The Aksumite Golden Age

The Aksumite Golden Age refers to the height of the Kingdom of Aksum, a trading empire centered in what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, generally dated from roughly the third to seventh centuries CE. Positioned to control Red Sea trade routes between the Roman Mediterranean, sub-Saharan Africa and India, Aksum grew wealthy from commerce in ivory, gold and other goods, minted its own gold, silver and bronze coinage, and built monumental stone obelisks, the largest surviving one standing over twenty meters tall, to mark royal tombs. Under King Ezana in the fourth century CE, Aksum became one of the first states in the world to adopt Christianity as an official religion, following closely after the Roman Empire under Constantine, and it maintained close diplomatic and religious ties with Byzantium for centuries afterward. Aksum's power declined from the seventh century onward as the rise of Islam shifted Red Sea trade routes away from its ports.