It is usually considered that the earliest proof of the Ethiopian conversion to Christianity is the dedicatory formula contained in Ezana's last triumphal inscription, in which he boasts of his conquest of Meroe, Instead of giving thanks to a pagan god Ezana praises 'the power of the Lord of Heaven who is in Heaven and on Earth victorious over that which exists'. He gives credit for his victory to 'the power of the Lord of All' and, as 'the Lord of Heaven ... is now victorious for me and has subjugated my enemies for me injustice and in right [I will rule] doing no injustice to the people'. (1)

Nowhere in the inscription, written in archaic Ge'ez and discovered at Axum, is there any reference to Christianity but the terms 'Lord of Heaven' and 'Lord of All' and the call for justice have a distinctly Hebraic ring. A similar formula was used in a bilingual Himyaritic-Hebrew inscription of about the same period found in 1969 in south Arabia near the ancient Sabaean capital of Zafar. It describes the dedication of a Jewish place of worship and includes the words: ' ... through the power and grace of his Lord, who has created his soul, the Lord of the living and the dead, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, who has created everything'. (2) Both inscriptions are reminiscent of the 103rd Psalm (verse 19) 'The Lord hath established his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all'; and of the prophet Nehemiah, who 'fasted and prayed before the God of Heaven'.(3) Rather than expressing a specifically Christian sentiment this inscription of Ezana's appears to mark a monotheistic position which is neither pagan nor Christian. It seems to reflect the influence of Judaism at a time, possibly just prior to the king's adoption of Christianity, when the Jewish religion had attained a position of some importance on both sides of the Red Sea.(4)

The story of the conversion of Ethiopia by Frumentius recorded in a contemporary document left by Rufinus, the friend of St Jerome, seems authentic enough but, in the course of time, it

(1)From E. Littmann, Deutsche Axum Expedition, no. 11, transl. D. Appleyard.
(2) S. D. Goitein, 'The Jews under Islam', in The Jewish World, p. 179, and G. Garbini in Annali di Inst. Orienta le di Napoli, NS20, 1970, pp. 153-166.
(3) Nehemiah 1:4.
(4) Anfray, Caquot and Nantin described, in the journal Des Savants (1970, pp. 260-73), a recently discovered Greek inscription of Ezana which is clearly Christian and Trinitarian, In comparing this with the Ge'ez inscription (Deutsche Axum Expedition, no. 11) the authors suggested that the latter may indicate a step by the king in the direction of Christianity.