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OT: Settling the issues on "Ethio-Sabean" connections, "Habashat", and the related
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by Yom: [QB] [QUOTE]Originally posted by Zorn: Er, you mentioned it here: "[i]Moreover, there seems to have been almost zero Sabaean influence beyond the elite level. It seems that there were close contacts between the D'mt and Sabaean elite, which resulted in the spreading of certain cultural features, but the non-elite archaeological findings show absolutely no Sabaean influences from thousands of sites excavated thus far.[/i]" What did the original article say then?[/QUOTE]My mistake, I don't know why I said that. The article I'm thinking of in particular is a single site in Aksum (city) that would be expected to show at least some influence but ended up having none. It's in "Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region" and is by Jacke Phillips. [QUOTE] Off-topic, but I thought that it was overwhelmingly accepted that semetic was derived from the an african substrate of afro-asiatic?[/QUOTE]It is, but it doesn't necessarily follow that Proto-Semitic is native to the Northern Horn of Africa or even Africa, since a later derived form (but not yet Proto-Semitic) of Afro-Asiatic could have entered West Asia before evolving into Proto-Semitic. [qipte\ I simply didn't understand how Munro, who's cited so often, bespeaks of heavy Sabaen influence in the Dm't period. If others have come up with Dm't being indigenous... where did Munro get all of his ideas? It's just rather off, since being there for only a few decades would leave room for profoundly minute influence- wouldn't it?[/quote] I think Sundiata's explanation above is the best. He doesn't seem to introduce Sabaean influences where there are none, or even really emphasize them, but he just mentions it redundantly. [QUOTE]Just one last question- I think Munro mentions that the overall evolution of Axumite ubran centers isn't well known, but how much did trade really effect Axum's wealth and development? Axum retained strong cultural homogenity throughout it's reign, and it's population growth and expansion seems to have been too slow to have much to do with outside influence. It reminds me of the case of west african countries in their trade with the Europeans, where most of their economies were so robust, they saw little effect by anything gained from the slave trade.[/QUOTE]Well, apparently it gained a significant amount of wealth from trade given its native coinage, but I don't think it was crucial. An analysis of Aksumite trade from the Bieta Giyorgis site in Aksum (Andrea Manzo, "Aksumite Trade and the Red Sea Exchange Network" in "People of the Red Sea") supports this. In the proto-Aksumite period (400 BC - 50/40 BC), about 0.5% of wares are foreign and they are all Sudanese (Meroite). This is also around the time when King Harsiyotef of Meroe campaigned in the East around Beja lands. One of the places he claims to have defeated was a city called Habasa whose inhabitants were called Metin. Perhaps this attack was what resulted in the fall or splintering into petty kingdoms of D'mt? Anyway, the Early Aksumite period (50/40 BC - 150 AD) has about 1%, mainly amphorae (i.e. from the Greco-Roman world), but also some Sudanese ceramics. During the Classic Aksumite period (150-350 AD), the figures are still low at around 1% (still mainly amphorae, no Sudanese, but now also some African Red Slip), but they increase for the Middle Aksumite period (350-500/550 AD) to about 7.5%, again almost all amphorae, but with some African Red Slip, Amphorae, and even some Blue Glazed types. It's still high at about 6% for what Andrea Manzo calls "Late Aksumite," which is AD 500/550-700 (in reality, Late Aksumite runs until the beginning of the Zagwe dynasty in the 12th c. or the rise of Gudit in the 10th), mainly amphorae still but with the same other types found in the "Middle Aksumite" period. They drop off again for his "Post-Aksumite" period (after 700 AD) to less than 0.5%, which are amphorae and African Red Slip. [QUOTE]And how did Axum's level of development, at the end of it's reign, compare to when it first arose? [/QUOTE]What do you mean by "level of development?" The palaces, villas, tombs, churches, monasteries, and the like of Aksum are pretty well developed throughout the whole period and continue to be so well into the Zagwe and Solomonic dynasties. We don't have that much contemporary info on its political structures, though. A few inferences from inscriptions, outside works, and medieval references and inferences, but not enough to get a sense of evolution. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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