A single coherent narrative of Aksumite civilisation revealing the roots of medieval Christian Ethiopia. This well-illustrated book provides an up-to-date survey of a key period in the history of northern Ethiopia and south-central Eritrea. It is accessible to the general reader, but its comprehensive references and guidance to controversies and research needs will render it invaluable to specialists and students. It considers how the region's literate communities arose and flourished during the last millennium BC, giving rise to the Aksumite civilisation whose achievements and intercontinental significance are increasingly recognised, and which formed an integral but often neglected component of the Christian world in Late Antiquity. Aksum is now seen as the ancestor of the region'smedieval Christian kingdom whose churches and associated art continue to attract many visitors to Ethiopia. David W. Phillipson is Emeritus Professor of African Archaeology and former Director of the University Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology, Cambridge. In 2014 he was made an Associate Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences. Published in association with the British Institute in Eastern Africa. Ethiopia: Addis Ababa University Press

Research in Africa is now accepted as an integral part of global archaeological studies. As well as providing archaeologists with the oldest material, Africa is also widely recognised as the birthplace of modern man and his characteristic cultural patterns. Archaeological study of later periods provides unique and valuable evidence for the development of African culture and society, while ongoing research in Africa provides insights relevant to the interpretation of the archaeological record in other parts of the world. In this fully revised and expanded 2005 edition of his seminal archaeological survey, David Phillipson presents a lucid and fully illustrated account of African archaeology from prehistory and the origins of humanity to the age of European colonisation. The work spans the entire continent from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope and demonstrates the relevance of archaeological research to the understanding of Africa today.

Essays exploring the influence of the sacred buildings of Jerusalem on architecture worldwide. Jerusalem - earthly and heavenly, past, present and future - has always informed the Christian imagination: it is the intersection of the divine and human worlds, of time and eternity. Since the fourth century, it has been the site of the round Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built over the empty tomb acknowledged by Constantine as the tomb of Christ. Nearly four hundred years later, the Sepulchre's rotunda was rivalled by the octagon of the Dome of the Rock. The city itself and these two glorious buildings within it remain, to this day, the focus of pilgrimage and of intense devotion. Jerusalem and its numinous buildings have been distinctively re-imagined and re-presented in the design, topography, decoration and dedications of some very striking and beautiful churches and cities in Western Europe, Russia, the Caucasus and Ethiopia. Some are famous, others are in the West almost unknown. The essays Inthis richly illustrated book combine to do justice to these evocative buildings' architecture, roles and history. The volume begins with an introduction to the Sepulchre itself, from its construction under Constantine to theCrusaders' rebuilding which survives to this day. Chapters follow on the Dome of the Rock and on the later depiction and signifcance of the Jewish Temple. The essays then move further afeld, uncovering the links between Jerusalemand Byzantium, the Caucasus, Russia and Ethiopia. Northern Europe comes finally into focus, with chapters on Charlemagne's chapel at Aachen, the role of the military orders in spreading the form of the Sepulchre, a gazetteer of English rounds, and studies of London's New Temple. ROBIN GRIFFITH-JONES is Master of the Temple at the Temple Church in London and Senior Lecturer (Theology and Religious Studies) at King's College London. He co-edited The Temple Church in London with David Park (2010). ERIC FERNIE is Director Emeritus of The Courtauld Institute of Art, London. Contributors: Alan Borg, Antony Eastmond, David Ekserdjian, Eric Fernie, Jaroslav Folda, Emmanuel Fritsch, Michael Gervers, Robin Griffith-Jones, Nicole Hamonic, Cecily Hennessy, Robert Hillenbrand, Catherine E. Hundley, Philip J. Lankester, Robin Milner-Gulland, Robert Ousterhout, David W. Phillipson, Denys Pringle, Sebastian Salvado.

Research in Africa is now accepted as an integral part of global archaeological studies. As well as providing archaeologists with the oldest material, Africa is also widely recognised as the birthplace of modern man and his characteristic cultural patterns. Archaeological study of later periods provides unique and valuable evidence for the development of African culture and society, while ongoing research in Africa provides insights relevant to the interpretation of the archaeological record in other parts of the world. In this fully revised and expanded 2005 edition of his seminal archaeological survey, David Phillipson presents a lucid and fully illustrated account of African archaeology from prehistory and the origins of humanity to the age of European colonisation. The work spans the entire continent from the Mediterranean to the Cape of Good Hope and demonstrates the relevance of archaeological research to the understanding of Africa today.

David Phillipson highlights the contribution that archaeology can make to the understanding of the African continent and its people. He defends the vital role of the museum as custodian of a significant part of our international cultural heritage and essential resource for the furthering of international scholarship.