Pre-Aksumite Evidence from the Betä Gǝyorgis Archaeological Site (Central Tǝgray)
Pre-Aksumite Evidence from the Betä Gǝyorgis Archaeological Site (Central Tǝgray)
Kathryn Bard
Aksum was an early African state that arose in the highlands of northern Ethiopia in the late 1st millennium BCE. Origins of this ancient kingdom are unclear, but archaeological excavations on Betä Gǝyorgis Hill at Aksum, by the University of Naples “L’Orientale” and Boston University, have revealed earlier evidence at the site of ʿOna Nägäst of a large elite residential structure and elite burials in the associated cemetery at ʿOna Ǝnda Aboi Zewgè. Ceramics from these sites are of an earlier phase than those of Aksumite culture, now called “Proto-Aksumite,” and associated radiocarbon dates for this phase suggest a range of 360 – 120/40 BCE. Archaeological surveys and selected excavations of sites located through survey also provide data for the use of Betä Gǝyorgis Hill through all phases of Aksumite culture. As the kingdom developed, an expansion is observed both in the ʿOna Nagast settlement, as well as the city of Aksum at the foot of Bieta Giyorgis hill.