BY the timef the Rman Emperr Cnstantine， Christianity had been taught all arund the Rman Empire； in cuntries like Italy and Greece in suthern Eurpe； in the cuntries like Syria and Turkey in the Middle East； and in cuntries like Egypt and Libya in Nrth Africa.nef the mst imprtant early Christians， St. Augustine， was bishpf the Nrth African cityf Hipp. He was a famus teacher and writer. The very first mnks lived in Egypt， usuallyut in the desert. The Egyptian cityf Alexandria， which Alexander the Great had built s lng ag， became imprtant in the Christian wrld. The bishpsf Alexandria were leaders in the early church.
Missinaries traveled beynd the Rman Empire， ntnly nrth int Eurpe but als suth int Africa. Smef these missinaries went suthf Egypt int Nubia and Axum. Nubia lay directly suthf Egypt and tday is called Sudan. Axum is sutheast and is partf the mdern natinf Ethipia. Yu already knw that Nubia has a histry ging back as far as Egypt"s histry. Axum als has a lng histry that I will tell yu nw.
Axum was lcatedn the shref the Red Sea. It is just a shrt distance acrss the water frm Arabia. A thusand years befre Christ， sme peple frm Saban the tipf Arabia migrated t Axum， settled， and mixed with the peple there. Later， the kingsf Axum cnquered and ruled Saba. Yu can see these tw peples had a lt t d with eachtherver the years.
ne Queenf Sheba (a place als knwn as Saba) is said t have gne t Jerusalem at the invitatinf the Hebrew King Slmn. Perhaps she wasnef his wives. In any case， there is a legend that has been tld fr many years in Ethipia that the kings there are descended frm King Slmn and the Queenf Sheba. Even the last kingf Ethipia， Haile Selassie， wh ruled until 1974， claimed that the famus Biblical king and queen were his great， great， great， great... grandparents.
Becausef its lng seacast， Axum became a trading center. Ships frm Axum sailed nrth alng the Red Sea t Egypt， suth in the Indiancean alng the east castf Africa， and acrss thatcean all the way t India. The ships carried valuable gds like gld and ivry and spices. Axum als sent caravansacrss the desert t trade with places that culd nt be reached by water. Axumite merchants traded with the Rman Empire. Merchants frm Rme and Greece came t live in Axum t cnduct business there. Axum became a very rich kingdm. The kings wre luxurius rbes and rde in charits pulled by elephants.ne kingf Axum is particularly famus. This is King Ezana， wh came t the thrne arund 330 A.D.， just arund the timef the Rman Emperr Cnstantine.
Like mst ancient rulers， King Ezana was a military leader. He extended his empire by cnquering his neighbrs. But he is best knwn because he cnverted t Christianity. He was cnverted by tw yung Christians frm Syria wh were brught as slaves t Axum. Legend has it that these yung men either were shipwreckedr were captured by pirates in the Red Sea. Since they knew hw t write， they were brught t the king"s curt t wrk as scribes.ne wrked particularly hard t cnvert King Ezana. When he succeeded， Ezana madeNrtheastern Africa ( 非洲东北部 )Christianity thefficial religinf his natin. The Christiansf Axum were in clse cntact with the Christiansf Alexandria， Egypt. At first， Christians in bth Egypt and Axum held their services in Greek. Later they began t wrship in theirwn languages， Cptic in Egypt and Ge"ez in Axum. The kingf Axum had the Bible translated int Ge"ez.
Axum remained a Christian kingdm thrugh the centuries. In the Middle Ages， when the Christian cuntries in Eurpe were building the great cathedrals that yu will read abut in later chapters， the kingsf Axum were als building great churches. Smef these are unlike anyther churches that yu will ever see.ne king， a man named Lalibela， sent stne carvers int a remte muntain area. First the carvers cut deep dwn int undergrund rck and made trenches. Then the wrkers were lwered int the trenches t carve the actual churchesutf the slid rck.ne has the shapef a crss. The largest is mre thanne hundred feet lng. Inside， beautiful paintings with bright clrs and gld leaf decrate the walls and altars. If yu travel t Ethipia， yu can still visit these churches tday.
Several centuries after the timef King Ezana， Axum was cutff frm mstf the Christian wrld. Arabs， whm yu will read abut in the next chapter， cnquered allf Nrth Africa and established a new religin called Islam Sme peple in Egypt cntinued t be Christians， but mst Egyptians and als many Nubians were cnverted t Islam. Axum was cutff frm manyf itsld trade rutes， s Axum"s wealth declined. The cuntry did manage t preserve its independence and its religin. Because they were s far away， Eurpeans lst trackf the Ethipian Christians. But they were still there. And nw we have rediscvered their histry.
【中文阅读】
到了君士坦丁做罗马皇帝的时候，基督教已经在整个罗马帝国传播开来，包括 南欧国家像意大利和希腊，中东国家像叙利亚和土耳其，以及北非国家像埃及和利 比亚。早期基督徒中最重要的一位人物--圣奥古斯丁，是北非希波城的主教。他 是一位著名的教师和作家。非洲最早的修道士生活在埃及，通常在偏僻的沙漠地带。 埃及的亚历山大城，就是亚历山大大帝很早之前建造的那座城，在基督教世界中这 时变得很重要。亚历山大城的主教都是早期教会的领袖。
有些传教士旅行到罗马帝国以外的地方去布道，不仅向北深入欧洲地区，也 南下进入非洲。一些传教士从埃及的南边进入努比亚和阿克苏姆。努比亚位于埃及 正南边，现在叫苏丹。阿克苏姆在东南方，是今天埃塞俄比亚的一部分。你已经知 道努比亚的历史跟埃及的一样久远。阿克苏姆也有一段悠久的历史，我现在就作介绍。
阿克苏姆位于红海岸边，和对岸的阿拉伯半岛相距很近。在公元前 1000 年，一 些来自阿拉伯半岛西南端赛伯伊地区的人迁移到了阿克苏姆，在那里定居下来，与 当地人交往融合在一起。后来，阿克苏姆的国王征服并统治了赛伯伊。你能看出， 在这些年中，这两个民族的人你来我往，关系十分紧密了。
据说，示巴（也叫赛伯伊）的一位女王曾受到以色列国王所罗门的邀请去了耶 路撒冷，她可能是所罗门的妻子之一。不管怎样，在埃塞俄比亚有一个流传多年的 传说，即本国的国王都是所罗门王和示巴女王的后代。就连在 1974 年结束其统治的 埃塞俄比亚最后一位国王海尔 塞拉西，也声称所罗门这位圣经中著名的国王和示巴 女王是他的曾曾曾曾……祖父母。
阿克苏姆有很长的海岸线，因此成了贸易中心。来自阿克苏姆的船只向北沿红 海航行到达埃及，在印度洋向南、沿非洲的东海岸航行，再一路穿过印度洋到达印 度。这些船满载着贵重的物品，如黄金、象牙和香料等。阿克苏姆还派出旅行队穿 过沙漠，和那些不能通过水路到达的地区进行贸易往来。阿克苏姆的商人们和罗马 帝国做买卖，而来自罗马和希腊的商人也来阿克苏姆居住，在当地经商。阿克苏姆 成了一个非常富有的王国。国王们都身穿奢华的长袍，乘坐由大象拉的车。有个阿 克苏姆国王特别有名，他就是国王埃扎纳，在大约公元 330 年登基，差不多和罗马 皇帝君士坦丁属于同一时期。
跟大多数古代的统治者一样，国王埃扎纳是一位军事领袖，他不断地征服周边国 家，扩大自己的王国。但是，他最为知名的是皈依基督教。他是因为受到两个来自叙 利亚的、年轻的基督徒的影响而皈依基督教的，这两个年轻人是被当成奴隶带到阿克 苏姆来的。据传说，这两个年轻人要么遭遇了海难，要么是被红海的海盗俘获的。因 为他们会写字，所以被带到王宫做抄写员。其中一个年轻人煞费苦心地去转变国王埃 扎纳的信仰。当他使埃扎纳皈依基督教以后，埃扎纳把基督教定为国家的官方宗教。 阿克苏姆的基督徒同埃及亚历山大城的基督徒联系密切。最初，埃及和阿克苏姆的基 督徒都用希腊语举行宗教仪式。后来，他们开始用自己的语言进行礼拜活动，埃及人 是用科普特语，而阿克苏姆人则用吉兹语。阿克苏姆的国王还让人把圣经翻译成吉 兹语。
数百年过去了，阿克苏姆依然是信仰基督教的王国。在中世纪，欧洲的基督教 国家都在建宏伟的大教堂，关于这些教堂，你会在后面的章节中读到。阿克苏姆的 国王们也在建大教堂，其中一些教堂和你以后所见的任何教堂都不一样。一位名叫 拉利贝拉的国王派了众多石匠进入边远的山区。首先，石匠把地面下的岩石凿开， 向下凿出一道道深沟；然后，工匠们被放进这些深沟里，他们要在这里把这整个岩 体雕凿出真正的教堂。有一个教堂被雕凿成十字架形的，最大的教堂有 100 多英尺 长。在教堂内部，有颜色鲜艳的美丽图画和金箔装饰着墙面的圣坛。如果你现在到 埃塞俄比亚旅游，还能看到这些教堂呢！
在埃扎纳王朝以后的几百年，阿克苏姆与基督教世界中的大多数国家中断了联 系。在下一章中你就会读到，阿拉伯人征服了整个北非，创立了一个新的宗教，叫做伊斯兰教。一些埃及人继续信仰基督教，但大多数埃及人，还有很多努比亚人都 转而信奉伊斯兰教了。阿克苏姆与很多过去的贸易路线隔绝了，这样它的财富就渐 渐枯竭了。这个国家的确保住了自己的独立和自己的宗教，因为这里的基督徒离基 督教世界太远了，欧洲人最终失去了与埃塞俄比亚基督徒的联系。但是，他们当时 并没有消失，现在我们重新发现了他们的历史。