East Africa- Kush & Axum

People have inhabited East Africa for a long time…

East Africa is home to some of the most important paleoanthropological (study of early humans and their ancestors) finds in the world.

One of the most important finds was Lucy, who lived in what is now the country of Ethiopia about 3-4 million years ago, who is the oldest ancestor to humans found to date.

Many scientists still debate and revise the details of finding these skeletons, but the fact remains that East Africa has been inhabited by human-like beings for millions of years.

Now, fast-forward to 2,000 BC to the Kingdom of Kush

Kush Formed along the Nile River in 2,000 BC Kush had plentiful gold, and often traded with Egypt By 150 AD, Egypt took over all of Kush

Axum Nearly 200 years later, the kingdom of Axum appeared on the map, not far from where Kush had been. Axum is located in current-day Ethiopia.

Axum now controlled all the trade routes along the Red Sea, and to Roman Egypt, southern Arabia, and Asia. Axum traded: glass, copper, brass, gold, and slaves. Axum received in return: textiles, tools, jewelry, and steel.

One could see Axum’s great wealth from the stele’s (grand stone pillars) that adorned all rulers’ graves. The doors and windows carved into the stele’s are fake, and beneath the stele lay the tomb of the ruler.

Christianity in Axum Because of the trade along the Red Sea, Christianity began to spread to the Axum Empire. Before long, Christian churches began to appear (Church of Saint Mary, 300’s AD)

Axum began to weaken in the 600’s AD The Zagwe dynasty came to power in the mid- 1000’s- maintained the Christian faith in the area Replaced officials so they were Christians, and traded heavily with Muslim world