Endubis

Endubis or Endybis (Greek: Ενδυβις) was a late-3rd-century sovereign of the Kingdom of Aksum in East Africa (modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea). He was among the earliest rulers in the Africa to mint his own coins; according to Stuart C. Munro-Hay, "No other sub-Saharan African state issued its own independent coinage in ancient times -- indeed no other African state at all, since those in North Africa (Libya and Mauritania) fell under Roman dominion."[2] The Aksumite currency of his reign was issued in gold, silver, and bronze or copper denominations and bore inscriptions in Koine Greek.

Endubis
Aksumite king
Coins of king Endybis, 227–235 CE. The left one reads in Greek "ΑΞΩΜΙΤΩ ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ", "Emperor of Axum". The right one reads in Greek: ΕΝΔΥΒΙϹ ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ, "Emperor Endybis". British Museum.
Reignc. 270–300[1]
Predecessorunknown; DTWNS is the earlier attested ruler
SuccessorAphilas

Coinage
Main article: Aksumite currency

The coins of Endubis are dated to c. 295 to c. 310 and are "undoubtedly [...] the oldest Aksumite coins".[3] The weight of the gold coins issued in his reign are equivalent to "the weight of the half-aureus or quinarius of the last half of the 3rd century AD."[4] More precise clues can be seen in the currency reforms during the reign of Diocletian, who reorganised the issuing of gold coins in 286 and silver coins in 294, the latter after having been suspended for several decades.[3] As such, it is likely that the coins of Endubis, which were minted in gold, silver and copper, do not date to before c. 295.[3]

The coins of Endubis set the design that his successors followed for the most part. Both obverse and reverse are characterized by a profile bust of the rule facing to the right, with a stalk of two-row barley on either side between the bust and the inscription. Endubis and his pagan successors include in the legend at the top of the coin a "crescent representing perhaps the Moon-god Sin and the disc representing Shams, the Sun-goddess."[5]

Two mottos in Greek characterize the coins of Endubis:

  • "ENΔYBIC BACIΛEYC" – "King Endybis"[6]
  • "AξωMITω BICIΔAXY" – "of the Aksumites, man of Daku",[6] or "bisi Dakhu".[7] This is the first appearance of the title "bisi", which Stuart Munro-Hay believed is related to the Ge'ez word be'esya ("man of").[7]

On some coins Endubis described himself as "ΑΞΩΜΙΤΩ ΒΑϹΙΛΕΥϹ", "king of Axum".

  • Gold coin of Endubis.
    Gold coin of Endubis.
  • Gold coin of Endubis.
    Gold coin of Endubis.

References
  1. "Endubis". British Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
  2. Munro-Hay, "Aksumite Coinage" in African Zion: the Sacred Art of Ethiopia, ed. Marilyn Heldman (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993), p. 101
  3. Hahn, Wolfgang; West, Vincent (2016). Sylloge of Aksumite Coins in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oxford: Ashmolean. p. 10.
  4. Munro-Hay, Stuart C. (1984). The Coinage of Aksum. Manohar. p. 26.
  5. Munro-Hay, Coinage, p. 45
  6. Hahn, Wolfgang; West, Vincent (2016). Sylloge of Aksumite Coins in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Oxford: Ashmolean. p. 34.
  7. S. C. Munro-Hay (1991). Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press. p. 75.
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