December 18, 2025

Byzantium & Friends | 146. Ezana of Aksum, the first Christian king in Africa, with Aaron Butts Thursday Dec 18, 2025

A conversation with Aaron Butts (University of Hamburg) on the conversion to Christianity of Ezana, the fourth-century king of Aksum (in modern Ethiopia and Eritrea). "Conversion" is a conventional term, but what Ezana's inscriptions and coins reveals is a complicated process of appealing to different groups and the coexistence of religions in his realm and the royal monuments. The conversation is based on Aaron's forthcoming paper 'Ezana of Aksum: The First Christian African King,' Aethiopica 28 (2025).