A Welcome in Axum

"Northern Ethiopia was the home to an ancient, powerful city and a kingdom called Axum. It was ruled by a king and nobles with maybe about 20,000 farmers and craftspeople who had their own system of writing, coins, and agriculture. Ships went out from Axum to trade with many other countries. Meanwhile, people from Egypt, southern Arabia, Europe, and Asia came to visit and sometimes live. A Persian writer described Axum as one of the four greatest powers in the world at the time--along with Persia, Rome, and China."--Amazon.com.