Ancient African Civilizations

This book examines two ancient African civilizations, Kush and Axum, which were the most highly developed civilizations south of Egypt, but are often overlooked in modern texts.
Stanley Burstein has compiled and edited with commentary the most significant Greek and Roman sources concerning these states. The result is a fascinating book about the people of the southern part of the Nile valley, the gold mines of Nubia, and the Hellenistic city of Meroe, capital of the Ethiopian empire of Kush with its own highly developed culture (300 BC-300 AD).
Axum is best known as one of the oldest capitals of the ancient Ethiopian empire (100-500 AD). The texts in this book describe the Red Sea trade and the rise of Axum, the birth of the Axum Empire, the conversion of Axum to Christianity, and Axumite civilization on the eve of the Middle Ages.

Acknowledgments
Introduction	p. 1
Kush and Its Neighbors	p. 23
The Exploration of Nubia and the Red Sea	p. 25
A Greek Account of the Geography of Nubia	p. 29
The Gold Mines of Lower Nubia	p. 31
A Description of Meroe	p. 35
The History and Customs of the People of Kush	p. 37
The Trogodytes: Nomads of the Nubian Desert	p. 47
The Ostrich Eaters	p. 51
Kush and Rome	p. 53
First Contact between Rome and Kush: The Triumphal Inscription of Cornelius Gallus	p. 55
Peace between Rome and Kush (20 B.C.E.)	p. 57
Kush in the First Century c.e.: Nero's Aithiopian Expedition	p. 62
A Roman Soldier and his God in Nubia: The Mandulis Hymn of Paccius Maximus	p. 66
Isis of Philae: Mistress of Nubia: The Graffito of Pasan, son of Paese (April 10, 253 C.E.)	p. 69
The Roman Withdrawal from Nubia (298 C.E.)	p. 73
The Rise of Axum and the Decline of Kush	p. 77
Red Sea Trade and the Emergence of the Kingdom of Axum	p. 79
The Empire of Axum	p. 83
Ezana and the Bega	p. 87
Protection of Axumite Trade	p. 89
The Axumite Gold Trade	p. 91
The Introduction of Christianity to Axum	p. 94
The Destruction of Meroe (ca. 360 C.E.)	p. 97
The End of Antiquity	p. 101
The Struggle of Power in Lower Nubia: The Silko Inscription	p. 103
Treaty between the Blemmyes, Nobatai, and Rome (ca. 453 C.E.)	p. 106
The Christianization of Nubia	p. 108
Contract for the Sale of a Nubian Slave Girl (Sixth Century C.E.)	p. 118
Axum in the Sixth Century C.E.	p. 121
Meeting with a King of Axum	p. 125
Letter from the Governor of Egypt to the King of the United Kingdom of Makouria and Nobatia (759 C.E.)	p. 127
Notes	p. 133
Select Bibliography	p. 155
Index	p. 159
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

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Ancient African Civilizations

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