Apparently according to Mani, Axum was on the level of Persia,

>Why do we know so little about it?
It's a pretty extensively written about field, you just have to look for the right books.

The works of Paul B. Henze are a good place to start

>>2487368
Also it helps if you speak Amharic or Arabic because there isn't a lot of Anglophone interest in the period and so not many books get translated.

>>2487357
>according to Mani
The prophet? Did he even ever go to Axum? Or China and Rome (west of Syria at any rate) for that matter?
He really doesn't seem like a reliable witness.

>>2487375
I don't think so, but he was probably just relating what people thought in his day

>>2487368
>>2487374
Oh okay, thanks for the start

>>2487357

Because white people stole their civilization away from them.

Like 95% of Aksum remains unexplored beneath the modern city and its surrounding area.

Eritrea and Ethiopia refuse to give each other archaeological finds from the other country.

Archaeology isn't a major focus right now for either country

>>2487401
that's the 19th century white people

today, they fund and create terrorist groups who do the same thing

>>2487375
>Did he even ever go to Axum?

He went to a lot of places, such as Sogdia, India, and Armenia. I would not be surprised if he won't to Axum either.

He was kind of a polymath given how he accommodated himself to many various cultures, assimilated their views, and taught the gist of his religion to various peoples.