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Monuments of Axum in the Light of South Arabian ArcheologyAuthor(s): Gus W. van BeekSource: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 87, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1967), pp. 113-122

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2/11

MONUMENTSOF AXUM

IN THE

LIGHT OF

SOUTH

ARABIAN

ARCHEOLOGY

Gus

W.

VAN

BEEK

SMITHSONIANINsTITUTION

THE

STELAE

OF

AxUm are among the more

enigmatic monuments of the

historic

period

in

Africa.

When

were

they

built? What

architec-

tural

designs

do

they incorporate?

Are

these

motifs

borrowed

or are

they indigenous?

If

they

are

borrowed,

what source or sources

are

repre-

sented? What

is the purpose

or function of the

stelae?

Not

all

of these questions

can

be

answered

even in

part at this

time, but the vastly

increased

amount of

archeological field work in both south-

ern Arabia and Ethiopia in the past 15 years has

added

significantly to

our knowledge

of these re-

gions.

This

knowledge

in turn

provides

a frame-

work within

which these

monuments must be

understood and interpreted.

CULTURAL

ELATIONS

ETWEEN THIOPIA

AND

SouTH ARABIA

That Ethiopia and

southern Arabia

should

share close contact

with one another

appears

almost

inevitable from

an

examination of the map.

The

southwestern corner

of the

Arabian

Peninsula

points directly to the heartland of Ethiopia. At

the

Straits

of Bab

el-Mandeb,

these

two

land

masses are

separated by a scant fifteen

miles.

Through

this narrow

passage,

all

shipping between

the

Red Sea,

the Arabian

Sea,

the Persian

Gulf,

and

the Indian

Ocean was

funneled from the

Greco-Roman

period-and

perhaps

earlier-up to

modern

times. In

addition to dominating

this cor-

ridor, Ethiopia and

southern Arabia,

especially the

Yemen, share

a similar

environment.

Rainfall,

flora,

and fauna

of these two

regions arequite simi-

lar, and in many

instances virtually

identical.

While

Caton

Thompson

has

argued that the Red

*

A

somewhat abbreviated

version of this paper was

presented at the annual

meeting of the

African Studies

Association held in

Philadelphia,

Pa., October 28, 1965.

The

drawings were

made by Mr. George

Robert Lewis,

Office

of

Anthropology, Smithsonian

Institution. The

writer also

wishes to

express gratitude to Mr.

Thomas

Cassell of

Wabash

College,

who

served as a

student

assistant

during the summer,

1966.

Sea

corridor

may

have

been

a

formidable

barrier

in

prehistoric

times,1

during the

historic

period,

it

was

an

easy

avenue for the

transmission of

com-

modities and

ideas.

It seems

likely

that contact

between

Ethiopia

and

the pre-Islamic

civilization in southern

Arabia

began about the

tenth

century

B.

c.

Although

we

as yet

lack

archeological

control of

this

period in

both

regions,

a

number

of

historical

considerations

warrant this

inference. The

first of

these

deals

with the relationship between the nameless Queen

of

Sheba

and

King Solomon as

recounted

in

1

Kings

10.

It

has

been

pointed out

elsewhere

that

this

visit

was

essentially

an

economic

mission.2

The

Queen of

Sheba, who

controlled

the frankin-

cense and

myrrh-producing

areas,

probably made

the

trip

in

order

to reach an

agreement

regarding

the

distribution of these

precious

commodities

among

the

customers in

the

north.

Since the

Levant seems

to have

been the

focal

point of

Arabian

trade

throughout

the

pre-Islamic

periods,

and

since

Solomon was

the

leading land

monarch

in the

entire Near

East

in

the tenth century

B.

C.,

it is

natural that

the

Queen

should seek

agreement

with

him. The

fact that

such

a

trip

could

success-

fully be

made

implies a

considerable

degree of

security over

some

1500 miles

of

rugged

and bar-

ren

terrain.

Effective

security, in

turn,

presup-

poses

a

high

level

of

social

organization and

a

strong

government in

southern

Arabia.

Certainly

a

government

that could

mount an

expedition of

this

size,

could

at

the

same time

colonize the

much

closer

Ethiopian

plateau and

exploit

its

resources.

Such

colonization

would

explain

the

seeming con-

fusion in

Genesis

Chapter 10-

The

table of

Na-

tions -which lists Sheba as a son of Cush on the

1

G.

Caton

Thompson, The

Evidence

of

South

Arabian

Palaeoliths

in

the

Question

of

Pleistocene

Land

connection

with

Africa,

Third Pan

African

Congress

on

Prehistory

(London,

1957), pp.

380-384.

2

G. W. Van

Beek,

Frankincense

and

Myrrh,

Jour-

nal

of

the

American

Oriental

Society,

LXXVIII

(1958),

pp.

145 ff.

113

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3/11

114 VAN

BEER:

Monuments

of

Axum

one hand,

and a son of Shem through

Eber and

Joktan

on

the

other. The attribution

of Sheba to

both

Ham and

Shem

may

indicate that Sabaeans

lived

in both

Arabia

and

Africa

at the same time.

If this

document dates

to the tenth century B.

C.,

as has generally been supposed by Biblical schol-

ars,3 it would

be good

evidence of

the expansion

of

the

South

Arabian kingdom

of Saba (Sheba)

to

the Ethiopian

plateau by

that time. This

in turn

suggests

that the Ethiopian

account

in

the

Kebra

Nagast

of the

visit

of

Queen

Makeda

to the court

of

Solomon

may

rest on

long

oral

tradition and

contain a

nucleus

of

historical

fact: That Ethiopia

was

inhabited by people

from

Saba

who owed

al-

legiance to

the South

Arabian queen.

In any case,

it

is clear that

by

the seventh cen-

tury

B.

C.,

South

Arabian

culture was

firmly

im-

planted in Ethiopia, so much so that for the next

several

centuries many

aspects

of

the material cul-

ture of Ethiopia

and southern Arabia

are

virtually

identical.

Let

us

cite

a few

examples.

Perhaps

the outstanding

example

of

borrowing

is

language.

Not only

South

Arabic

itself,

but also its

script

and even

its

peculiar

boustrophedon

direction of

writing

became firmly

established

in

Ethiopia. It

should

be noted

here that

boustrophedon writing

largely

died out

in

South

Arabia

by

the

middle of

the

fifth

century

B.

C., clearly

indicating

that

the

borrowing

took

place

well before

that

time.

In

material

culture,

there

are

also numerous

examples.

A

limestone

statue of

a

seated woman

wearing

a robe decorated

with

highly

stylized ro-

settes

was found

at Makalle by

French archeolo-

gists

in

1954;

4this statue,

which

probably

belongs

to the

late

7th or

early

6th

century

B.

C.,

would be

equally

at home

in

southern Arabia.

Further,

there

are

a

large

number of similar

incense

burners

from

both regions

dating from

about the middle

of the

first millennium

B.

C.,

to about

the first cen-

tury

A.

D.

South

Arabian incense burners of this

period

are commonly

square

and are decorated

with

recessed paneling

or windows.

On the more

elaborate models, four stages of recessing are

usually represented

in

combination

with

a band of

dentil-like projections,

a

louvered

panel, and are

sometimes

surmounted

by

yet another

row of den-

til-like projections and a louvered panel

5

(PI.

1 a).

Incense burners of this type are also found in

Ethiopia (P1. lb). Round incense burners or

altars also are a common link. Several were found

in South Arabia, some of which have parallel in-

cised vertical lines around the body and rest on

tripod legs

7

(P1.

1

c); two examples of

a

similar

form been found at Makalle

8

(P1.

1

d).

There

is

also a curious architectural member which was

perhaps

used to border

doorways

and

windows, and

which

is common to both regions.

This form con-

sists of

a

stone slab, dressed smooth

on one

face,

with two shallow parallel grooves running length-

wise of the slab, both of which are interrupted at

intervals by thin transverse dividers; examples of

this member abound

in

South Arabia, appearing

in

pre-Islamic sites in Hadhramaut (PI. 1 e); Wadi

Beihan, and Yemen, as well as in Ethiopia near

Enda

(erqos

9

(pl.

1

f). The

ceramic

traditions,

on

the other hand, appear to have diverged

consider-

ably, based on the rather limited material

re-

covered to date. This probably

reflects an

increas-

ing tendency toward cultural divergence between

southern Arabia and the Ethiopian plateau. The

only commonly

shared

example

as

yet

isolated

is

sand tempered ware, which appears

in

a limited

repertory of forms. Examples

of this

ware

are

found in

South Arabia between the seventh

or

sixth to the fourth or second centuries

B.

c.

The

most common form

is a

jar with

a

narrow neck,

a flattened flaring rim, sometimes two or more

knobs placed on the shoulder, and a high ring base.

Examples of this ware are found

in

Tigre

Prov-

ince, Ethiopia (PI.

1

g), in Yemen (PI.

1

h), at

3

W. F. Albright, From the Stone Age to Christianity,

Anchor Books (Garden City, 1957), p. 251.

4

A. Caquot and A. J. Drewes, Les Monuments Re-

cueillis a Maqalle (Tigrp) , '

Annales

d'Lthiopie,

1

(1955), pp. 18-26.

A. Grohmann, Gottersymbole und Symboltiere

aufi

Siidarabischen Denkmdlern

(Vienna, 1914), p. 39.

See

also the writer's

discussion in A New Interpretation

of

the So-called South

Arabian

House

Model,

American

.Jouirnal

of Archaeology, 63 (1959), pp. 269-273,

Pis.

69-76.

'

Caquot and Drewes,

op. cit., pp. 26-32.

7

R. L. Cleveland, An

Ancient South Arabian Necropo-

lius, (Baltimore, 1965), pp. 115-117, PI.

90,

especially TC

1217, 1565.

Caquot and Drewes, op. cit., pp. 39-41.

'See G. Caton Thompson, Tomb8 and Moon Temple of

I1ureidha (Oxford, 1944),

PI. 18: 1 and 21: 2 and pp. 50-51.

G. L.

Harding, Archaeology in the Aden Protectorates,

P1.

33: 70, 74. J. Leclant, Haoulti-Melazo (1955-1956),

Autvales d'tthiopie, III

(1959), p. 54 and

PI.

43: B & C.;

H. de Contenson, Les

Fouilles a Haoulti-Melazo

en

1958, Anunales d'tthiopie, IV (1961), p. 40 and PI. 23:

D;

C. Rathjens,

Sabaeica,

1

(Hamburg, 1953), figs. 60,

109.



4/11

-\T-N

BEEX:

Monuments

of

Axum

1II)

Hajar

Bin

Humeid

in Wadi

Beihan,

and at

nu-

merous sites

in

Hadhramaut10

(PI.

1i).

These

forms seem

to

indicate not a common ceramic

cul-

ture,

but rather

trade between

the

two

regions.

The

virtual

identity of the

culture

of

Ethiopia

and southern Arabia in the first millennium

B.

C.

points

to settlements

by colonialists

or

immigrants

from

southern

Arabia, who

brought

with them

an

already

developed culture which

they

maintained

in

Ethiopia,

adapting

it

to

local

needs.

As

might be

expected,

divergence between

cultural

traditions

took

place

in

the course

of

time,

a

phenomenon

which

can be

shown

to

have

existed elsewhere in

the

ancient

Near

East,

such

as in

Palestine

where

there

are

microcultural

differences between

the

north

and

south,

and

again

between

Palestine

proper

and

Transjordan,

although

a

basic

culture

is common to the entire region.

From

the

first

century

A. D.

until the

coming

of

Christianity

in

the

fourth

century

A.

D.,

Ethiopian

culture

and

South Arabian

culture

seemed

to have

diverged

considerably,

although

adequate

evidence

for

a

certain

judgment

is

lacking

because

of a

dearth

of

archeological

excavations of

this

period.

It

appears

that

each

culture

developed

more or

less

independently,

suggesting

that

contact

between

the

two

regions was

declining.

Perhaps this

loss

of

contact is

in

part

due

to the

gradual

decline

in

the

frankincense

and

myrrh trade

which

formed

the basis

of

South

Arabian

economy,

and

more

particularly of the role played by the southern

Arabian

ports

as

trans-shipment

points

for com-

modities

of

both

east and

west.

It

seems

probable

that

with the

loss

of

trade

revenues,

the

South

Arabs

turned

their

attention

to

more

intensive

agricultural

pursuits, and

I am

inclined

to

think,

based

on little

evidence

at the

moment, that

terrace

agriculture began

in

the

highlands

of

Yemen dur-

ing

this

period.

With

the

coming

of

Christianity to

Ethiopia in

A.

D.

327,

relations

between

Ethiopia

and

southern

Arabia

gradually

intensified.

The

Ethiopians-or

Abyssinians-conquered Saba about

A.D.

335 and

ruled

until

A. D.

370;

during

this

period,

Theophi-

los

converted

the

Sabaean

ruler to

Christianity.

In

the

fifth

century,

the

Sabaean

rulers

adopted

Judaism, and

for

some time

it

appears

that

traces

of

the

old

South

Arabian

polytheism,

Christianity,

and

Judaism

existed side

by

side,

competing

for

the

loyalty

of

the

population.

In the

early

sixth

century A.

D., the

Jewish

ruler,

Dhu-Nuwas,

perse-

cuted

the Christians

and

was

responsible

for

their

massacre

at

al-Ukhdud

in

Negran.

This

act

so

incensed

the

Ethiopians, that

Kaleb and

his

army

crossed the Red Sea and, in

A. D.

525, killed

Dhu-Nuwas.

Ethiopian

rule in

Saba lasted

until

about A.D.

575, when the area was

conquered

by

the

Persians.

Because of

a

lack of

archeological

excavations

of this

period,

there

is

little evidence of

Ethi-

opian-South

Arabian

contact

in

material

culture.

One

example

will

be

cited.

At

Marib,

the

north

sluice

of

the

great

dam, which

was

constructed

between

the

fourth

and sixth

centuries A.

D.,

is

built

with

headers

protruding

beyond

the face

of

the

wall.

This

technique

has

no

real

construc-

tion antecedents in South Arabian architecture.

In

Ethiopian

architecture, on

the

other

hand, the

ends of

wooden

joists

frequently

protruded

beyond

the

face of

the

building,

and

were often

imitated

in

stone.'2 In

view of

the

fact

that the

Ethiopians

politically

dominated

the

Sabaeans

throughout

much

of this

period, it

seems

likely

that

they

might

also

be

responsible

for

such

architectural

forms

as

these

protruding

headers,

and in

a

larger frame-

work, this

technique

should

probably be

interpreted

as

cultural

influence

coming

from

Ethiopia

to

southern

Arabia.

In

summary,

then,

the

basic

structure of

ancient

Ethiopian culture of the historic period was South

Arabian,

and

throughout the

first

millennium B.

C.

these

separate

cultures

remained

close

to

one

another

and

probably

developed

along

close,

paral-

lel

lines.

Toward

the end of

the

period, it

seems

likely

that

they

began to

diverge

and

develop

along

separate

and

independent

lines, a

tendency

which

was

accentuated

during

the

first

three

centuries

A. D.

By

the

time

Christianity

reached

Ethiopia,

Ethiopian

culture

had

achieved a

considerable

measure

of

independence, and

with

the

vigor

which

characterized

its

early

Christian

period,

it

may

have exported aspects of its own culture to

southern

Arabia.

10

See

the

writer's

detailed

description

and

discussion

in

his

forthcoming

volume

Hajar

Bin

Humeid.

1{

R.

LeBaron

Bowen

and

F.

P.

Albright,

Archaeologi-

cal

Discoveries

in

South

Arabia,

(Baltimore,

1958),

P1.

87,

where

protruding

headers

appear in

the

north

face of

the

overflow

wall of

the

north

sluice.

12

In

addition

to

the

stele

(see

below),

early

examples

include

the

church

at

Debra

Damo,

parts

of

which

may

go

back

to

the

6th

century

A.

D.,

See

D.

Krencker,

Deut-

sche

Aksum-Expedition,

II,

(Berlin,

1913),

PI. 25.



5/11

116

VAN BByi: Monuments

of

Axum

THE

STELAE

AT

AxUM

In

April,

1964, on the

invitation

of His

High-

ness Mengesha

Seyoum,13 it was the

writer's

privilege to make

a

brief visit to Axum.

The

most

surprising

impression

which

I,

as a

South Arabian

archeologist, formed was that the archeological

remains at Axum have little that resemble the

pre-

Islamic culture

of

southern

Arabia;

virtually

everything

seen

suggests

the

early

Christian

period.

For example

the inscription of

Ezana-who made

Christianity

the state

religion

of

Ethiopia

in

A.

D.

327-is

carved on

gray

granite,

the

same

stone

used for the major

stelae, as

well as

the

column

and

capital

in

the

park,

and in

the construction

of

portions of the tombs of

Kaleb

and his son

Gabra

Maskal in

the

first half of the 6th

cen-

tury

A.

D.

Further,

in

the

stelae

field

to the

west of the village of Axum, in an area which

until

recently had been

under

cultivation, were

found

many potsherds

and

steep

scrapers.

This

pottery

is all of

the

early Christian

period

as

shown

by

crosses

on bowl

rims;

it

seems

likely,

though by

no means

certain,

that the

steep scrapers

belong to

a

somewhat

earlier

period than

the

pot-

tery.

On

the

high ground

to

the

north

of

this stelae

field

with its

Christian

pottery,

are natural

out-

croppings of rock

on

which

are

scrawled

Christian

rock

carvings

including crosses,

and crosses

with

crowns.

These and

other lines of

evidence lead

to

the

inescapable

conclusion

that Axum is

chiefly

a

creation of the Ethiopian Christian

community.

This

impression

is

borne out by the

data re-

covered

in

the

various

archeological

expeditions

at

Axum.

The

first

of

these,

the Deutsche

Aksum

Ex-

pedition

of

1906,

directed

by

D.

Krencker,

yielded

nothing definitely

pre-Christian.14 The

more

recent

French

excavations by

Jean Leclant

and

Henri de

Contenson from 1955

to the

present15

have shown

that the area

of the stelae

and plat-

forms

contains three

periods of

occupation: the

uppermost is

a recent

17th century

cemetery in-

truding into

the lower

remains; the

second, an

intensive building phase dated by the excavators

to the 5th-8th

centuries

A.

D.;

the

third,

the earliest

occupation

in

the

late

third-early

fourth

century

A. D. at

which time

the

excavatorsbelieve the stelae

were erected

and the

platforms constructed.

The

chief

dating evidence

of this period

are coins

of

Ezana and other early rulers, some of whom were

pre-Christian.

Coins of

the

pre-Christian

rulers,

of

course, may

have

been in circulation for

some

time,

and

do not

require

a

contemporary

occupa-

tion of

the

area,

although

this is

certainly possible.

It has

been

generally assumed that

the monu-

mental stelae

at

Axum

belong

to

pre-Christian

times,

and

more

particularly

to the

period

im-

mediately

preceding the

coming

of

Christianity.16

It has

also been

suggested

that they derived

from

both native

Ethiopian and

South Arabian

archi-

tectural

forms;

17

and

that

they

represent

a

House of God, terminating in the firmament, in

which

the Sabaean

sun-god is

supposed to re-

side,

18

or the

various

heavens

of the

gods

whose

chief

was

the

sun-god and

whose

symbol was fast-

ened

to the

uppermost

surface of

the stele;

'I

or

that

they

functioned as

grave-stones and

memo-

rials.20

Let us

examine the

stelae in detail,

con-

sidering their

assumed

connections

with

South

Arabian

architectural

motifs, as well as

their

prob-

able date

and function.

The

finely worked

architectural

monuments,

which

are six in

number,

consist of

two parts:

a

stele,

and

a

platform

(PI. 2:

a-d). The

platform,

which normally enclosed the base of the stele on

three

sides,

may have

functioned as

some kind

of

an

altar. In all

instances

in which

the

platforms

13

The

writer

wishes to

express

here

his

gratitude

to

His

Highness

for

having

made

this

visit

possible,

and

for

local

arrangements which

greatly

facilitated this

survey.

14

D.

Krencker,

Deutsche

Aksum-Expedition,

II,

(Ber-

lin,

1913).

1'

J.

Leclant,

Les

Fouilles

A

Axoum

en

1955-1956:

Rapport

pr~1iminaire,

Annales

d'JKthiopie, III

(1959),

pp.

3-24.

H.

de

Contenson,

Les

Fouilles a

Axoum

en

1957:

Rapport

preliminaire,

ibid.,

pp.

25-42.

16E.

A.

W.

Budge,

A

History

of

Ethiopia,

II

(Lon-

don),

pp.

621-627, dated them

between

the

Ptolemaic

period and

Ezana.

D.

Krencker, op.

cit., p.

30,

assigned

them

between

the

1st

and 4th

centuries

A.

D.

S.

Pank-

hurst,

Ethiopia: A

Cultural

History,

(Essex,

1955), p.

62,

assigns

them

to

before

A. D.

327. E.

Ullendorff,

The

Ethiopians,

(London,

1960),

p.

55,

attributes them

to

Ezana.

17

D.

Krencker,

op.

cit., p.

16

and

30,

correctly

derives

the

basic

design and

architectural

form

from

earlier

Ethiopian

construction.

Ullendorff's

suggestion

(op. cit.,

p.

160)

that

the

multistoried

aspect

is

reminiscent

of

the

high and

many

storied

buildings in

southern

Arabia

is

most

improbable.

While

the

multistoried

structure

is

the

most

distinctive

architectural

feature

in

South

Arabia in

modern

times, we

have

absolutely

no

evidence

that

such

construction

was

used

in

the

pre-Islamic

period.

18

J.

T.

Bent,

The

Sacred

City of

the

Ethiopians,

(Lon-

don,

1893),

p.

185.

19

Budge,

op.

cit.,

p.

627.

20

Ullendorff,

op. cit.,

p.

160.



6/11

VAN BEEK: Monuments

of

Axum

1

17

have

been

finished,

there is a

series of four

hollows,

sometimes

plain,

and

sometimes

elaborately

worked

to

resemble recessed

bowls.

Where

there

is a

step

or

secondary platform

in

front of the

stele,

one

of

the hollows

is

located in

that

step.

The

platform

of the standing stele also has a great number of

small

shallow

holes, some of which

are

arranged

in

lines

and

others

in

symmetrical

groups. The

fact

that

none of

the

other

platforms

have

holes of

this

type

suggests that these are a

later

addition

and

may

have

been

used

for

playing

a

game,21

simply

because

this

platform

has been

exposed. Around

the rim

of this

platform

is a

grapevine

motif of

a

type which

appears

in

the

Hellenistic

world in

the

first

century in.

c.,

achieves

considerable

popularity

in

the

early

centuries

A. D.,

and

is

adopted by

Islamic

artists

after

the

seventh

century A.

D.

This

particular

design can be paralleled in southern

Arabia;

excellent

examples

of

it

occur

on

exposed

blocks

at Husn

el-Urr

in

lladhramaut,22

where

it

probably

belongs

to

the

late

first-third

centuries

A. D.

The

use of

this

motif

at

Axum

indicates

that

the

stelae

cannot

precede

the first

century

B.

C.,

and

in all

probabilitybelong

after the

first

century A.

D.

All

authors

who

have

addressed

themselves

to

the

subject

of

the

purpose

of

the

platforms

agree

that

they

functioned as

sacrificial

altars

where

blood

sacrifices

were

made, and where

offerings of

wine,

milk, and

bread

were

placed.23

While

it

seems

likely

that the

bowls

were

intended

for

some

kind of libations, it is most improbable that they

were

designed as

sacrificial

altars,

since

they are

entirely

different from

the

known

sacrificial

altars

of

the

pre-Christian

period in

Ethiopia

and

the

pre-Islamic

period

in

South

Arabia,

which

are

furnished

with

a

sloping

drain

spout,

usually

ter-

minating

in

the

head

of a

bull.

The stelae

themselves

are

granite

monoliths;

the

largest-which

fell in

antiquity

perhaps

while

being

erected-is

110

ft.

long,

and

the

second

largest-which

is still

standing-is

70

ft.

high

(P1. 2: a);

none of the monumental

stelae

are

smaller than

40

ft. Immediately

above

the plat-

form, each

stele

has a false

stone

door, sometimes

equipped

with

a carved

stone

doorpull

near the left

edge

as one

faces

the

door.

Rarely is

a door

indi-

cated on the back side. Just beyond the door

jambs,

and both above

and below

the

level

of the

door,

are squared

ends

of beams rendered

in stone.

Above

the door

and

the

beams,

is

a

row

of

dentil-

like

projections,

but

without

the

louvered panel

with

which

it

is always

associated

in architectural

motifs

from pre-Islamic

South

Arabia;

this sug-

gests

that

a considerable

period

of

independent

development

occurred

during

which the

purpose

of

the original

motif

was forgotten, selectivity

took

place,

and the

retained

design

element

became

firmly

established.

It is interesting

to note

that

an identical door is found in the tomb of Gabra

MKaskal,on

and successorof

Kaleb,

located

a short

distance

north of

Axum.24

Since

this

tomb

dates

to the

sixth century

A.

D., the

similarity

of

its

doorway

with

that

represented

on the stelae

sug-

gests

this

architectural

form

is common

to

the

early

Christian

period

of Ethiopia.

Above

the doorway,

the stelae

are carved to

represent

successive

stories

of

a building,

ranging

in number

from three

to twelve.

Between

each

story

is

a

row of

round projections

which pre-

sumably represent

round beams

or

logs

which

served

as

ceiling joists.

As noted

above,25

the

method

of construction

imitated

here

has

no

ante-

cedents

in

southern

Arabia;

that

it is

Ethiopian

in

origin

can be assumed,

but

the

absence

of evidence

from

pre-Christian

times

indicates

that

it

is

a com-

paratively

late

development.

Each

story

is further

marked

by a row

of windows,

covered

with

lattice

consisting of

horizontal

and

vertical

members.

These

windows

are

exceptionally

simple,

altogether

lacking the complexity

of

the

lattice window

in

South

Arabia

as is

found in

the

temple

Haram

Bilqis at Marib.26 Further,

none

of

the windows

on the stelae

are crowned with

the

row of dentil-

like projections and the louvered panel which com-

monly appear

both

above lattice

windows

and in

recessed

panelling

in

South

Arabian

examples

dating

between

the seventh

and

first centuries

B. C.

21 J

owe

this

suggestion

to a

number of

persons

who

participated in the discussion of

this

paper

at the

Afri-

can

Studies

Association

meeting.

There is

at

least one

group of

18

hollows

arranged

in

3 rows

of

6

hollows

each.

Bent

(op.

cit.,

pp. 72

f.)

calls

attention

to

an

Ethiopian

game

called

Gabatta',

which

requires

a

board

with

18

holes.

22

See

Harding,

Archaeology

in

the

Aden

Protectorates,

PI.

37:

1-3.

21

Budge,

op.

cit.,

p.

627.

Bent

(op.

cit.,

p.

185)

speaks

of

the

altars

receiving

blood

of

slaughtered

victims.

24

For a good summary

discussion of this structure,

see Pankhurst, op.

cit.,

pp.

88-94, and P1. 14.

25

See note 12.

26

Bowen and Albright,

Archaeological Discoveries

in

South

Arabia, p. 223 and PIs. 162, 165, 166,

and 168.



7/11

118

VAN BEEK: Monuments

of Axunt

If the windows on the

stelae at Axum are

related

to

the

recessed

lattice

windows of southern

Arabia,

they

must

represent

a late

stage

of

development

which

could hardly

have occurred

before the

early

centuries of

the Christian era.

In the

top

three

stories of the largest of the stelae (the one which

fell and

broke),27

the windows are covered with

a

kind

of tracery which

presumably

imitates

tracery

either

in

stone

or

plaster.

While

such

tracery

com-

monly

occurs

during

the

Islamic

period

in

South

Arabia,

the writer knows of no

instances

in

pre-

Islamic Arabia.

Indeed,

the fact

that

tracery

does

not

appear before the

beginning

of

the Christian

era in

southern

Arabia may

be

taken

as an indica-

tion

of the

relatively late

date

of the

stelae.

The

stelae terminate

in an

arch-shaped top.

IBelow he

arching

rim

on the

face are

one or

two

flat surfaces with groups of cuttings for the attach-

ment

of some kind of

plaque or

standard. It has

been

suggested

that the standard

was the

crescent

and

disk, an

exceptionally

common symbol in

the

pre-Christian

and pre-Islamic

periods in

both

Ethiopia

and

southern

Arabia.28

A

careful

exami-

nation

of the

arrangement of these

holes in every

stele, however,

shows that it

would have been diffi-

cult

if

not

impossible to fit a

disk and

crescent,

since

some

holes would have

been left unfilled.

On

the other

hand, a cross,

bordered by a circular

or

arching band

representing a crown, by

a garland,

or

by ears

of grain in

any of a number

of combi-

nations and styles would fit the holes nicely (PI.

3:

a-e).29 The designs

used in these

drawings are

based on motifs found on

the

early

Christian

coins

ranging from

the

reigns

of

Ezana to

Hataz

II,

from

the 4th to the

9th

centuries

A.

D.'0

In

one

reconstruction (PI.

3:

d),

a

gabled

roof

chest

is

used, which

is

based on the

so-called

unique

stele at Axum, which must be roughly contempo-

rary with

the other

stelae. Pankhurst

plausibly

suggests

that the chest

shown

on

the

unique

stele

may represent

the

Ark of the

Covenant

or

a

Torah

shrine in

view of the Judaic influence

in

the

thought of

the

early

Ethiopian

Church.31

A

number of

lines of

evidence,

therefore, indi-

cate

an

early

Christian date for

the Axumite stelae.

The absence of

a

significant

pre-Christian

occupa-

tion at

Axum, the

divergent architectural

motifs

represented

on the

stelae

which have

no

counter-

part in

southern

Arabia, the

similarity of the

stelae

false door with that of the sixth century

A. D.

tomb

of

Gabra

Maskal, and

the

arrangement of the

drill-

ings

at the

top of the

stele for

the

attachment

of an

Ethiopian

cross,

all

point to

a

date

for

the stelae

in

the early

Christian period

in

Ethiopia,

probably

between

the

fourth and

sixth

centuries A.

D. The

ruder

stelae,

which are

found in

profusion in

the

area

of Axum

and which

are only

rarely

decorated,

possibly

belong to

about the

same

period,

but

there

is

nothing to

prevent

them

from being

somewhat

earlier or

later.

The fact

that the

stele

form is

known at

Mlatara n

Ethiopia

as well

as in

southern

Arabia

suggests that

this

pagan,

pre-Islamic

form

was

taken

over by

the early

Christians and

infused

with

a new

meaning.

FUNCTION OF THE

STELAB

If

these

stelae are

indeed Christian

monuments,

what was

their

purpose?

Since

they

certainly

were

not

utilitarian,

what

symbolism did

they por-

tray?

With

no

great

measure of

confidence, the

writer

suggests

that they

may

have been

a graphic

representation of

the words

of Jesus

contained in

the

Gospel

of

John 14:

2

ff: In

my

Father's

house

are

many

mansions, if

it were

not

so

I

would

have

told

you;

for I go

to

prepare a place

for you.

And

if I

go

to

prepare

a

place for

you, I will

come

again, and will

receive

you

unto

myself; that

27

Krencker,

op.

cit., pp.

8-10,

Pis.

8-10.

28Most

scholars

allude here

to the

plain

stele

from

Matara,

which

has

a

typical

crescent

and

disk

symbol,

(C.

Conti

Rossini,

Storia

d'Ttiopia,

1

[Milan,

1928],

PI.

42:

127),

together

with

pre-Christian

Ethiopian

coins

which

carry the

same

symbol

on

the

reverse. See

Krencker

(op.

cit., p.

142, fig.

276),

who follows

Litt-

mann,

and

A.

Kammerer,

Essad

sur

l'Histoire

Antique

d'Abyssinie,

(Paris,

1926), pp.

131 ff.

291Krencker's

arguments

(op.

cit.,

pp.

12f.),

that the

arrangement of

the

holes

does

not

determine

the

shape

of

the

plaque,

and

that

a

cross was

not

used

because

the

stelae are pagan monuments have little

force.

Dowel

holes

do

provide

a

reasonably

good

indication

of

the

design,

since

they

must

provide

adequate over

all

sup-

port,

especially

at points

where the

design is

not

con-

tinuous,

as

in

the

case

of the

arms

of a

cross or

the

ends

of a

crescent.

If a

solid

plaque

with

a

relief

design

had

been

used,

fewer

and

more

evenly

spaced

holes

would

have

been

cut.

With

regard to

his

second

argu-

ment,

one

can

only

say

that

Krencker is

reasoning in

a

circle,

i.

e.,

the

monuments

had

a

disk

and

crescent

sym-

bol

and

are

therefore

pagan;

since

they are

pagan, they

could

not have

used

the

cross, but

must

have

employed

the

disk

and

crescent.

30

See

Arturo

Anzani,

Corpus delle

Monete

Axumite,

Revista

Italiana

di

Numismatica

e

Scienze

Affini,

III:

39

(1926), PI.

A-K.

Conti

Rossini,

op. cit., PIS.

60

f.

81

Pankhurst,

op. cit.,

pp.

76-80

and

PIS.

10-11.



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Documents

8.26.14 Beek Monument Saxum