The Monumentum Adulitanum: Axum's Lost Inscription

Deep in the Eritrean desert, a single stone once proclaimed the military conquests of an unknown Axumite king. The Monumentum Adulitanum, a massive Greek inscription preserved by the 6th-century merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes, offers a rare glimpse into Axum's expansionist ambitions before the reign of Ezana. This episode unpacks the inscription's content, its discovery, and the scholarly debates over which king commissioned it. We explore how Axum projected power into the highlands of Ethiopia and the Red Sea coast, subduing peoples like the 'Amatites' and fighting against the 'Sabaeans' and 'Homerites'. The Monumentum raises tantalizing questions about Axum's early state formation, its military organization, and its diplomatic and trade relations. Lucas and Luna discuss the challenges of interpreting an inscription that exists only in a medieval copy, and what it reveals about Axum's self-image as a Mediterranean-oriented power. #MonumentumAdulitanum #Axum #CosmasIndicopleustes #Adulis #GreekInscription #AxumiteKing #RedSea #Eritrea #EthiopianHistory #AncientAfrica #Epigraphy #AxumiteEmpire #Sabaeans #Homerites #Meroe #AfricanHistory #History #FexingoHistory #KingdomOfAxum #AksumiteEmpire Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo