum (modern Eritrea) is destroyed by Beta Israel invaders, under the leadership of Queen Gudit (approximate date).source