Ge‘ez Legends on Aksumite Coins

 

While various writers[1] have listed and translated the Ge‘ez legends on the coins of the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Aksum, none has attempted to help the reader with no knowledge of the Ge‘ez language to unravel them for himself, so he has had to take them on trust. This need not be the case as the vocabulary and grammar used on coins is limited and this article is intended to provide a basic understanding[2].

 

Ge‘ez (Ethiopic) is a Semitic language which survives to this day as the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Christian Church. Table 1 gives the Ge‘ez alphabet of 26 letters in Ge‘ez alphabetic order[3]. Five letters have not yet been found on coins and others appear in only one word. The coin alphabet is an unvocalised one consisting of consonants only; rarely vocalised[4] letter forms indicating a consonant and specific following vowel are used on the coins. Ge‘ez letters also occur on Aksumite coins in monograms of the kings' names, as symbols (control marks?) and even in Greek legends; Ge‘ez punctuation marks appear on rare occasions[5]. All these are outside the scope of this article.

 

Table 2 lists the Ge‘ez legends with the coin types on which they appear. In this and later tables Roman letters are used[6].

 

Tables 3 and 4 provide vocabularies of words and names (divine names, personal names and place names) appearing on coins, giving the vocalised form (in italics) where known and the meaning. In the vocalised form the vowels are added[7] and the consonants may be doubled. Sometimes as noted there are alternative vocalisations yielding different meanings. In these tables and Table 5 Roman alphabetic order[8] is used for convenience.

 

Table 5 provides the vocalisation and translation of each legend.

 

I am grateful to David Appleyard for his help with linguistic issues.

 

COPYRIGHT (C) VINCENT WEST 1999


Table 1: The Ge‘ez Alphabet (Ge‘ez Letter columns to be supplied)

 

Ge‘ez Letter

Roman Letter

On Coins?

Ge‘ez Letter

Roman Letter

On Coins?

 

h

yes

 

k

yes

 

l

yes

 

w

yes

 

H[9]

yes

 

yes - only in y‘by

 

m

yes

 

z

yes

 

š[10]

yes

 

y

yes

 

r

yes

 

d

yes

 

s

yes

 

g

yes

 

q

yes - only in msql

 

t[11]

no

 

b

yes

 

p[12]

no

 

t

yes

 

s[13]

no

 

x[14]

yes

 

d[15]

no

 

n

yes

 

f

yes - only in fšH

 

yes

 

p[16]

no


Table 2: Ge‘ez Legends

 

King(s)

AC Type(s)

Metal(s)

Obv. Legend

Rev. Legend

 

 

 

 

 

Wazeba

15

AV

wzb ngš ’ksm b’sy zgly

As obv.

 

16

AR

wzb ngš

(none)

 

17,18

AR

wzb ngš

(wzb) ngš ’ksm[17]

Wazeba/Ousanas

19

AR

wzb ngš

(Greek)

Anonymous?

66

AR

ngš bxs’..’?[18]

’[gz]’bHr bkl[19]

Mhdys

67, 69

AV,AR

ngš mw’ mHdys

bz msql mw’

 

70

AE

mHdys ngš ’ksm

bz mw’ bmsql

Kaleb

111,i[20]

AR,AE

ngš klb

lhgr zydl

Wazena

117,i

AR

ngš wzn

zy‘by lmdxn ngš

Anonymous, AGD[21]

125,i,ii,

126,i,ii

AR

ngš ’ksm

zy‘by lmdxn ngš[22]

 

118-123

AE

l’Hzb zydl

zwzn zngš

Joel

129,133

AR,AE

ngš ’y’l

(Greek)

 

130.135

AR,AE

’y’l

ngš

 

131,132

AE

ngš

’y’l

 

134,i

AE

ngš ’y’l

krsts msln

Hataz

138,139,142

AR,AE

Htz

ngš

 

137,141

AR,AE

ngš Htz

šhl l’Hzb

 

140

AE

(none)

Htz ngšksm

Israel

144

AE

ngš ysr’l

šhl l’Hzb

Gersem

147,150

AR,AE

grsm

ngš

 

148,149

AE

ngš grsm

bkrsts ymw’[23]

Armah

151

AR

ngš ’rmH

šhl wslm

 

152

AE

ngš ’rmH

fšH wslm l’Hzb

 

153

AE

ngš ’rmH

fšH lykn l’Hzb

 


Table 3: Ge‘ez Vocabulary - Words

 

Word

Vocalisation

(if known)

Meaning

 

 

 

’Hzb

aHzáb

people (plural of Hezb)

b-

ba-

in, by, through

b’sy[24]

beseya

man of (from[25] besi "man")

bz

ba-ze

by this

fšH

feššeHá

joy

hgr

hagar

city, country

kl

kwellu

everything

l

la-

to, for (and special uses noted in Table 5)

mdxn

madxen

saviour

msln

mesléna

with us

msql

masqal

cross

mw’

mawái

victorious. See ymw

ngš

neguš

king

 

neguša

king of

slm

salám

peace

šhl

šáhl

mercy

w-

wa-

and

y‘by

yá‘abbeyo

"he exalts him" (from[26] a‘baya "to exalt")

ydl

yedlu or yedallu

"may it be suitable" or "he is suitable" (from[27] dalawa "to be suitable")

ykn

yekun

"let there be" (from[28] kona "to be")

ymw’

yemawwe

"he conquers" (from[29] moa "to conquer"). See mw

z-

za-

who, of

z

ze

this


Table 4: Ge‘ez Vocabulary - Names

 

Name Group

Name

Vocalisation

(if known)

Meaning

 

 

 

 

Divine Names

 

 

 

 

gz’bHr

EgziabeHér

God (literally "The Master of the Land")

 

krsts

Kerestos

Christ

 

 

 

 

Personal Names

 

 

 

 

rmH

ArmaH

Armah

 

’y’l

Iyo’él

Joel

 

bxs’..’

(unknown)

BXSA..A[30]

 

grsm

Gersem

Gersem

 

Htz

Hataz

Hataz

 

klb

Kaleb

Kaleb

 

mHdys

(unknown)

MHDYS[31]

 

wzb

conventionallyWazeb(a)

Wazeba

 

wzn

conventionally Wazena

Wazena

 

ysr’l

Yesráél

Israel

 

 

 

 

Place Name

 

 

 

 

’ksm

Aksum

Aksum

 

 

 

 

Uncertain Name

 

 

 

 

zgly

(unknown)

ZGLY[32]

 


Table 5: Translations of Ge‘ez Legends

 

Legend

Vocalisation (if known)

Translation

 

 

 

’[gz]’bHr bkl

EgziabeHér ba-kwellu

God in everything[33]

’y’l

Iyoél

Joel

bkrsts ymw’

ba-Kerestos yemawwe

through Christ he conquers

bz msql mw’

ba-ze masqal mawái

by this cross victorious

bz mw’ bmsql

ba-ze mawái ba-masqal

by this victorious, by the cross

fšH lykn l’Hzb

feššeHá la-yekun la-aHzáb

let there be joy to the people[34]

fšH wslm l’Hzb

feššeHá wa-salám la-aHzáb

joy and peace to the people

grsm

Gersem

Gersem

Htz

Hataz

Hataz

Htz ngšksm

Hataz neguša Aksum

Hataz king of Aksum

krsts msln

Kerestos mesléna

Christ is with us

l’Hzb zydl

la-aHzáb ze-yedlu (or za-yedallu)

may this be (or he who is) suitable for the people

lhgr zydl

la-hagar ze-yedlu (or za-yedallu)

may this be (or he who is) suitable for the city/country

mHdys ngš ’ksm

MHDYS neguša Aksum

MHDYS king of Aksum

ngš

neguš

king

ngš ’ksm

neguša Aksum

king of Aksum

ngš ’rmH

neguš ArmaH

king Armah

ngš ’y’l

neguš Iyo’él

king Joel

ngš bxs’..’

neguš BXS..

king BXSA..A

ngš grsm

neguš Gersem

king Gersem

ngš Htz

neguš Hataz

king Hataz

ngš klb

neguš Kaleb

king Kaleb

ngš mw’ mHdys

neguš mawái MHDYS

the victorious king MHDYS

ngš wzn

neguš Wazena

king Wazena

ngš ysr’l

neguš Yesrá’él

king Israel

šhl l’Hzb

šáhl la-aHzáb

mercy to the people[35]

šhl wslm

šáhl wa-salám

mercy and peace

wzb ngš

Wazeba neguš

king Wazeba

wzb ngš ’ksm

Wazeba neguša Aksum

Wazeba king of Aksum

wzb ngš ’ksm b’sy zgly

Wazeba neguša Aksum beseya ZGLY

Wazeba king of Aksum man of ZGLY

zwzn zngš

za-Wazena za-neguš

of Wazena, of the king

zy‘by lmdxn ngš

za-yá‘abbeyo la-madxen neguš

the king who exalts the saviour[36]

 



[1]Most recently Munro-Hay S.C. and Juel-Jensen B., Aksumite Coinage, Spink & Son Ltd., 1995 (henceforth AC) which also contains an extensive bibliography

[2]For more information on Ge‘ez see Lambdin T.O., Introduction to Classical Ethiopic (Ge‘ez), Atlanta, 1978 and Leslau W., Concise Dictionary of Ge‘ez (Classical Ethiopic), Wiesbaden, 1989

[3]For charts of the letter forms appearing on coins see Munro-Hay S.C., The Ge‘ez and Greek Palaeography of the Coinage of Aksum, Azania XIX, 1984, p. 134-144

[4]The vocalised syllabary consists of 202 characters

[5](Footnote deleted)

[6]For the legends in Ge‘ez letters see AC passim

[7]The vowels added are a e i o u and the long a and e vowels here represented by á and é

[8]The precise order used for the 21 letters found on coins is:   ‘ b d f g h H k l m n q r s š t w x y z

[9]Usually represented as h with a dot below, but here for typographical convenience as H. This suffices to distinguish it from h above except as the first letter of the personal name Htz (Hataz) where the initial letter is this one

[10]Possibly pronounced originally sh

[11]Usually represented as t with a dot below. Since it does not occur on coins, it does not appear again in this article

[12]The two p's are usually distinguished using dots above or below (see previous note)

[13]Usually represented as s with a dot below (see previous note)

[14]Pronounced originally ch as in German Bach

[15]Usually represented as d with a dot below (see earlier notes)

[16]See earlier note on p's

[17]Rarely wzb is omitted

[18]The only recorded specimen is fragmentary with perhaps two letters of the obverse legend missing. The last letter may be a cross

[19]The letters gz in square brackets are restored (see previous note)

[20]''i" here for example refers to 111i

[21]AGD occurs only as a monogram

[22]Type 125i has the misspelling nnš for ngš

[23]AC in error omits the y

[24]This word also occurs in Greek legends on Aksumite coins as BICI

[25]beseya is an early form; be is the later one

[26]In the imperfect form

[27]In the subjunctive or imperfect form. Yet other possibilities are the forms yádlu and yádallu from the derived verb ’adlawa "to please"

[28]In the subjunctive form

[29]In the imperfect form

[30]Capital letters are used by convention in names with unknown vocalisation

[31]See previous note

[32]See previous note

[33]Not as in AC "from God's side we have it"

[34]la- is optional before the subjunctive verb in this construction

[35]For type 144 of king Israel AC mistranslates this as "peace to the people"

[36]A relative clause may precede the noun it modifies. The use of the pronoun suffix -o (him) on the verb and la- before the object is a special construction for definite objects