Aksumite Ethiopia, is an elusive entity, and I cannot hope to have always
plumped for the correct interpretation in some of the more debated themes
of its history. Theories and arguments which I may seem to have left aside
could prove to be of great importance to future study. In most cases where
a choice between opposing theories has been made, it is nevertheless with a
profound consciousness of the stimulation afforded by the points-of-view of
colleagues who share the opposite opinion, and with the certainty that the
last word has not yet been said, that I have leaned towards certain conclu-
sions. I have not infrequently drawn on my own earlier publications for
certain sections of this book, sometimes with radically different results;
alterations indicative of the progress made by more recent research.

I am extremely grateful, as the dedication indicates, to the late Dr. H.
Neville Chittick for introducing me to Aksumite studies during the important
excavations which he directed at Aksum between 1972 and 1974, and for his
continued subsequent encouragement. His excavations at Aksum completely
altered many concepts about Aksumite Ethiopia, clarifying certain points
and, inevitably, raising new questions. In 1985 I was invited by the British
Institute in Eastern Africa, under whose auspices Neville Chittick had
worked, to publish in their Memoir series the excavation report his death
prevented him from undertaking; and it was during this work that the idea
of the present book, less specialist and wider-ranging, was suggested to me
by Glen Kania. The British Institute in Eastern Africa also kindly gave
permission for the reproduction of some of the photographs taken during the
excavations. A number of friends and colleagues helped in the preparation of
the book; I would particularly like to thank Dr. Bent Juel-Jensen and Dr.
David Phillipson for reading and commenting on the typescript at different
stages, and for supplying illustrations; Roger Brereton and the late Ruth
Plant for other illustrations; Chris Tsielepi for information from the
Horniman Museum; Michael Grogan for the maps and Glen Kania for his
usual patience and assistance in editing and word-processing, for the fourth
time, a book on an Aksumite theme.

Aksum's obscurity, and the impossibility of visiting the site at present,
seem to have had a discouraging effect on funding institutions. However,
awards which have greatly helped me in the writing of this book, and in my
Aksumite studies in general, came from the Twenty-Seven Foundation and
the Spalding Trust; to these organisations I am extremely grateful, particular-
ly since they have both assisted my work in other fields as well.

Stuart Munro-Hay
St. Orens-Pouy-Petit, France. December 1988.

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