<P> The Aksumites erected a number of monumental stelae, which served a religious purpose in pre-Christian times . One of these granite columns is the largest such structure in the world, standing at 90 feet . Under Ezana (fl. 320--360) Aksum adopted Christianity . In the 7th century, early Muslims from Mecca sought refuge from Quraysh persecution by travelling to the kingdom, a journey known in Islamic history as the First Hijra . </P> <P> Its ancient capital, also called Axum, was in northern Ethiopia . The Kingdom used the name "Ethiopia" as early as the 4th century . Tradition claims Axum as the alleged resting place of the Ark of the Covenant and the purported home of the Queen of Sheba . </P> <P> Aksum is mentioned in the 1st - century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world . It states that the ruler of Aksum in the 1st century AD was Zoskales, who, besides ruling the kingdom, likewise controlled land near the Red Sea: Adulis (near Massawa) and lands through the highlands of present - day Eritrea . He is also said to have been familiar with Greek literature . </P> <P> Largely on the basis of Carlo Conti Rossini's theories and prolific work on Ethiopian history, Aksum was previously thought to have been founded by Sabaeans, who spoke a language from the Semitic branch of the Afro - Asiatic family . Evidence suggests that Semitic - speaking Aksumites and semiticized Agaw peoples, who originally spoke other Afro - Asiatic languages from the family's Cushitic branch, had already established an independent civilisation in the territory before the arrival of the Sabaeans . </P>

The main port of axum was the red sea city of