Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 07.djvu/279

* ETHIOPIA. 247 ETHIOPIA. 601), was dethroned hy Taliarka (091-004). In his time, Esarhaddon, of Assyria, invaded Egypt In 073 and again in 670, when Memphis was taken. On a stele found al Zenjerli in nortl Syria, Esarhaddon's triumph over Taharka is represented. Taliarka was driven hack into Ethiopia. Tanuat Amen (664-663) tried in vain to reconquer Egypt, where, mi (lie decline of the Assyrian power, Psammetich I. (663-610) de himself ruler. During the reign of this Egyptian king, Herodotus slates that a large number of dissatisfied soldiers emigrated into Ethiopia. The place where they settled can- not be determined with certainty, though it has been suggested that the island of Meroe may have received many of them, and their number (2411,000) has, no doubt, been exag- gerated by Herodotus ( ii. 30). An invasion of Ethiopia was probably made by Psammetich 11. (594-588), referred' to in the Greek inscrip- tions of Abu Simbel. Xapata was destroyed by Cambyses in 524. There is no positive evidence that this kingdom ever extended beyond Noga, immediately south of Khartum, where Egyptian inscriptions have been found. A number of hiero- glyphic inscriptions still remain undeciphered. They are probably written in the native lan- guage of Kosh. Kingdom of Meroe. On the capital of the new kingdom that gradually arose in the south after the fall of Napata, see Meroe, and for a descrip- tion of territories that at one time or another formed a part of it. see Senkab and Kordofax. The Achfcmenian monarchs received tribute from kings who seem to have made Meroe their capi- tal. Whether these kings were of the old line is uncertain. While the theocratic constitution de- scribed by Greek writers no doubt had developed already in Napata, the subordination of the king to the priesthood seems to point to a new regime. in which the king was a mere tool in the hands of the clergy. Thekings, Arura. Harsiot, Nastasen, who reigned in the fifth and fourth centuries, conquered considerable territory south of Meroe in Sennar and Kordofan. and possibly in Abys- sinia. While the suzerainty of the Ptolemies seems to have been recognized for religious rea- sons, King Ergamenes, by putting to death the priests who had demanded that he should abdicate in the time of Ptolemy IV. Philopator (221-204). paved the way for independence. Ptolemy V. Epiphanes (204-181) was able to re- sist his attack upon Egypt, but not to prevent his assertion of sovereignty in Ethiopia. Queen Candace seems to have extended her power in the north, and twenty-five provinces are said to have been tributary to her. But her invasion of Egypt was successfully resisted by Cains Petronius in B.c 24. Napata, that had been rebuilt, was de- stroyed by the Romans. Another Queen Candace is mentioned in Acts viii. But gradually Meroe itself fell into ruins. To guard against invasion by the Blemmyans, a people akin to the Bugaitte, the modern Beja, Diocletian moved the Nobatse, negro tribes of the same stock as the population of Kordofan, from the oasis of Khargch into the Nile valley. See Nubia. Kingdom of Aksum. The mountain region of Abyssinia was probably inhabited in very early times by Semites as well as by Hamites. Whether the original home of the former was in Africa or in Arabia (see Semites), the overflow of popula- tion would naturally set in the direction of this Alpine country. As the native name Bhows, I lie Semitic Ethiopians were -till in the nomadic -i. Hi' when they int. red this territory, prilling themselves on being 'wanderers' to ing fn u herever they liked. ( See (il I /.. i 'II. evidently successive waves of immigration. If tiie Egyptian ELbsl is of Semitic origin, as can scarcelj be doubted, there were apparently kin men of the Yemenites in Eretria and on the So mali coast c. 1500 B.C. Sabtean inscriptions found in Yeha, the ancient Vwa, may be as old as the seventh century B.C. Names .if place uch as Aiwa, Daro, Sant. Ilarar. Ila-ak. ami Awa are manifestly of South Arabian origin and seem to indicate a trade route between Yemen and Memo lined with Semitic settlements long before the Christian Era. As long as the Ptolemies domi- nated the Erythrean coasl from Adulis, Berenice, and Arsiniie, a strong Abyssinian kingdom could not. well develop. But in the reign of Augustus, wnen the Romans suffered serious reverses in Arabia and were occupied in Africa with Queen Candace. while the Arsacid conquests in east- ern Arabia forced the Vemenile State-, to seek compensation for their losses elsewhere, l be Semit- ic element in Ethiopia seems to have been re- inforced, and the Kingdom of Aksum founded. The Periplus maris Erythrcei, probably written by Basiles between a.d. 56 f-nd 07, refers to a King of Aksum by the name of Zoscales, who controlled the coast from Massowab to Bab el Mandeb, and was a friend of Greek culture. It is possible that some of the gold coins with Greek legends that have been preserved should be as- signed to the second and third centuries a.d. Ten kings are known through these coins, viz. Aphilas, Bachasa, Gersem, Uzas, Nezana or Aizana, TJIzeba. Azael. Uchsas, and Esbaal or Aieb. Those that have the mark of the cross are clearly from the fourth and following centuries ; but those without such a mark are probably earlier. On a marble throne in Adulis. Cosmas Indicopleustes found and copied in the sixth cen- tury an inscription commemorating the power of a great king whose name is not given. He has been supposed by some scholars to be the founder of the Aksumite' kingdom, but it is more probable that he reigned at the end of the third century A.D. He possessed a part of southwest Arabia and fought with the Kasa (Cushf and the Buga (Beja). The IMfa %8vq that he mentions as his subjects are probably the Agazi or Geez tribes. King Aizana is known to have reigned in the year A.D. 356. In his time Frumentius (q.v.) preached Christianity in the country. The polit- ical relations that had long existed between Aksum and Rome were such as to favor his mis- sion. El Amida, bis successor, who reigned be- fore 378, still held control of parts of Yemen. The two Riippell inscriptions written in the peculiar vocalized writing of the Geez (see Ethioptc Writing) probably belong to bis reign. In 378 Aksum was reduced to its African territory. The names of some kings of the next century may be represented on the coins. Only a few- can be de- ciphered with any degree of certainty on the cop- per coin-: viz. Mehigsen, King of Aksum. Hatasu, King of Aksum; King Elaats. and King Zwazan. In a.d. 525 Elesbaas, King of Aksum. with the aid of the Sabffian and Hadramautian rulers, made an end to the Hirnyarite kingdom of Dim