AXUM, once the capital of the Ethiopian kingdom of the same name, is situated in the modern Abyssinian province of Tigre, of which it is capital. Lat. 40° 7' n.; long. 39° 27' e. It now lies mainly in ruins, among which stands the principal church of Abyssinia, built in 1657. Pop. 2000. The former greatness of the city is testified by yet remaining structures cut in granite, some of which have inscriptions. From these it appears that the Axiimite empire extended over Abyssinia, and even over Yemen and Saba in Arabia, and possessed the command of the Red sea. It acquired political impor tance from the circumstance, that it formed on the s. a boundary to the world-embrac ing power of Rome, as well as to that of Parthia, which then extended as far as Arabia. The Bymntine emperors even paid an annual tribute to the sovereigns of Axum. This was also the furthest point southward that Grecian civilization reached; through ' t le medium of Egypt, Greek philosophy spread into A., and the Greek language became Vie language of the court and of the priests. Under king Aizanes. who, in a still - 1,m:tieing inscription, appears as a heathen, Christianity was introduced into the coun ' ti.y from Egypt by the two apostles Frumentius and iEdesius, who were followed by
many priests from the same quarter. The new doctrine soon spread over the whole country; Frumentius was made the first bishop of A., and Fremona was built in honor of him. The stone churches, many of them very imposing, yet scattered over the whole of Abyssinia, owe their architecture to Egyptian priests, and arose at that period, as well as the most celebrated Abyssinian convents and hermitages. The Axumite empire carried on, through Adule, an active commerce with Arabia and India; it formed the outermost bulwark of Christianity; and, as such, particularly from about the 6th c., it interfered in behalf of the Christians in Arabia, and became the natural enemy of Moham medanism. The contests in which it soon became involved with that power caused its fall, as the kings gradually lost their possessions in Arabia, and the whole coast on the Red sea and gulf of Aden. The outlets for commerce were thus cut off, and the empire was at the same time so weakened by constant wars, that internal disorders brought on its complete dissolution.