The Basilica of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in its Aksūmite, Early Christian, and Late Antique Context

Abstract

The ancient Kingdom of Aksūm, located in Ethiopia and Eritrea, was one of the most influential civilizations of the first millennium ce. More than a dozen Aksūmite structures attest to the spread of Christianity from the fourth to the seventh centuries ce. Among these structures, a basilica recently discovered at the site of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in northern Ethiopia first constructed during the fourth century ce constitutes one of the earliest examples of Christian architecture in Ethiopia. In this paper, we place the basilica of Betä Sämaʿtiʾ in the context of early Ethiopian Christian architecture while highlighting the importance of this new finding for broader studies on the early developments of the basilica form in the Afro-Eurasian Late Antique world. In doing so, we shed light on the connection between Syriac Christianity and the Kingdom of Aksūm and the neighboring Kingdoms of Nobadia, Makuria, and Alodia, which emerged in Nubia after the collapse of Meroe in the fourth century. We also emphasize the adaptation of indigenous pagan elements in influencing the first monotheistic structures of Ethiopia, offering an overview of the shift from paganism to monotheism in the Horn of Africa.