Good resources on the Aksumite Empire?

[X Equestris]

Within the world I'm currently building, I have an empire that is heavily based on Aksum, with lighter influences from Songhai, Mali, and the Hellenistic successor states. However, I'm having difficulty finding good sources of info about Aksum, particularly Aksumite weapons and armor. Even Google is failing me here, especially with images. Most of the actual results concern either the stelae or coinage.

So with that said, does anyone know of any particularly good sources on Aksum? Pictures would be especially helpful.

 

[Feo Takahari]

I think you may have stumped my school library. Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity, while otherwise quite extensive, has nothing on weapons, and of course, all the books on weapons have nothing of Aksum. I'm picking up a bibliography of Ethiopian warfare via interlibrary loan in a couple of days--I'll see if I have anything more for you then.

 

[X Equestris]

Thanks for looking. I've only managed to find the vaguest of information. Iron and steel spears and swords, round hide shields, that sort of thing.

The one useful lead I've gotten is about the shotel, but the sources also say that it wasn't the only sort of sword used.

 

[Feo Takahari]

Oh sorry, I forgot about this!

The bibliography had almost zip. The only thing I can find that's at all relevant is Persée : Portail de revues en sciences humaines et sociales, and it's pretty sketchy. (And of course it's got nothing on weapons.)

I tried an Internet search for myself, not expecting much, and found this: Ethiopian (Abyssinian) Medieval Weapons | Visit our new shop

Also, ethiopundit: A Warrior Society and its Weapons Not much new here, but it mentions that Aksumite shields were made of buffalo hide.

Out of desperation, I also looked for anything on the Himyarites, ancient rivals to Aksum. This is from the second century BC, so it's earlier than your timeframe: Ethnographic Arms & Armour - Himyarite Sword

 

[X Equestris]

Well, I think I have enough info in general that I can just use my secondary influences to fill in the gaps.

 

[WeilderOfTheMonkeyBlade]

I don't really have much, but I'm happy to give you some ideas and the like, not sure if they'll help, though Obviously, you've mentioned the shotel, and whilst Africa uses all types of swords - forward curved, backwards curved and single and double edged straight, I think if you're going for Hellenistic influences as well, stick to forward curved weapons

That way you've got the shotel and kopis/falcata. Maybe throw in the yataghan or kukri as well.

As for armies, the way I've got it is Aksum was a key trading point - places like these often operate better as single entities better than be taken over. And, if you do want some big empire taking on your country, if it is a key trading point, then the other nations that benefit from the trade might come in on your side. So armies might not be that important. If this is the case, again, mixing Hellenistic and african, maybe have a small corp of hoplite/phalangite elites, with lots of irregulars using light spears, swords/shields and slings and some light skirmishing cavalry.

Good luck with your research and hope this helps.

 

[X Equestris]

That was sort of what I was thinking. The army raised by the monarch is composed in a style similar to the Hellenistic successor states: a pike phalanx supported by noble shock cavalry. The soldiers raised by the nobles are more irregular, with levy spearmen, lighter cavalry, skirmishers, and a relativley small body of elite sword infantry. And since part of their empire includes jungle, I'm thinking of including war elephants akin to the Indian variety.

The empire itself is a military and economic superpower, and probably the most powerful nation in my setting. Certainly they're more powerful than any one of my pseudo-European kingdoms to the south(the continent is located in the Southern Hemisphere of the world, and this empire occupies the equatorial region of the continent).

 

[Nameback]

This may be a really silly question, but have you tried spelling it Axum when you do searches? I figure that you probably have but since I've only seeing the Aksum spelling in this thread I wanted to make sure. I've seen both spellings.

 

[X Equestris]

This may be a really silly question, but have you tried spelling it Axum when you do searches? I figure that you probably have but since I've only seeing the Aksum spelling in this thread I wanted to make sure. I've seen both spellings.

I've tried both. There are relatively few results either way, though I've found what I need at this point. In both cases stelae were the primary result, followed by coins.