Book of Aksum
The
Book of Aksum (
Ge'ez መጽ"ፈ ፡ አክሱም
maṣḥāfa aksūm,
Amh. meṣhāfe aksūm,
Tgn. meṣḥāfe aksūm) is the name of an
Ethiopian
history, the earliest parts of which date to the mid-15th century during the reign of
Zar'a Ya`qob (r.
1434 -
1468). The
book contains three parts: the first, earlier, section describes the Church
Maryam Seyon in
Aksum prior to its damaging in the mid-16th century, the topography of Aksum and its history, and contains a list of services and the like regarding Maryam Seyon and its clergy. The second part, dated to the early 17th century, contains 103 historical and legal texts, many dealing with land grants, along with their protocols, while the third text dates to the late 17th century and contains 14 miscellaneous legal and historical texts regarding
Aksum's history. The book was also supplemented in the mid-19th century with further later documents.
[Lusini, Gianfrancesco "Aksum:Mäṣḥafä Aksum" in von Uhlig, Siegbert, Encyclopaedia Aethiopica: A-C (Wiesbaden:Harrassowitz Verlag, 2003.), pp.185.]*
Aksum*
Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion*
History of Ethiopia
