Translation of the Inscription of the Monument of Adulis

This is an English translation of the Greek inscription of the Monument of Adulis which tells us about the initial growth and the process of unification of the Axumite empire, as documented by Cosmas Indicopleustes in his book the Christian Topography.¹ In addition to J.W. McCrindle’s original translation of the Christian Topography, I have taken Philip A. Harland’s² rendering of the tribe names listed in the Greek inscription into consideration in compiling this post.

“… after I grew to be a man and forced the peoples bordering on my kingdom to live in peace, I made war upon the following peoples, and by force of arms reduced them to subjection. I warred first with the people of Gaze,³ then with Agame⁴ and Sigyene.⁵ After conquering them, I exacted a payment of half of everything they possessed.”

“I next reduced Aua⁶ and Tiamo, called Tziamo,⁷ and the Gambela,⁸ and the tribes near them [he means the tribes beyond the Nile],⁹ and Zingabene and Aggabe¹⁰ and Tiama¹¹ and Athagaus¹² and Kalaa,¹³ and the Semenai¹⁴—a people who lived beyond the Nile on mountains difficult of access and covered with snow, where the year is all winter with hailstorms, frosts and snows into which a man sinks knee-deep. I passed the river to attack these tribes¹⁵, and reduced them.”

“I next subdued Lazine and Zaa and Gabala,¹⁶ tribes which inhabit mountains with steep declivities abounding with hot springs, the Atalmo and Bega,¹⁷ and all the tribes in the same quarter along with them. I proceeded next against the Tangaitae,¹⁸ who adjoin the borders of Egypt; and having reduced them I made a footpath giving access by land into Egypt from that part of my dominions.”

“Next I reduced Annine and Metine—tribes inhabiting precipitous mountains. My arms were next directed against the Sesea¹⁹ nation. These had retired to a high mountain difficult of access; but I blockaded the mountain on every side, and compelled them to come down and surrender. I then selected for myself the best of their young men and their women, with their sons and daughters and all besides that they possessed. The tribes of Rhausi²⁰ I next brought to submission : a barbarous race spread over wide waterless plains in the interior of the frankincense country²¹. [Advancing thence towards the sea]²² I encountered the Solate,²³ whom I subdued, and left with instructions to guard the coast.”

“All these nations, protected though they were by mountains all but impregnable, I conquered, after engagements in which I was myself present. Upon their submission I restored their territories to them, subject to the payment of tribute. Many other tribes besides these submitted of their own accord, and became likewise tributary.”

“And I sent a fleet and land forces against the Arabitai²⁴ and Kinaidokolpitai²⁵ who dwelt on the other side of the Red Sea, and having reduced the sovereigns of both, I imposed on them a land tribute and charged them to make travelling safe both by sea and by land. I thus subdued the whole coast from Leuce Come,²⁶ to the country of the Sabaeans²⁷.”

“I was the first and only of the kings who came before me to subjugate all of these peoples. For this success I now offer this as my thanks to my mighty God, Ares,²⁸ who begat me, and by whose aid I subjugated all the peoples bordering on my own country: on the East to the incense-gatherers²⁹ and on the West to Ethiopia³⁰ and Sasu³¹. Of these expeditions, some were conducted by myself in person, and ended in victory, and the others I entrusted to my officers. Having brought peace to all the world under my authority, I came down to Adoulis and offered sacrifice to Zeus,³² to Ares, and to Poseidon,³³ whom I appealed to in order to befriend everyone who goes down to the sea in ships. Here also I reunited all my forces, and setting down this throne³⁴ in this place, I consecrated it to Ares in the twenty-seventh year of my reign.”

Reference Notes

1. The Christian Topography of Cosmas, An Egyptian Monk. Translated from the Greek, and Edited, with Notes and Introduction by J.W. McCrindle (1897). Printed at the Broford Press for Hakluyt Society: London. ↩︎
2. Philip A. Harland, ‘Axumite perspectives: Inscription by the king of Axum on the Ethiopian and Arabian peoples he conquered (late-second or early-third century CE),’ Ethnic Relations and Migration in the Ancient World, last modified April 6, 2024, https://philipharland.com/Blog/?p=15458. ↩︎
3. The Gaze had settled the area around Metera, of modern-day Eritrea. The designations of “Geezai”, “Guzai” are derivations of this name. ↩︎
4. The Agame had settled the area around Adigrat, Tigray region, of modern-day Ethiopia. Their name has been passed on to the present without alteration. ↩︎
5. The Sigyene had probably settled the area around Segheneyti, of modern-day Eritrea. J.W. McCrindle also renders this name as “Sigye” instead of “Sigyene”. ↩︎
6. The position of Aua is fixed by the itinerary of Nonnosus, the envoy of Emperor Justinian to the King of Axum in 531 AD. In the itinerary Aua is a district situated halfway between Adulis and Axum. This means it was located somewhere around Debarwa of modern-day Eritrea. Some persons wrongly equate Aua with Adwa. What Ambassador Nonnosus wrote about Aua does not at all fit Adwa. ↩︎
7. The renowned German historian Iyob Ludolf, and the British envoy to Abyssinia in the first decade of 1800, Mr. Henry Salt, have written instead of “Tsorona”, “Tzama” and “Tsama” respectively. So it is possible that Tiamo and Tziamo are referring to the district of Tsorona in modern-day Eritrea. ↩︎
8. The Gambela inhabited the Gembela district, which was centered around Kwiha, in the former Enderta province in the Tigray region of modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
9. The words within brackets appear to have formed a marginal note which has crept into the text of Cosmas (as could happen when copying books manually).
   By the Nile here is not meant the Nile proper, but its great eastern tributary the Tekeze, which, however, before joining the Nile unites with the Atbara in modern-day Sudan. ↩︎
10. Aggabe may be referring to the tribe which had been settled around Agabe in modern-day Tigray Region of Ethiopia. Also, J.W. McCrindle renders this name as “Angabe” instead. ↩︎
11. The British envoy to Abyssinia in the first decade of 1800, Mr. Henry Salt, had written “Tiama” for “Thana”. So it is possible that “Tiama” is a reference to the ancient tribe that had settled the former Dembiya district in modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
12. Athagaus seems to be a corruption of Ad Agau, that is to say, “the country of Agaws”. ↩︎
13. The Kalaa had their center at the ancient city of Koloe, that is the modern-day Quahaito in Eritrea. “Akele” is a derivation of Kalaa. ↩︎
14. The Semenai had inhabited the Semien province with its lofty mountains. The Semien Mountains are one of the few places in Africa where snow falls. However, the frequency and amount of snowfall has been greatly reduced owing to deforestation and climate change. ↩︎
15. He means the Tekeze river. ↩︎
16. The Oromia special Zone of the Amhara Region in modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
17. The Bega are an ancient tribe belonging to the Beja race. They had settled Begemeder in modern-day Ethiopia. Formerly the province of Begemeder was bounded to the north by the chain of hills where the Farka Pass is located, to the west by Lake Tsana, to the south by the Abay River and its great tributary the Bashilo River, and to the east by the Tekezé River in what is now the Amhara regional state of Ethiopia. ↩︎
18. The Tangaites are the Taka tribe. They were the most powerful of the Beja race at the time. They had given their name to the former province of Taka which was around modern-day Kassala in eastern Sudan. ↩︎
19. This tribe had inhabited the area around Asosa in modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
20. Philip A. Harland has rendered it “Rhauso” instead. ↩︎
21. Modern-day Somalia and eastern lowlands of modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
22. The words within brackets appear to have formed a marginal note which has crept into the text of Cosmas (as could happen when copying books manually). ↩︎
23. These had inhabited the area around the southeastern coast of the Red sea on the African side, now settled by Afar and Somali clans. ↩︎
24. The Arabitai are the ancient Arab tribe that had given their name to the Arabian peninsula. ↩︎
25. The Kinaidokolpitai were a branch of the great tribe of Kinda. They dwelt in the Hejaz (ٱلْحِجَاز), the region that includes the majority of the west coast of modern-day Saudi Arabia. ↩︎
26. Leuce Come is equated with either the port city of al-Wajh in modern-day Saudi Arabia or with the village of Aynuna located near the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba in modern-day northwestern Saudi Arabia. ↩︎
27. A region in modern-day Yemen. ↩︎
28. This is the Greek god of war equivalent to the prechristian Axumite god called Maḥrem or Maher. ↩︎
29. The northeast region of modern-day Somalia. ↩︎
30. The Kushite or Nubian kingdom which was centred on Meroe. ↩︎
31. The western region around Asosa in modern-day Ethiopia. ↩︎
32. This is the Greek god of the sky equivalent to the prechristian Axumite god called Astar. ↩︎
33. This is the Greek god of the sea equivalent to the prechristian Axumite god called Beher. ↩︎
34. He is referring to the monument itself, which is in the shape of a throne. ↩︎