Kingdom of Aksum · about AD 100-700

Aksum: coins, obelisks and a Red Sea power

From the highlands of northern Ethiopia, the kings of Aksum traded across the Red Sea, minted gold coins and raised giant stone stelae. Students meet a kingdom a Persian writer counted among the four great powers of the world.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
11–14
On the map
3 steps, AD 400
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

From the highlands of northern Ethiopia, the kings of Aksum traded across the Red Sea, minted gold coins and raised giant stone stelae. Students meet a kingdom a Persian writer counted among the four great powers of the world.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Locate Aksum and its port of Adulis and explain how the Red Sea linked Aksum to Rome, Arabia and India.
  • Describe two signs of Aksum's power: its own coins and its stone stelae.
  • Explain how King Ezana's conversion made Aksum one of the first Christian kingdoms.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 400

A highland kingdom

Open the map in AD 400 and find the label Axum in the highlands of northern Ethiopia. Turn on Cities and find the city of Aksum itself. How far is it from the Red Sea coast?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 500

Across the Red Sea

Move to AD 500 and look across the narrow Red Sea to Arabia. Which kingdom lies on the other side? Aksum invaded it in the 520s.

Open this view on the map
c

AD 400

An ocean of trade

Turn on Trade Routes and zoom out over the Indian Ocean. Find the Maritime Spice Route. Aksum's port of Adulis linked the Red Sea to this ocean trade. What goods could Aksum add?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. Aksum minted its own gold coins. Why would a king want his own coins, and what does it tell us about Aksum's trade?
  2. After King Ezana became Christian, the symbols on his coins changed to a cross. Why use coins to spread a message?
  3. A Persian writer of the 200s named Aksum one of the four great kingdoms of the world. Why is Aksum left out of many history books today?
  4. Around 615 Aksum's king protected early Muslims who fled from Mecca. What does this show about the kingdom?
  5. Italy took an Aksum obelisk to Rome in 1937; it went back to Ethiopia in 2005. Should objects taken in war be returned? Why?
4

Game round

10 min

Play one round of Rule History as Constantine the Great, who ruled Rome in the years when King Ezana of Aksum became Christian. Discuss: both rulers adopted Christianity in the 300s. What could a king gain from a new religion, and what could he risk?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

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