ABSTRACT
The late antique Horn of Africa stands as one of the key contexts for the development of Early Christianity beyond the Mediterranean, in the frame of the Aksumite Kingdom. This state developed between the first and late seventh centuries CE throughout the territories of present-day Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Yemen and had a connecting role between East and West, thanks to the long-distance trade routes that linked the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. It was the only kingdom of sub-Saharan Africa that minted its own coins and gave birth to an extraordinary urban civilization. In the early decades of the fourth century, the kingdom converted to Christianity, a key moment in its history. The material impact of the “new” religion caught on mostly in the sixth century (with some earlier exceptions). The building of churches fully reshaped the urban landscapes and mindscapes, bringing a brand new perception of space(s). This created changes at different hierarchical levels, with this chapter examining macro spaces (territory), meso-macro spaces (topographies of cities), and micro spaces (architecture and liturgy) to analyse the evolving paradigms.
