Exceptionally for an ancient sub-Saharan African state, Aksum struck coinage. The importance of this move for Aksum was confirmed for me in 1987, when the Ethiopian Department of Antiquities invited me to catalogue a hoard of gold Aksumite coins found at a place called al-Madhariba in Yemen. I arrived at Aden Museum expecting to see a dozen or so pieces, since these coins were exceptionally rare. I can never forget my astonishment when the museum director poured out a stream of coins from a bag onto the table in front of me. Altogether there were 1194 gold coins, including 858 struck by the kings of Aksum. The find tripled at one stroke the known total of Aksumite gold coins.
Text copyright Stuart Munro-Hay 1998
Text copyright Stuart Munro-Hay 1998
More Information
- Royal Kingdom of Aksum
- Aksum a bit on the site
- Aksum trivia quiz
