ABSTRACT

According to a tradition current everywhere in Abyssinia and universally accepted, Abyssinian History begins with the founding of the city of Aksum. One form of the tradition says that Malakyà ’Aksum, the son of ’Aksumawl, the grandson of Aethiopis (after whom the country took its name), the great-grandson of Kush, and the great-great-grandson of Noah, had six sons, and that they were the “ fathers of Aksum,” whatever that may mean. Their names were Sum, Nafàs, Bagì‘5, Kudukl, ‘Akhòrò and Farshebà, and each settled down there on his own land. Hence it was believed that Aksum was founded within a century after the Flood, and the tradition indicates that the town, even at that early period, had a special significance for the Abyssinians. How and why it acquired this significance it is impossible to say, but there must have been