138 Etruscans The arrival of Christianity in Ethiopia is ascribed to Frumentius, who was consecrated the first bishop of Ethiopia by Athanasius of Alexandria in about 330 c.e He came to Axum during the reign of the emperor Ezana (c 303–c 350), converting the king as is evident in the design of his coins, changed from an earlier design of a disc and a crescent This meant that the Monophysite Christianity of the eastern Mediterranean region was established firmly in Axum during the fourth century, and two centuries later monks were converting many people to Christianity in the hinterland to the south and the east of Axum The Christianity in Axum became the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, heavily influenced by the Egyptian Coptic Church The last stela at Axum, late in the fourth century, mentions King Ouszebas At its height Axum not only dominated the Red Sea in areas of commerce but even held land controlling the South Arabian kingdom of the Himyarites in modern-day Yemen, with King Ezana described on his coins not only as “king of Saba and Salhen, Himyar and Dhu-Raydan” but also “King of the Habshat”—all these places being in South Arabia He had also, by this period, adopted the title negusa nagast (“king of kings”) On the African continent their lands stretched north to the Roman province of Egypt and west to the Cushite kingdom of Meroë in modern-day Sudan Indeed, it seems that the forces of Axum had captured Meroë in about 300 c.e However, during the reign of Ezana it experienced a decline in fortune but regained its former strength over the next century This is borne out by the few inscriptions that survive, which were either in Geez or in Greek they probably did defeat its armies in battle and certainly cut off its trade routes not only to Arabia but also into Egypt, thus ensuring its gradual decline The political influence of Axum had ended, and the city would have declined Some 30–40 years later the whole of South Arabia and also Egypt were controlled by the Arabs, cutting off the connections between Axum and the Mediterranean See also Christianity, early; Oriental Orthodox Churches Further reading: Butzer, Karl “The rise and fall of Axum, Ethiopia: A geo-geographical interpretation.” American Antiquity 40 (1981); Connah, Graham African Civilisations: Precolonial Cities and States in Tropical Africa: An Archaeological Perspective Cambridge and London: Cambridge University Press, 1987; Doresse, Jean Ancient Cities and Temples: Ethiopia Woking, UK: Elek Books, 1959; Fattovich, Rodolfo “Remarks on the late prehistory and early history of northern Ethiopia.” In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, 1984 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 1989; Hable Sellassie, Sergew Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Haile Selassie I University, 1972; Hable Sellassie, Sergew Bibliography of Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: privately published, 1969; Kobishchanov, Yuri M Axum Philadelphia: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1979; Landström, Björn The Quest for India London: Allen and Unwin, 1964; Marcus, Harold Golden A History of Ethiopia Berkeley: University of California, 1994; Munro-Hay, Stuart C H Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity Edinburgh, Scotland: Edinburgh University Press, 1991 Justin Corfield AXUM’S DECLINE When Christians were attacked in Yemen in the early sixth century, Emperor Caleb (r c 500–534) sent soldiers to prevent them from being persecuted by a Jewish prince, Yusuf Dhu Nuwas, who attacked the Axum garrison at Zafar and burned all the nearby Christian churches This represented a time when Axum was probably at its height in terms of its power and diplomatic connections The Book of the Himyarites revealed previously unpublished information about Caleb’s attack on Yemen King Caleb spent his last years in a monastery, but by this time Axum was in control of land on both sides of the Red Sea and was in regular communications with the Byzantine Empire at Constantinople Axum’s power waned when the Sassanid Empire invaded the region in 572 Although it is not thought that the Sassanids conquered the kingdom of Axum, Etruscans The Etruscans left no historical or written records other than tomb inscriptions with brief family histories Other than this burial genealogy, most writing about the Etruscans is from later sources, including the Romans Only recently has archaeology begun to unravel the mystery of the Etruscans During the Renaissance, in 1553 and 1556 two Etruscan bronzes were discovered, but excavation of Etruscan sites did not begin in earnest until the 18th century After the Etruscan cities of Tarquinia, Cervetri, and Vulci were excavated in the 19th century, museums began collecting objects from the digs More than 6,000 Etruscan sites have been examined