Jenica Brown, a graduate student interested in medieval and early modern Ethiopia, has played an unexpected role in growing Princeton’s numismatic collection.  Currently a student in Curator of Numismatics Alan Stahl’s course CLA 548/HLS 548/PAW 548/ART 532 “Problems in Ancient History: Introduction to Ancient and Medieval Numismatics,” Brown was particularly interested in coins of the Aksumite empire, which existed from the first to early seventh centuries in present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea.

When the class began, Princeton’s numismatic collection housed four Aksumite coins, acquired by Stahl in spring 2023.  Aware of Brown’s interest, Stahl not only leaped at the opportunity to grow the Aksumite coin collection when he saw the currency come up for auction but involved Brown in the selection process. Stahl noted, “Some years back, graduate student Meseret Oldjira asked about working on Axumite coins for her project for this seminar, but as we had none, she worked on coins of ancient Saba (Biblical Sheba). When I saw the Axumite coins for sale at a dealer’s table at the Kalamazoo Medieval Congress last year, I took the opportunity to begin collection in this area.”

"These coins are important evidence of the culture that flourished in the Horn of Africa in Late Antiquity, and their acquisition complements Princeton’s major collection of Ethiopic manuscripts.” —Jenica Brown

With the help of funds from the Seeger Center for Hellenic Studies and the Princeton University Library’s Sanxay Fund provided by Mireille Djenno, the Global Special Collections Librarian, Stahl, and Brown secured an additional 18 gold, silver, and bronze Aksumite coins for Princeton’s collection. The coins are particularly crucial to the study of the Aksumite Kingdom, Brown explained because so little primary source material has survived.  In fact, we know of the lineage of kings from this period almost exclusively from the coins minted by 18 of them between 270 C.E. and 640 when the empire declined.

“I’m really pleased that I had the opportunity to work on these coins and to contribute to Dr. Stahl’s efforts to grow the collection," said Brown. "These coins are important evidence of the culture that flourished in the Horn of Africa in Late Antiquity, and their acquisition complements Princeton’s major collection of Ethiopic manuscripts.”

A coinage unlike any other

Whereas ancient currency typically includes the profile of the minting ruler, Aksumite coins depart from convention in showing the ruler on both the obverse, or front, and reverse sides of the coin. Also unique to Aksumite coins, is the gilding of specific portions of silver coins. “A lot of Aksumite coinage is idiosyncratic,” said Stahl, pointing out that additional anomaly of the Greek term basileus, meaning “king,” appearing on Aksumite coins into the seventh century that would have disappeared elsewhere, replaced by the Roman rex or imperator. “Aksumite coinage was not imitative,” Stahl continues, “It asserts itself from the beginning.”

“Aksumite coinage was not imitative. It asserts itself from the beginning.” —Alan Stahl

Brown examined the style, inscription, metal composition, and weight of the coins. She paid close attention to the visual elements that the new coins display, including ear plugs, crowns, ceremonial fly whisks, scepters, and grain. Though Brown’s research focuses on the later medieval and early modern periods, these coins offer an invaluable connection to what carries forward.  Brown pointed out that because Ethiopian studies is a relatively new field, scholars often explore their interests across a wide range of historical eras.

Though many of the coins were inscribed in Greek, reflecting the frequency of trade with the Greek-speaking world, later inscriptions, particularly of silver and bronze coins, also reflected the ancient Ethiopian language of Gəʿəz. Brown began the study of Gəʿəz this semester and was excited to decipher it on the coins. She found it fairly easy to read, though different from the script she’s been working on.

Brown’s Gəʿəz instructor at Princeton, Hamza Zafer, who has taught this classical Ethiopian language since 2021, joined her in the numismatics department to examine the newly-arrived specimens.

“Something remarkable to me about the coins is how lucidly they preserve the easy, seamless cosmopolitanism of Aksum's elites. These coins were made for people who moved easily between Ge'ez and Greek,” said Zafer. “Importantly, and unlike the relationship between many African and European languages today, the diglossia of the Aksumites, meaning their switching between two languages, was both pre-Christian and pre-colonial. These elites had a cosmopolitan self-image that was distinctly Northeast African. They were plugged into an economy, and a cultural world, that spanned the Red Sea and linked societies in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Western Indian Ocean worlds. In other words, these wealthy ancients were very well connected.”

"These wealthy ancients were very well connected.” —Hamza Zafer

King Ezana, who ruled in the mid-fourth century, was the first King of Aksum to convert to Christianity. His coins mark the conversion with the switch from a crescent above his portrait to a cross.  He is traditionally credited with making Christianity the official religion of his realm, one of the earliest rulers in the world to do so. The kings who followed him incorporated Christian iconography and themes into their coins.

One of Princeton’s newly-arrived coins was produced by King Maḥadyas or “Matthias” (rendered as MḤDYS on his coins), and it includes a version of Constantine’s famous motto ἐν τούτῳ νίκα in Gəʿəz. Written +በዘ+መወአ+በመሰቀለ (bzmwʾbmsql), the legend translates to “In this you will conquer, through the Cross”. The bronze coin is partially gilded—a feature unique to Aksumite coins—to emphasize the image of the cross. Brown was particularly eager to see this one.

“Part of the value of these coins is that they suggest how the Aksumite emperors fashioned their public identity," Brown explained.  "The legend on Maḥadyas’ coin may imply that this Christian ruler positioned himself as an heir to Constantine’s legacy, and that this ideal could be tailored to the local context of his Gəʿəz-speaking subjects.”

Brown had already delved into Aksumite coinage by way of the coin she has focused on for Stahl’s course, a 5^th-century anonymous gold coin.  Brown was interested in comparing this coin to the gold coins from other periods of the kingdom. She observed that the newer coins were both thinner and greener in color, indicating the debasement of gold coins over time.

The minting process for these coins is still a mystery, though being able to see a group of them spurs theories for both Stahl and Brown about how they may have been produced.

Within days of their arrival, the coins also received a visit from artist Sewit Sium. She creates jewelry inspired by the motifs of Aksumite coins and, like Brown and Zafer, is excited to have these new artifacts close at hand.

The future of Princeton's Aksumite coin collection

An online auction held on December 13th provided the latest opportunity to expand the collection. Brown and Stahl reviewed the offered coins and identified those that would fill important gaps.  Based on the bidding dynamic on the over 200 coins, Aksumite coins are of notable interest. Nevertheless, Stahl managed to secure the most important coins to complement Princeton's new collection, which has now grown by another 17 and will now total 39 coins.