Coinage
Armah's name only appears on silver and copper coins; one type of each has been identified. The absence of an issue of gold coins is one of the reasons Hahn believes he is identical with Alla Amidas, whose only known coins were in gold. [2] The silver types bear an unusual reverse, showing a structure with three crosses, the middle one gilded. Munro-Hay quotes Wolfgang Hahn as suggesting that this is an allusion to the Holy Sepulchre, as a reference to the Persian capture of Jerusalem in 614; if this is correct, it provides a date for Armah. [3] The legend on the obverse reads "King Armah" in Ge'ez; the reverse reads "Mercy and Peace." [6] Munro-Hay further notes that the reverse of this silver issue is quite similar to the reverse of an anonymous issue of silver coins; the ruler associated with that issue identified himself as simply "The king who exalts the Savior". [7]
The copper type is known in two versions, the difference being the cross on the reverse has a gold inlay in the center of the cross. The obverse shows Armah seated on a throne with a high back; the reverse is distinguished by a cross with barley stalks on either side, attached to the cross at the base. Both inscriptions on the copper issue are also in Ge'ez: the legend on the obverse reads "King Armah", while the legend on the reverse is "Joy and peace to the people." [8]
The British threepence piece, usually simply known as a threepence, thruppence, or thruppenny bit, was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄80 of one pound or 1⁄4 of one shilling. It was used in the United Kingdom, and earlier in Great Britain and England. Similar denominations were later used throughout the British Empire and Commonwealth countries, notably in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
Ezana was ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient kingdom located in what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia.. He himself employed the style "king of Saba and Salhen, Himyar and Dhu-Raydan and of Yamnat, and of their Arabs of the Upper Country and of the Coast". Tradition states that ‘Ezana succeeded his father Ella Amida (Ousanas) as king while still a child but his mother, Sofya then served as regent until he came of age. He conquered the Kingdom of Kush around the year 350 AD.
Kaleb, also known as Saint Elesbaan, was King of Aksum, which was situated in modern-day Eritrea and Ethiopia.
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 Axum in the affairs of what is now Yemen. 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. 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".
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.
Aphilas bisi Dimele was a negus of the Kingdom of Aksum in East Africa modern day northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. He is known only from the coins he minted, which are characterized by a number of experiments in imagery on the obverse, and being issued in fractions of weight that none of his successors copied.
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 King of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign.
Ouazebas was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum. He is primarily known through the coins that were minted during his reign.
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.
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.
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. During the succeeding medieval period, Mogadishu currency, minted by the Sultanate of Mogadishu, was the most widely circulated currency in the Horn of Africa.
The British halfpenny coin was worth 1/480th of a pound sterling. At first in its 700-year history it was made from silver, but as the value of silver increased the coin was made from base metals. It was finally abandoned in 1969 as part of the process of decimalising the British currency. "Halfpenny", colloquially written ha'penny, was pronounced HAY-pə-nee; "1 ½d" was spoken as a penny ha'penny or three ha'pence.
The threepence or threepenny bit was a denomination of currency used by various jurisdictions in England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, valued at 1/80 of a pound or 1⁄4 of a shilling until decimalisation of the pound sterling and Irish pound in 1971. It was also used in some parts of the British Empire, notably Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The Kingdom of Aksum, also known as the Kingdom of Axum, the City-State of Axum, or the Aksumite Empire, was centered in East Africa and South Arabia from Classical antiquity to the Middle Ages. Based primarily in what is now northern Ethiopia, and spanning modern-day Eritrea, Djibouti and Sudan, it extended at its height into much of Southern Arabia during the reign of Kaleb, King of Axum.
The English farthing was a coin of the Kingdom of England worth 1⁄4 of a penny, 1⁄960 of a pound sterling. Until the 13th century, farthings were pieces of pennies that had been cut into quarters to make change. The first English farthing coins were minted in the 13th century, and continued to be struck until the early 18th century, when England merged into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.
