Another legend provides a further example of how, in popular history, famous events occurring at one period can become attached to the names of famous people living in another period, often centuries apart. It also illustrates the alleged triumph of Christianity over Judaism. The legend maintains that twin brothers, Atsbeha and Abraha, were the first Christian kings of Ethiopia. This version is based on the true story of the successful campaign waged in the sixth century by the Axumite King Ella Asbeha, also known as Kaleb, against the Jewish King Dhu Nu was of Himyar, the successor state to the kingdom of Saba in south-west Arabia. After his victory Ella Asbeha appointed Abraham, a Christian, formerly the slave of a Roman resident of Adulis, as his tributary ruler of Himyar. He was a staunch champion of Christianity and among other attainments was responsible for building a great cathedral in Sanaa, his capital. These events took place nearly 200 years after Frumentius, but legend has bent history so far that Ella Asbeha and Abraha have come to be regarded as the twin saint-kings who introduced Christianity into Abyssinia.(1) While there is sufficient evidence to show when Christianity was adopted, it is much more difficult to give a date for the introduction of Judaism since there is a total absence of any documentary record. Scholars agree that the Jewish religion had a considerable following in the Axumite state before the time of King Ezana and as it is probable that there was a Jewish presence in the neighbouring kingdom of Meroe with which Axum was in communication Jewish influences could have followed the wellworn routes across the border by way of the Blue Nile and Atbara rivers, while similar, though somewhat different, influences could also have penetrated from south Arabia and subsequently disappeared. ··

Whatever may have been the date and the point of entry of the

(1) A. H. M. Jones and Elizabeth Monroe, A History of Ethiopia (1978 edn), p. 31.