What caused the fall of the Aksumite Empire?

When it comes to ancient civilizations, we usually recall the Sumerians, Egyptians, Incas, Aztecs... It seems that besides these civilizations, the map of the ancient world is empty. But, in those distant times, there were many bright and distinctive cultures, and not so famous, but no less great civilizations, for example, Axum.

So, Axum is an ancient Ethiopian kingdom that existed in the II-XI centuries on the territory of modern Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Yemen, and Arabia. The discovery of British archaeologists who unearthed the ancient graves of Axum in 2015, allowed researchers to claim that the state of Axum was created several centuries earlier than previously thought.

The kingdom of Aksum is a maritime and trading power that dominated this region from about 400 BC until the X century BC.

The first mention of the kingdom of Aksum belongs to the 1st century AD. It is mentioned in the Periplus of the Eritrean Sea as a vital source of ivory.

The kingdom of Aksum was located on the most important trade routes from Egypt, the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), Syria, Iran, Iraq to India, and China. The Axumites traded in slaves, gold, ivory, incense and aromatic resins, emeralds, as well as African animals and leather.

In the 3rd – 4th centuries, the rise of Axum occurred. At the beginning of the 6th century, the kingdom of Axum experienced the second “golden age.” So what caused the death of civilization?

It is believed that after the 7th century, the gradual decline of the Axumite kingdom began. In the first half of the 11th century, Axum fell apart. Climate change and the course of the Nile, soil depletion, trade isolation contributed to the decline of the Ethiopian economy. The reduction was also facilitated by the interception of significant trade routes by Muslims. Over time, Axum cut off from its main markets in Alexandria, Byzantium, and Southern Europe, and Arabs merchants took its place in trade relations. The kingdom of Aksum was also in a problematic religious confrontation with the Islamic world.

Around 960, Ethiopian Jews expelled from Axum led by Queen Judit (Gudit, Yodit, or Judith) crushed the Axumite state, burning down churches and Aksumite literature, as well as exterminating representatives of the ruling dynasty. It was reported in the History of the Patriarchs of Alexandria in a letter from the king of the Ethiopians to the Christian king of Nubia. But while there is evidence of churches being burned and an invasion around this time, her existence has been questioned by some modern authors.

Another possibility is that the Aksumite power was ended by a southern pagan queen named Bani al-Hamwiyah, possibly of the tribe al-Damutah or Damoti (Sidama).

Over time, the Axumites have driven south, and their civilization fell into decay. Along with the weakening of the kingdom's power, the influence of the city, which has lost its population like Rome and other cities that were on the sidelines of world events, fell. The last known (nominal) king crowned around the 10th century, but the influence and power of the kingdom died away long before that.

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