Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Axum

AXUM, an ancient city of Abyssinia, 85 miles N.W. of Antalo, still remarkable for its ruins. It was for a long time the capital of a great Shemitic people, who extended their sway over a large part of Abyssinia ; and the language spoken there at the time of the introduction of Christianity has continued to be the ecclesiastical language ever since. The chronicles of Abyssinia were preserved in the church, and are frequently referred to as the Books of Axum. The most interesting of the monuments still extant are the obelisk and the so-called coronation-room, both constructed of granite, and the latter containing some valuable bilingual inscriptions. In the modern town, which is the capital of the kingdom of Tigré, the weaving of cotton and manufacture of parchment are carried on. (See Salt's Travels, and Schimper in Zeitsch. der Ges. Erdk., Berlin, 1869.)