In Aksum itself impressive structures were built. The great 'palaces' or elite residences of the rich apparently consisted---only foundations now survive---of towered pavilions mounted on high basements (an anti-flood measure?) approached by monumental granite staircases. A 6th century Greek visitor to Aksum mentioned the king's 'four-towered palace'. Such buildings were enclosed by flanking wings of domestic structures, ensuring them both privacy and defence---if that were necessary in a land that was itself a mountain fortress. Inside, there were carved granite pedestals and capitals adorning the columns, brick ovens, underfloor-drainage systems, marble flooring and paneling. We may imagine, almost certainly, carved wooden columns and other decorative work.
The Aksumite kings dedicated granite thrones to their Gods---Astar, Beder, Meder, Mahrem---inscribing them with accounts of military campaigns. Such thrones still stand, broken and desolate, around the city. Statues of gold, silver and bronze were erected to Mahrem, the dynastic god, paralleled with the Greek war-god Mars. One statue-base discovered earlier this century still bore fixing holes and the outline of the feet of a statue, each 99 cm long. All this represents the elite of the Aksumite world.
Archaeology is not all royal monuments, but the perishable nature of humbler dwellings means that often enough little remains to indicate how the ordinary people lived. This is the case at Aksum as elsewhere, but sometimes one can be lucky and find some hints about the lives of lesser people. In one modest tomb on the outskirts of the town of Aksum were found sets of glass stem goblets and beakers, iron tools, weapons and about seventy exquisitely-finished earthenware pots. Even this signifies a certain wealth, but the style of the tomb---little more than a hole dug into the ground---and the contrast between the contents and those from more imposing tombs, hints at very different strata of society.
Text copyright Stuart Munro-Hay 1998
The Aksumite kings dedicated granite thrones to their Gods---Astar, Beder, Meder, Mahrem---inscribing them with accounts of military campaigns. Such thrones still stand, broken and desolate, around the city. Statues of gold, silver and bronze were erected to Mahrem, the dynastic god, paralleled with the Greek war-god Mars. One statue-base discovered earlier this century still bore fixing holes and the outline of the feet of a statue, each 99 cm long. All this represents the elite of the Aksumite world.
Archaeology is not all royal monuments, but the perishable nature of humbler dwellings means that often enough little remains to indicate how the ordinary people lived. This is the case at Aksum as elsewhere, but sometimes one can be lucky and find some hints about the lives of lesser people. In one modest tomb on the outskirts of the town of Aksum were found sets of glass stem goblets and beakers, iron tools, weapons and about seventy exquisitely-finished earthenware pots. Even this signifies a certain wealth, but the style of the tomb---little more than a hole dug into the ground---and the contrast between the contents and those from more imposing tombs, hints at very different strata of society.
Text copyright Stuart Munro-Hay 1998
More Information
- Royal Kingdom of Aksum
- Aksum a bit on the site
- Aksum trivia quiz
