|— City —| Axum or Aksum (አክሱም) is a city and separate woreda in
northern Ethiopia that was the original capital of the kingdom
of Axum. It has a population of 56,500 (2010). Axum was a naval
and trading power that ruled the region from about 400 BC into
the 10th century. The kingdom was also arbitrarily identified as
Abyssinia, Ethiopia, and India in medieval writings. In 1980
UNESCO added Aksum's archaeological sites to its list of World
Heritage Sites due to their historical value. Axum was the
center of the marine trading power known as the Aksumite
Kingdom, which predated the earliest mentions in Roman era
writings. Around 356, its ruler was converted to Christianity by
Frumentius. Later, under the reign of Kaleb, Axum was a quasi-
ally of Byzantium against the Persian Empire. The historical
record is unclear, primary sources limited mainly to ancient
church records. It is believed it began a long slow decline
after the 7th century due partly to Islamic groups contesting
trade routes. Eventually Aksum was