Coins
Aphilas produced at least four series of gold coins (16mm, 12mm, 10mm, 7mm in diameter), two silver (17mm, 12mm in diameter), and two bronze (18mm, 15mm in diameter). Both of the larger gold coins feature the Aksumite tiara resting on his head cloth, which became the norm in future Aksumite coins. It is postulated that the Aksumite tiara was made for Aphilas. All coins feature the disc and crescent symbol of the Aksumite pagan period. All of his coins are inscribed in Ancient Greek, following the practice of his predecessor Endubis. The gold coins were weighted to the standard of the Roman aureus, the smallest gold coin of Aphilas being 1/16th aureus. The lowest gold content recorded for Aphilas is 90%; while high purity, this was lower than Roman coins. [4]
The larger gold coins of Aphilas are the earliest known Aksumite coins to have reached India. [5]
The smaller silver coin shows a distinguishing feature of Axumite coinage: the interior portrait is overlaid with gold. These were half value of the larger silver coin, but less than half the weight. They were probably deliberately underweight to counteract the cost of the gold gilding on the smaller coin. [6]
At least two bronze coins feature Aphilas from a frontal position, as well as his 12mm gold coin. The style was abandoned afterwards until the 6th century. The typology and use of a frontal bust on Aphilas' coins appear to have taken inspiration from "special presentation pieces of the Roman emperor Licinius". [5] On one of his bronze issues the obverse features an ear of wheat alone in the center. Ezana copied this design in a pre-Christian issue. [7]
The coins of Aphilas generally feature the following inscription in Greek:
- Obverse: "AΦIΛAC BACIΛEYC" – "King Aphilas" [8]
- Reverse: "AξωMITωN BICIΔIMIHΛH" – "of the Aksumites, man of Dimele" [8]
Some copper coins include a variant inscription:
- Obverse: "AΦIΛACBA CIΛEYCAξω" – "King Aphilas of the Aksu..." [9]
- Reverse: "MITωNBI CIΔIMIHΛH" – "...mites, man of Dimele" [9]
16mm Gold issue featuring Aksumite tiara.
Smallest gold coin of Aphilas. Just 7mm in diameter. Obverse reads 'King Aphilas'.
Bronze coin with wheat alone on obverse.
12mm gold coin noteworthy for Aphilas' frontal position.
Dʿmt was a kingdom located in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia which existed between the 10th and 5th centuries BC. Few inscriptions by or about this kingdom survive and very little archaeological work has taken place. As a result, it is not known whether Dʿmt ended as a civilization before the Kingdom of Aksum's early stages, evolved into the Aksumite state, or was one of the smaller states united in the Kingdom of Aksum possibly around 150 BC.
Ousanas was a King of Axum. Stuart Munro-Hay believes that it is "very likely" that Ousanas is the king to whom Aedesius and Frumentius were brought. In Eritrean and Ethiopian tradition, this king is called Ella Allada or Ella Amida. Ella Amida would then be his throne name, although Ousanas is the name that appears on his coins. If this identification is correct, then it was during his reign that Christianity was introduced to Axum and the surrounding territories.
GDRT was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum, known for being the first king to involve Aksum in South Arabian affairs. He is known primarily from inscriptions in South Arabia that mention him and his son BYGT. GDRT is thought to be the same person as GDR, the name inscribed on a bronze wand or sceptre that was found in an area near Atsbi and Dar'a/Addi-Galamo in northern Ethiopia.
Sembrouthes was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum who most likely reigned sometime in the 3rd century. He is known only from a single inscription in Ancient Greek that was found at Dekemhare, Hamasien in modern-day Eritrea, which is dated to his 24th regnal year. Sembrouthes was the first known ruler in the lands later ruled by the Emperor of Ethiopia to adopt the title "King of Kings". He is a probable candidate for the king who erected the Monumentum Adulitanum.
Endubis or Endybis was a late-3rd-century sovereign of the Kingdom of Aksum in East Africa. He was among the earliest rulers in the Africa to mint his own coins; according to Stuart C. Munro-Hay, "No other sub-Saharan African state issued its own independent coinage in ancient times -- indeed no other African state at all, since those in North Africa fell under Roman dominion." The Aksumite currency of his reign was issued in gold, silver, and bronze or copper denominations and bore inscriptions in Koine Greek.
Wazeba, vocalized by historians as Wazeba, or WZB was a Negus of the Kingdom of Aksum, centered in the highlands of modern Ethiopia and Eritrea. He succeeded Aphilas. Wazeba is known only from the coins that he minted during his reign. He was the first Aksumite ruler to engrave the legends of his coins in Ge'ez, and the only King of Aksum to use that language on his gold currency. Stuart Munro-Hay suggests that the scarcity of Wazeba's coins may hint at a short reign.
MHDYS was a ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign, although a contemporary poet, Nonnus of Panopolis, may have alluded to him in his epic Dionysiaca.
Ouazebas was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign.
Eon was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins minted during his reign, where his name is written in Greek as "Eon Bisi Anaaph". Only his coins issued in gold are known; many new examples were identified in the al-Madhariba hoard found in Yemen.
Ebana was a 5th-century King of the Kingdom of Axum. He is primarily known from the series of coins that were minted during his reign. His gold coins "are easily the commonest of Aksumite gold issues".
Nezool was a king of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known from the coins minted during his reign, where his name also appears as Nezana.
Alla Amidas was a king of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known from the coins minted during his reign.
Wazena was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the Aksumite currency that was minted during his reign. Without any clear discussion, Stuart Munro-Hay identifies him with a king Alla Amidas, who is also known only through the coins he issued.
Ioel, or Joel, was a king of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign. He is one of several Aksumite kings with a Biblical name, the others include Israel, Kaleb, and likely Gersem and Noe; Ioel is named for the Biblical prophet, Joel, author of the Book of Joel.
Hataz was a king of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign, some of which call him Iathlia. His gold coin calls him Hethasas.
Israel was a king of Axum. He is primarily known through the coins minted during his reign. He is one of several Aksumite kings with a Biblical name, the others include Ioel, Kaleb, Gersem, and likely Noe; Richard Pankhurst mentions the name of this king as an early example of Judaic influence in Ethiopian culture.
Gersem was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum in Northeast Africa. He is primarily known through the Aksumite currency that was minted during his reign.
Aksumite currency was coinage produced and used within the Kingdom of Aksum centered in present-day Eritrea and Ethiopia. Its mintages were issued and circulated from the reign of King Endubis around AD 270 until it began its decline in the first half of the 7th century where they started using Dinar along with most parts of the Middle East. During the succeeding medieval period, Mogadishu currency, minted by the Sultanate of Mogadishu, was the most widely circulated currency in the eastern and southern parts of the Horn of Africa from the start of the 12th century.
The Kingdom of Aksum, also known as the Kingdom of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire, was a kingdom in East Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based in what is now Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, and spanning present day Djibouti and Sudan, it extended at its height into much of Southern Arabia during the reign of Kaleb, King of Axum.
Armah was a king of the Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign. While some scholars have suggested as long ago as 1895 that he was identical to Najashi, the king of Axum who gave shelter to Muslim emigrants around 615-6, more recently Wolfgang Hahn has suggested Armah might have been the name of one of the sons of Kaleb, Alla Amidas.
