The Ancient City of Aksum: Its Origins, Zenith, and Decline

Yeha
Ethiopia’s earliest identified urban settlements began to develop around the first third of the last millennium BC. The most important of these towns was Yeha, site of a remarkably large Sabaean temple. This settlement seems to have owed its existence to the exceptional fertility of the neighbouring land, which was well-watered, and surrounded and sheltered by mountains.  

Aksum
The city of Aksum – site of the famous obelisks, as well as of remarkably fine and extensive stone palaces, is believed to have been founded in the western part of the future Aksumite state, i.e. the area furthest from the coast.
The settlement’s location seems to have owed much to the fertile surrounding plains, as well as to the neighbouring Sheré plateau, which enjoyed abundant rainfall. This general region, as evident from the early settlements of Hawelti, Melazo and Medoge, was populated prior to the establishment of the city of Aksum itself.

Prior to the Birth of Christ
The city of Aksum appears to have become the capital of the Aksumite kingdom shortly prior to the birth of Christ, and by the early first century AD had developed into a major commercial emporium minting its own currency. The first Aksumite coins – probably those of King Endubis – are thought to have been struck between around 270 and 300 AD. Christianity is thought to have become the kingdom’s state religion around 330 AD, during the reign of the great Aksumite conqueror King Ezana – at which time the erection of obelisks – which were essentially pre-Christian - reportedly came to an end.
Ethiopian church tradition holds however that the first Ethiopian Christians were converted considerably earlier – at the time of the Apostles.
 
Trade – and Trade Routes
Aksum, which exported both ivory and gold, and imported textiles and manufactured goods, became the nucleus of four major trade routes. These led north-westwards to the Nile, and thence to Egypt; eastwards to the incense-producing lowlands of what was later to become Somalia; westwards to the Agaw lands, whence gold was obtained; and north-eastwards to the major Red Sea port of Adulis, which handled the greater part of the country’s import-export trade.
The Aksumite kingdom, which reached its zenith around the time of King Keleb’s historic expedition to South Arabia in 525 AD, came to comprise the present-day regions of Tegray and Eritrea, largely between the Takaze and Marab rivers, and between the latter and the Red Sea coast, or more specifically, the areas of Aksum, Adwa and Sheré to the south, and Akkele Guzay and Agame to the north. Aksumite traces have also been found further afield, in such areas as Endarta, Hamasen, Karan, and as far as the Rore plateau, and even northern Wallo. Aksumite influence at the coast was felt not only at the kingdom’s main port, Adulis, but possibly also further east at Deire on the Bab-al-Mandab coast at the mouth of the Red Sea.
The location of Aksumite settlements, within this wide stretch of territory seems to have been determined largely by the availability of drinking water, as well as of exceptionally fertile land making possible more than one harvest a year.
The settlement’s location seems to have owed much to the fertile surrounding plains, as well as to the neighbouring Sheré plateau, which enjoyed abundant rainfall. This general region, as evident from the early settlements of Hawelti, Melazo and Medoge, was populated prior to the establishment of the city of Aksum itself.
 
Islam
Aksum is believed to have provided asylum to some of the earliest adherents of the Prophet Muhammad, who reportedly received  hospitality in the early 7th century from the Aksumite king Armah.
 
Civilisation
The Aksumites, as is evident from the archaeological record, attained  a high level of civilisation.
They were masters of stone-work, and produced remarkable stone statues, as well as lofty and well-fashioned obelisks and palaces, and historic inscriptions in stone. The craftsmen of Aksum were also skilled in metalwork, producing fine works in gold, silver and bronze, as well as iron. They worked also in pottery and glass, and were reputed to include painters of distinction. 

Hard Times
Aksum appears to have fallen on hard times in the early seventh century. The last Aksumite coins to be minted were probably produced by King Armah around 614 AD. The city nonetheless maintained its overall political ascendancy until the tenth century.
 
Historians have attributed the decline of Aksum to a variety of causes
Some have postulated over-cultivation, leading to deforestation, and a shortage of wood, as well as to soil erosion and degradation of the land.
Others, basing themselves on Egyptian Nile records, suspect that rainfall became erratic in late Aksumite times, and resulted in flooding, which accentuated soil erosion, as well as at other times in drought.
Other writers believe that the decline of Aksum had external political causes, brought on possibly by the rise of neighbours to the south and/or west, or by the increasing power of the Arabs, who, fortified by Islam, came increasingly to dominate the Red Sea trade routes, hitherto ruled by Aksum.
Call this as it may the centre of political power shifted southward – thus opening a new chapter in Ethiopia’s long and unfolding history.