Mehadeyis | |
---|---|
King of Aksum | |
Predecessor | Ezana |
Successor | Ouazebas |
Religion | Christianity |
MHDYS (vocalized by historians as Mehadeyis) was a ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum (flourished 4th century AD). 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 .
His name is usually vocalized by historians as Mehadeyis, although it has recently been argued by Manfred Kropp that it could vocalized as Maḥdəy-os, producing a Greek equivalent of Μωδαῖος. [1]
MHDYS was one of two rulers who used Ge'ez as the language of the legend on his gold coins. [2]
Four types of coins were minted during his reign, in gold, silver, and copper; the latter was often gilded. One of the gold types and both of the other metals have the same pattern: the obverse shows the king in profile with a crown, the reverse a cross with a stalk of barley on either side. These bear the same inscriptions. The obverse shows the inscription nags mw' MHDYS ("The victorious king MHDYS"); the reverse bzmsql tmw ("By this cross victorious"). [3] The latter inscription is understood to be a loose translation of the famous motto of Emperor Constantine the Great, In hoc signo vinces ("By this sign you will conquer"). [4]
Until recently, MHDYS's reign was dated to the mid-4th century. However, Munro-Hay published a gold coin issued by this ruler that was found in Yemen "in every way a new type." [5] While it bore an inscription similar to previously known coins, its reverse portrayed winged Victory in a flowing robe, holding a cross on a long staff. Munro-Hay notes that the robe is "extremely similar" to that on coins issued by the Roman emperor Theodosius II at Constantinople between 420 and 423; this solidus design was revived by Emperors ruling later in the 5th century, namely Marcian, Leo I, Zeno, and Anastasius I Dicorus. This similarity of design, Munro-Hay argues, permits the date of MHDYS to "be attempted with rather more likelihood of accuracy; sometime after 420, and perhaps reigning in the 450s." [6] However, Amelia Dowler believes this is an imitation of an Aksumite coin produced in India in the 6th century. [7]
Further, the authenticity of the known silver coins of MHDYS has been questioned. A chemical-physical analysis described in an article published in 2003 claimed to have found the composition of some silver coins did not conform to the silver composition of other known genuine coins. [8] Wolfgang Hahn has concluded these were the work of "a jeweler's firm which was very active in Asmara in the 1950s/60s". [9]
Nonnus' epic poem about the god Dionysus, the Dionysiaca, twice mentions one "Modaios". The first mention is at 32.165:
(Ares) took the form of the champion Modaios, more than all others unsated with battle, whose joy was joyless carnage, whom bloodshed pleased better than banquets. [10]
Another is at 40.235f:
(Dionysus) assigned a governor for Indians, choosing the god-fearing Modaios. [11]
The expert consensus has been that this Modaios refers to a character in an earlier poem Bassaria by one Dionysus which is only known from fragments of papyrus. However, Manfred Kropp proposed this was an allusion to the king of Aksum, MHDYS. [12] This identification would provide a deeper meaning to his borrowing of Constantine's famous phrase, In hoc signo vinces: MHDYS had a reputation for prowess in battle, possibly against his pagan neighbors.
Further, if Kropp's identification is correct this would also set an upper limit to MHDYS' reign of c. 480, the earliest date one of the poets influenced by Nonnus published his first work. This upper limit agrees with the date of the recently published coin.
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.
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 Monumentum Adulitanum, so named by Leo Allatius, was an ancient inscription written in Greek, depicting the military campaigns of an anonymous king. The original text was inscribed on a throne in Adulis. Although the inscription has never been discovered by archaeologists, it is known about through the copying of the inscription by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a 6th-century Greek traveler-monk. The text narrates the king's military campaigns in the African continent and in the Arabian peninsula. It is thought to be between 200 and 270 AD.
GRMT was the son of the Aksumite King `DBH, described in South Arabian texts as the "son of the nagashi". Like his predecessor BYGT, also called the "son of the najashi", it is not known whether the title meant that they were crown princes or simply generals. Early in his father's reign, the wars that had flared up in South Arabia during GDRT's reign were rekindled. Shamir Yuhahmid of dhū Raydān and Himyar requested `ĐBH's help after having lost some power to two allied pretenders to the throne of Saba' and dhū Raydān. `DBH sent GRMT to South Arabia, where two Epigraphic South Arabian inscriptions mention his actions. He was involved in fighting using both Aksumite and Tihama tribes on the side of Shamir, but was eventually defeated by the Sabaean king `LŠRH YḤḌB. Aksumite control in parts of western Yemen and southern Saudi Arabia does not seem to have ended however, as GRMT continued war activities around Najran.
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.