Talk:Ezana of Axum

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[edit] Date

Does anyone know what the current consensus is on the dating of Ezana's reign? 330 AD seems a bit late to me. Everything I've read before has pointed to the 320s, with official adoption of Christianity either 324, 325, or 328.

Yom 02:51, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

The problem is that the timeline Munro-Hay provides palces 3 other individuals in the 4th century before Ezana. If you want to date him earlier in the century, you have to explain why these men had average reigns shorter than 10 years -- or ruled in the late 3rd century.

In any case, this article would be much improved with the addition of a discussion of how the date of his reign is determined, & of his contacts contemporary personages. (When I wrote this article, I admit that it was quick & dirty creation -- but with the assumption other Wikipedians would work on what I had contributed.) -- llywrch 03:25, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Territories ruled

An anonymous editor added some legendary info about Ezana (obviously untrue) as well as some extra controlled territories. While Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania were obviously never under Aksumite ruler, Southern Saudia Arabia very well could be. I'm not sure if Ezana claimed control, but Kaleb, in addition to Saba, Himyar, and all the traditionally Yemenite Kingdoms, claimed control over the Arabs (but I believe his successor, or the successor to this successor dropped this title, giving it some credibility). I kept southern Egypt, because the Aksumite empire bordered Rome after the conquest of Meroe, and the Roman border fell significantly short of the modern border of Egypt (I mean on the nile, ignoring the desert).

Btw, is "of Axum" really needed for Ezana? There are only contemporary figures with that name that could be confused with him, but most people would be looking for Ezana the king.

Yom 16:07, 7 April 2006 (UTC)

The reason I called him "of Axum" is a result of a disagreement I had with one editor about naming practices; he insisted that a number of early Anglo-Saxon kings had to be named (for example) "of Sussex" or "of Deira" -- even though no other persons are known with those names -- because that was the Wikipedia naming standard. I don't have strong opinions about this issue either way, so I just called him "Ezana of Axum" to avoid a future an argument. (I feel like one of the characters in the fable of the father, the son & the donkey: no matter what I do, someone will be dissatisfied, so just try to make the most reasonable choice.)

On the other hand, I'm often amazed how certain Ethiopian names are re-used by other people. There are 2 people named Abrahas, for example; one an Axumite king & another a late 19th century noble of Tigray. Another example is that there are 2 Zara Yaqobs in Ethiopian history: one is the famous king of the 16th century, the other a religious writer or philosopher of the 17th century -- whose existence I learned about only a couple of weeks ago. (And there are an amazing number of Tekle Haymanots -- all of whom I assume are named for the saint.) Sometimes it's safest to plan for a possible name collision. -- llywrch 04:50, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling

The article variously spells it Axum and Aksum, but there is no mention of or explanation of the different spellings. Somebody with subject matter knowledge should fix this. Good Cop 01:04, 14 November 2006 (UTC)