Ezana of Axum
| Negus Ezana { | |
|---|---|
 Gold coin of Ezana of Axum | |
| King of Axum | |
| Reign | 320s – c. 360 AD |
| Predecessor | Ousanas |
| Successor | MHDYS |
Ezana (Aizan) | |
|---|---|
| King | |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church |
| Feast | 1 October and 27 October |
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Ezana (Ge'ez: ዔዛና, ‘Ezana, unvocalized ዐዘነ ‘zn), (Ancient Greek: Ἠεζάνα, Aezana) was the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum (320s – c. 360 AD). One of the best-documented rulers of Aksum, Ezana is important as he is the country's first king to embrace Christianity and make it the official religion. Tradition states that Ezana succeeded his father Ella Amida (Ousanas) as king while still a child but his mother, Sofya then served as regent until he came of age.
Reign
[edit]Ezana was the first monarch of the Kingdom of Aksum to embrace Christianity,[1] after his slave-teacher, Frumentius, converted him.[2] He was the first monarch after Zoskales to be mentioned by contemporary historians, a situation that lead Stuart Munro-Hay to comment that he was "the most famous of the Aksumite kings before Kaleb."[3] In early life he considered himself a son of Ares, but later inscriptions show a growing attachment to Christianity. His childhood tutor, the Syr
I, Ezana, King of the Kingdom of Aksum and Himyarites and of Reeidan and of the Ethiopians and of the Sabaites and of Sileel (?) and of Hasa and of the Bougaites and of Taimo...
Ezana is unknown in the King Lists even though the coins bear this name. According to tradition, Emperors Abreha and Asbeha ruled Ethiopia when Christianity was introduced. It may be that these names were later applied to ‘Ezana and his brother or that these were their baptismal names.[7]
Veneration
[edit]Along with his brother, Saizan (Sazan), Ezana (Aizan)[8] is regarded as a saint by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church and Catholic Church, with a feast day of the first of October[9] and on 27 October.[10]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Stuart Munro-Hay (2002). Ethiopia: The Unknown Land. I.B. Tauris. p. 41.
- ^ Murray, Stuart (2009). The Library: an Illustrated History. New York, NY. pp. 30–31. ISBN 978-1-60239-706-4.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Munro-Hay, Aksum, p. 77
- ^ Tabbernee, William (18 November 2014). Early Christianity in Contexts: An Exploration across Cultures and Continents. Baker Academic. p. 252. ISBN 978-1-4412-4571-7.
- ^ Anfray, Francis; Caquot, André; Nautin, Pierre (1970). "Une nouvelle inscription grecque d'Ezana, roi d'Axoum". Journal des Savants. 4 (1): 266. doi:10.3406/jds.1970.1235.|quote=Moi, Ézana, roi des Axoumites, des Himyarites, de Reeidan, des Sabéens, de S[il]éel, de Kasô, des Bedja et de Tiamô, Bisi Alêne, fils de Elle-Amida et serviteur du Christ
- ^ Gibbon, Edward (14 February 2016). The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. e-artnow. p. Note 137. ISBN 978-80-268-5034-2.
- ^ See "'Ezana" article on Dictionary of African Christian Biography (http://www.dacb.org) Web site at "'ÉZANA, Ethiopia, Orthodox". Archived from the original on 2017-05-05. Retrieved 2017-01-04.
- ^ "Ethiopian Saints". Aliens in This World. 2011-02-11. Retrieved 2021-11-06.
- ^ Holweck, F. G., A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder Book Co. 1924
- ^ Zeno. "Lexikoneintrag zu »Abreha, SS.«. Vollständiges Heiligen-Lexikon, Band 1. Augsburg ..." www.zeno.org (in German). Retrieved 2021-11-06.
Further reading
[edit]- Francis Anfray, André Caquot, and Pierre Nautin, "Une nouvelle inscription grecque d'Ezana, roi d'Axoum", Journal des savants, (1970), pp. 260-274.
- Yuri M. Kobishchanov. Axum (Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator). University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979. ISBN 0-271-00531-9
- Stuart Munro-Hay, "The Dating of Ezana and Frumentius", Rassegna di Studi Etiopici, 32 (1988), pp. 111-127
- Sergew Hable Sellassie. Ancient and Medieval Ethiopian History to 1270 (Addis Ababa: United Printers, 1972).
- African Zion, the Sacred Art of Ethiopia, (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).
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