| Eon | |
|---|---|
 | |
| King of Aksum | |
| Reign | c.400-Mid 5th Century |
| Predecessor | Ouazebas |
| Successor | Ebana |
Eon (c. 400 AD) 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. [1]
While "bisi Anaaph" is usually understood to mean "man of Anaaph", Richard Pankhurst notes that the scholar Stephen Wright has argued the word bisi "might well be used in relation to the King's horse in the same way that Ethiopians of much later times used the word Aba. Sahle Sellassie, for example, was often known as Aba Dina (Dina being the name of his favorite horse)." [2]
Eon may be the same person as the King Hiuna, who is mentioned in the Book of the Himyarites as leading a military expedition from Axum across the Red Sea into South Arabia; Stuart Munro-Hay notes that the "difference in spelling is no more than would result from transposing the name into the two languages concerned"; but he admits that the identification is not conclusive, or whether Hiuna was even a king. [3]
Eon was the first King of Axum to use the mysterious legend + BAC + CIN + BAX + ABA on his coins, although part of this legend appeared on an earlier anonymous silver issue. [1] Munro-Hay reports this has been interpreted to mean Basileus habasinon -- "King of the Habashat/Habash", a title used in South Arabian inscriptions to refer to the Axumite kings. [3]
Axum, also spelled Aksum, is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents. It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire
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.
Ezana, was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum. One of the best-documented rulers of Aksum, Ezana is important as he is the country's first king to embrace Christianity and make it the official religion. 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.
Kaleb, also known as Saint Elesbaan, was King of Aksum, which was situated in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea
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.
Aphilas bisi Dimele was a King of the Kingdom of Aksum. 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 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.
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".
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.
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 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 eastern and souther part Horn of Africa from the start of the 12th century.
The Kingdom of Aksum (Ge'ez: አኵስም ʾÄkʷəsəm; Sabaic: 𐩱𐩫𐩪𐩣ʾKS1M; Ancient Greek: Ἀξωμίτης Axōmítēs), 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.
Abreha and Atsbeha were brothers and Aksumite rulers who were said to have adopted Christianity in the 4th-century, although this claim is dubious. The story of Abreha and Atsbeha is lifted from that of the historical personages King Ezana and his brother Saizana. Stuart Munro-Hay has also speculated that the myth may have emerged from a confusion with two other religious Aksumite figures: Kaleb of Axum, whose throne name was Ella Atsbeha, and Abraha, an Aksumite general who promoted Christianity in Yemen.