The Nicene Age · AD 313–400
Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum
d. c. 360s · King of Axum · First Christian king of Ethiopia · Axum
The Nicene Age
Who Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum was
The king of Axum educated by the shipwrecked Frumentius, under whom the Ethiopian kingdom became Christian: his later inscriptions replace the old gods with “the Lord of Heaven,” and his coinage is the first in the world to carry the cross. The emperor Constantius, seeking to replace Frumentius with an Arian bishop, wrote directly “to the princes of Axum, Aizanas and Saizanas” — the letter Athanasius preserved — and was, so far as the record shows, ignored. The southern mirror of Constantine: a court converted, a coinage re-stamped, a see kept loyal to Alexandria.
Constantius's letter (Apology to Constantius 31) is the sole literary naming; his own inscriptions and coins are documentary.
Common questions
When did Ezana die?
Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum is dated d. c. 360s in the archive, which places Ezana in the Nicene Age (AD 313–400). The dating is traditional and approximate; the archive marks it as uncertain rather than fixing a year the sources do not give.
Which early sources mention Ezana?
Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum is named in 1 primary-source passage catalogued here, drawn from Constantius II, via Athanasius. Every passage is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Where was Ezana from?
The archive associates Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum with Axum.
Who were Ezana’s contemporaries?
The archive links Ezana (Aizanas) of Axum to 5 other figures, including Frumentius of Axum, Athanasius of Alexandria, Emperor Constantius II and Aedesius of Tyre. Each connection is drawn from a source that places them together, not from inference.
Primary-source mentions (1)
Every passage below is quoted from a named public-domain translation, earliest first.
Athanasius, Apology to Constantius 31 (the emperor’s letter)
c. AD 357To the most honoured princes of Axum, Aizanas and Saizanas… send speedily to Egypt the bishop Frumentius, that he may be examined by Georgius and those with him.Constantius II, via Athanasius · source text
Connected in the archive
People
Events in this lifetime
- AD 301 · Hripsime and her company, AD 301
- AD 303 · The Great Persecution begins, AD 303
- AD 303 · The search of the church at Cirta, AD 303
- AD 306 · The Council of Elvira, AD 306
- AD 311 · Galerius’ edict of Serdica, AD 311
- AD 313 · The Edict of Milan, AD 313
- AD 314 · The Council of Arles, AD 314
- AD 320 · Silvanus tried before Zenophilus, AD 320
- AD 325 · The Council of Nicaea, AD 325
- AD 339 · The persecution of Shapur II, AD 339
- AD 343 · The Council of Serdica, AD 343
Place
Places served
The one place the sources put Ezana.
- 1Axum