Ezana
Ezana ( old Ethiopian ዔዛና ʿĒzānā without vocalization ዐዘነ ʿzn ; also Ezena , or Azanas ) was king of Aksum in the 4th century . The empire then included what is now Eritrea , parts of Ethiopia , Sudan and Yemen . Ezana made Aksum one of the first empires to introduce Christianity . He appointed his childhood teacher, the Syrian Frumentius , to be the head of the Ethiopian Church . A letter has been received from the Roman Emperor Constantius II to Ezana, asking Ezana to send Frumentius to Alexandria because he had made mistakes in church matters. It is not known whether Ezana then sent Frumentius out.
Ezana was also active as a conqueror. One learns about his campaigns mainly through inscriptions that the ruler had put up. However, it is unclear whether the ruler also conquered Meroe , in any case he reports that he conquered the "Kasu". The "Kasu" were a people north of the Nobaden on the Nile in Nubia , who distinguish Ezana from the "Noba".
His coins show how he went from adhering to an African religion to becoming a Christian ruler. The early coins show a sun disk and a crescent moon, the later a cross.
Ezana's stele is a monumental stele from the 4th century, which is located in a pavilion near the much larger obelisk of Aksum in Ezana Park. Ezana reports on it in three languages, ancient Ethiopian (Ge'ez) , the official language of the Aksumite Empire, Sabaean (ancient South Arabic written language) , the lingua franca on the Arabian Peninsula until the 6th century, and in Koine - (late ancient ancient Greek) , the The language of commerce and trade in the Byzantine Empire , its victories and conquests. The stele became known through the translation of the text by Enno Littmann as part of his Aksum expedition in 1905. Another stele with the same content but better-preserved writing was only found in 1978 and is located in the northern part of Aksum at the foot of a hill on which the tomb of King Ella Asbeha (Kaleb) is located in a separate building.
See also
literature
- Heinzgerd Brakmann : Το παρα τοις βαρβαροις εργον θειον. The roots of the church in the late ancient empire of Aksum. Borengässer, Bonn 1994, ISBN 3-923946-24-4 (At the same time: Bonn, Universität, Dissertation, 1993: The roots of the church in the late antique empire of Aksum. ).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ezana |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Azanas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | King of Axum |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 3rd century or 4th century |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th century or 5th century |