Israel of Axum
| Israel | |
|---|---|
 Coin of the Axumite king Israel | |
| King of Aksum | |
| Predecessor | Ioel or Kaleb |
| Successor | Najashi or Gabra Masqal |
Israel (vocalized
Judaic influence in Ethiopian culture.[2]
The Gabra Masqal.[3] One tradition claims that Israel was governor of Adwa during his father's reign, but otherwise the Ethiopian chronicles tell little else about him.[3] The 1922 regnal list of Ethiopia states that Israel ruled only for one month between Kaleb and Gabra Masqal.
Skeptical that this Israel was actually the son of King Kaleb, Stuart Munro-Hay suggests that Israel may have been a better ruler than the other kings between him and Kaleb (or Gabra Masqal), and tradition compressed the succession.[4]
Coins
Two types of coins have been dated to Israel's reign, one in gold, the other in copper. Wolfgang Hahn notes that his coinage "would be very rare were it not for the 34 pieces which made up the
Ge'ez, the obverse is translated "King Israel" while the reverse is "Peace to the people" in English.[5]
Notes
- ^ a b Wolfgang Hahn, "Askumite Numismatics - A critical survey of recent Research", Revue Numismatique, 155 (2000), p. 299
- ^ Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopians: A History (Oxford: Blackwell, 2001), p. 36
- ^ a b Budge, E. A. Wallis (1928). A History of Ethiopia: Nubia and Abyssinia (Volume 1). London: Methuen & Co. pp. 264–265.
- ^ Munro-Hay, Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p. 13.
- ^ Munro-Hay, Stuart C. (1984). The Coinage of Aksum. Manohar. pp. 149f.