The Kingdom of Aksum was an ancient great power that ruled most of the northern Horn of Africa from the 1st to the 9th century AD. Parts of present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, and the Arabian Peninsula were part of this empire that fostered extensive trade between India and the Mediterranean world.
The rulers of Aksum decided to convert to Christianity in the fourth century, when they were already allies of the Roman Empire. It was King Ezana who decided to convert to Christianity while Emperor Theodosius opted for this to be the exclusive religion of Rome.
Surprisingly, early Aksumite churches are rare and archaeologists have found it difficult to date them with certainty. Until now. Recent studies carried out in two temples in the port of Adulis, in present-day Eritrea, have served to determine that they are two of the first parishes built in this ancient power. One dates from the 6th century and the other from the 7th century and both reveal the influences that the first Christians received from this African Kingdom.
An elaborate cathedral, complete with the remains of a baptistery, stands near the center of the city and was first excavated in 1868. The other, found in 1907, is to the east and features a ring of columns showing that a It once had a dome, the researchers explain in an article published in the journal Antiquity.
More than a hundred years after they were excavated, the team led by Dr. Gabriele Castiglia, from the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana, has re-examined these buildings with modern techniques. To do this, it has unearthed them and carried out radiocarbon dating of the site.
“This study reveals one of the first examples of Aksumite churches excavated with modern methods and chronological data from modern dating methods,” explains Dr. Castiglia. His work revealed that the construction of the cathedral began between 400 and 535 AD, while the domed church was built between 480 and 625 AD.
This makes them some of the oldest securely dated churches in the Aksumite Kingdom, and the oldest known outside the heart of the capital. This shows a relatively rapid spread of Christianity through this ancient trading power.
"Having a precise chronology for these churches is key to understanding how the process of conversion to Christianity shaped the geographical and cultural area," adds Gabriele Castiglia. The buildings show that the spread of Christianity was not the result of a single factor, beginning with King Ezana's rule, but that the churches have elements of many traditions, reflecting the various influences in the conversion of the kingdom.
The domed temple, for example, is unique in the Aksumite Kingdom and appears to be inspired by Byzantine churches. Meanwhile, the cathedral is built on a large platform in the Aksumite tradition. Churches can also shed light on the later arrival of Islam. With the fall of Rome, Adulis experienced a period of gradual decline, and the churches eventually fell into disuse.
Doctor Castiglia discovered that this was not, however, the end of their useful lives: the cathedral was repurposed as a Muslim cemetery. The continued use of existing sacred spaces could indicate that the region's conversion to Islam was also a multicultural phenomenon, with local customs mixed with the new religion.
"This is one of the first times that we have material evidence of the reappropriation of a Christian sacred space by the Islamic community," says the researcher. Together, these buildings show that the religious history of the Horn of Africa was cosmopolitan, with diverse groups influencing the spread of different beliefs.
