Hi all, Some coins of the Kingdom of Axum made a nice cameo appearance in the PBS series Africa's Great Civilizations that aired tonight. My local station will be airing it the next couple of days, so look it up if you want to check it out. I watched the first episode also, but the second episode called The Cross and The Crescent shows the coins...and some other cool ancient and medieval history stuff. You can also watch it online I think. http://www.pbs.org/weta/africas-great-civilizations/home/
We're sorry, but this video is not available in your region due to right restrictions. Trailer is on youtube, shows coins @16 seconds
I say we have a case of Greek culture influencing Axum coinage, down to the Greek legends and all. Still, the style of the coins is certainly interesting and has an African flavor to it that I find appealing and fascinating. Below you can see the style carried through to early Christian times...this coin being from around 450 CE However, much more interesting are these silver ones. They almost look like medieval European coins, except these are around 700 years earlier than the similar European coinage. Definitely ahead of their times. * Sadly I own none of these.
I don't either, they have been on my list for years. They also have the first bi-metallic coins (gold and bronze, I don't know if it's much more bi-metallic than silver washing an AE coin?) ...some people here have some...I hope they show them.
I have just one Axumite coin, an anonymous bronze from c.350 AD: Note the Greek legend (obverse reads "BACILEWC" and the reverse is apparently Greek for "May it please the country") and the prominent Christian cross on the reverse. The spread of Greek language and Christian religion to Axum isn't really surprising- Axum is along the Red Sea, which provides a direct link to the heart of the classical Mediterranean world. Axumite coinage is interesting, I have considered trying to put together a representative mini-collection but keep getting distracted.
