Culture
The Empire of Aksum is notable for a number of achievements, such as its own alphabet, the Ge'ez alphabet which was eventually modified to include vowels, becoming an abugida. Furthermore, in the early times of the empire, around 1700 years ago, giant Obelisks to mark emperor's (and nobles') tombs (underground grave chambers) were constructed, the most famous of which is the Obelisk of Aksum.
Under Emperor Ezana, Aksum adopted Christianity in place of its former polytheistic and Judaic religions around 325. This gave rise to the present day Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (only granted autonomy from the Coptic Church in 1953), and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahdo Church (granted autonomy from the Ethiopian Orthodox church in 1993). Since the schism with orthodoxy following the Council of Chalcedon (451), it has been an important Miaphysite church, and its scriptures and liturgy continue to be in Ge'ez.
It was a cosmopolitan state. Culturally, it was a meeting place for a variety of people: Eritrean, Ethiopian, Egyptian, Sudanic, Arabic, and Indian. The largest cities of the realm had Sabean, Jewish, Nubian, Christian, and even Buddhist minorities.
Read more about this topic: Kingdom Of Aksum
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