The Conversion of Ezana The kingdom of Aksum which reached its height during the reign of King Ezana. Although Christianity likely presided among foreign merchants, Ezana is credited with Christianizing the affluent and expansive kingdom. The reformation which took place in the ancient kingdom may have been a political maneuver to solidify trade relations with the Roman Empire. Following the traditionally accepted legend of Frumentius and Aedesius’s influence upon Ezana, Christianity presented itself first among the royal family. However, the legend does not account for the discrepancies found in the Ge’ez inscriptions and Aksumite coinage. Was the king’s conversion the result of personal beliefs or political persuasion? Examination of opposing viewpoints gives pause to the traditionally accepted legend which focuses primarily upon the influence of the Syrian brothers and the influence of their religious persuasion. Shipwrecked off the Ethiopian coast while passing through the Red Sea in the fourth centuryAD, an encounter the between the coastal people and the crew of a merchant ship escalated into a fatal conflict in which only two young Syrian Christian brothers survived. After their capture, the brothers, Frumentius and Aedesius, The king took notice of the youths’ Greek education. Aedesius appointed the king’s cupbearer; Frumentius became the “master of correspondence and accounts.” Upon his death, the king released the brothers from their enslaved status, but the queen coaxed them into remaining in the kingdom to assist in the administration of the Aksum until her young son, Ezana, reached maturity. Under the direction of Frumentius, Christian merchants were allowed privileges in the kingdom and places to worsh... ... middle of paper ... ... the African State. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. Munro-Hay, Stuart, Catalogue of the Aksumite Coins in the British Museum, London, BMP, 1999. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspxobjectId=1303544&partId=1&searchText=1989,0518.41 (accessed November 28, 2013). Munro-Hay, Stuart, Catalogue of the Aksumite Coins in the British Museum, London, BMP, 1999. http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?searchText=r1874,0715.123&ILINK%7C34484,%7CassetId=597606&objectId=1303543&partId=1(accessed November 28, 2013). Rose, Mark, and Chester Higgins, Jr. "Of Obelisks and Empire." Archaeology. no. 3 (2009): 26-30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41781290 (accessed November 24, 2013). Shahîd, Irfan. Byzantium and the Arabs in the Fourth Century. Washington, D.C: Dumbarton Oaks, 1984.
Emery, W, 1923: `Two Nubian Graves of the Middle Kingdom at Abydos', Annals of archaeology and anthropology, Liverpool University, 10: 33-35
The ginormous volcano at Akrotiri on the island of Thera during the Bronze Age was devastating, and is speculated to be related to the fall of the Minoan civilization. Starting in 1867, archeologists discovered pottery, a buried city and frescoes. These discoveries are the most significant as the pottery and the buried city helped historians learn about the art, trade and societal aspects of Akrotiri, and the frescoes found revealed more information about Akrotiri’s art and religion.
Figure 1. Neshat, Shirin. 1996. Speechless. Gelatin silver print and ink. Retrieved from http://www. glad stonegallery.com/artist/shirin-neshat/work#& panel1-4
...ir religion upon the people (325). Thus, these peoples found refuge in Muslims from Byzantine oppression (325). Muslim conquerors tolerated other religions and offered protection for many peoples (326). Christian Europe developed a lasting fear and suspicion of the Muslims as they were assaulted and challenged by them at all fronts (326) In both the east and west the Muslim invasion was confronted and halted though contact between Muslims and Christians continued (326). Muslims regarded Byzantium “as a model to learn from and improve upon” (326). Despite the differences between the Christian west and the Muslim world, there was creative interchange between the two (326). Sine the Arabs were more advanced, the West benefited from this interchange most (326).
The beautiful and unique gemstone, tanzanite has afascinating history. Read all about it and trace the origins of this rare gemstone.
The discovery of King Tut's Tomb was a rich discovery. In fact, it was one of the richest discoveries ever found. King Tutankhamun's coffin was made out of solid gold, and his 3,000 year old mummified remains were very well preserved. In fact, young Tutankhamun body underwent a lengthy process to prepare his body for mummification.
Coins are an important way for Islamic empires to express what is important to them. Over the decades of Islamic expansion coins were used with designs. These were coins remained in use from the Byzantine and Sasanian empires. Coins began to evolve as Muslims started to depict their own designs from the Byzantine and Sasanians. During the Umayyad dynasty things started to change with the appearance of coins. New designs were implemented during this time that were not the norm. An Umayyad caliph by the name of ‘Abd al-Malik was the one to start this alternation of the design for these coins. This was something that was important for him to strike and to maintain as the coin usage. The importance was because of religion, government, and change
"Bronze Chariot Inlaid with Ivory." The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2014.
What happened in this article was they have discovered the Roman Coin. Laurie Rimon was the person who has discovered the Roman Coin. He had found it when he was hiking in Eastern Galilee. After him finding this beautiful coin he has got 10 million dollars. Finding this coin is a miracle to him to find something like this. This coin was a 2,000 year old golden coin. They said that they tried to part with this coin,but it was really hard.
The coins, which are in plain view at the Uruma City Yonagusuku Historical Museum through Nov. 25, were uncovered from around 1 meter (yard) underground in a layer accepted to be from the fourteenth to fifteenth century.
Kinney, Leila W. Morisot. Art Journal, vol. 47, no. 3, Sept. 1988, p. 236. EBSCOhost. https://login.ezproxy.net.ucf.edu/login?auth=shibb&url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=asu&AN=505572581&site=eds-live&scope=site. Accessed. 1 Mar. 2017.
The object chosen is a Roman tomb relief made of marble; it dates from around the third to fourth century AD. It is Roman in origin, but no specific province or city was specified. The scene depicted on the relief is highly detailed, and it depicts a shop assistant or labourer carrying a basket of goods (likely olives or dates) to a shop keeper. The shop keeper is depicted as reaching for the basket of goods, intending to weigh them by pouring the contents of the basket into the modius measure (a hollow vessel used for measurements of non-liquids) on the floor. This relief, along with other similar reliefs, would have been used to decorate the shop keeper’s tomb.
When he showed the slide of Queen Nefertiti’s scarab I though no other find he has made could top it. However, upon further reflection I believe his discovery of the oldest “book”, and glass were more historically significant items. In my humble opinion, Dr. Bass’s most extraordinary finding was his work outside of the dive sites. His theories regarding contact and trade between Egypt and the Near East, Greece, and the Middle East in the Bronze Age have gone from mere speculation to widely accepted academic fact as a direct result of his research and writing.
"Cleopatra and Egypt - The Coins of Julius Caesar - Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies." Division of Humanities - Macquarie University. Director, ACANS, n.d. Web. July 2008.
The Benin bronzes are a collection of commemorative Bronze plaques and sculptures that were used to decorate the royal palace of Benin. Located around what is now southern Nigeria, Benin was inhabited by the Bini people from around the eleventh century CE, and overthrown by British colonialists in the late nineteenth century. The extract, from 'Great Benin: Its Customs, Art and Horrors' by Henry Ling Roth (1903), will be discussed, along with the specified plates from the AA100 Illustration Book, in order to better understand how, over the last century, European attitudes towards the bronzes have changed. Initially objects of monetary significance which furthered imperial colonisation, attitudes towards the bronzes have transformed over time