Shelby Bray

Professor Kimberly Lark

History 134.112382

17 April 2020

A Day in the Life of Aksum Architect in 328 AD

My name is Aapo and I am an architect from the kingdom of Axsum, but everyone here

calls me Vusi which means I’m a builder. My great great great great (you get the point)

grandparents, Uffe and Vada, being Semites from Yemen and some of the earliest settlers of the

region. I was blessed enough to carry a trade from my father who began working the moment

they settled in architecture and I followed closely in his footsteps. Within the last couple of years

as I transcended into adulthood, now being 19 years old, King Ezana made Christianity our

major religion and it seems like that’s all that I’ve ever known because we have learned to study

and follow these teachings so sincerely. My parents also enjoy this new way of living and though

my father has recently had an early retirement, he has used his knowledge to expand his stone

built home to give my wife and I a place to live comfortably. Where I carry my days and my life

and hope to do the same one day for the children one day.

Most of my days are all the same essentially, I do work seven days a week as there is

always lots of work to do. I would be lying if I said that ever since the switch to a monotheistic

religion life has been easy, it seems that our Kingdom has been on a neverending downward

spiral ever since. Especially since King Ezana had made our Kingdom such a popular trade hot

spot, his main concern is keeping up the appeal in our areas as much as possible and I do simply

as I’m told. Even though I don’t work for King Ezana directly and I’ve never spoken to him

personally, I do feel as though he’s doing his part to keep our home from being destroyed and if
his priority is the trade markets and his appearances, I am going to happily oblige even if that

means working long and ludicrous hours.

This day particularly includes me waking up before the sun rises and getting dressed

before leaving my wife Siza at home. We do not have any children though we are still young and

were wed by an agreement by our parents (they are definitely in our plans though). While I head

into town to begin work on the current project which is a palace located not too far from the

Kings quarters where people will gather for trade meetings. And per his request it’s a multistory

building so it has taken significantly more time than the previous projects. I usually do my work

from sunrise to sunset and before I head home I meet with the stoneworkers to discuss the plans,

since we collaborate on a majority of our projects concerning our buildings. They have become

my business partners and my friends, though the older architects wouldn’t consider them

anything… I say they need a little more humility and trust in God but not everyone is as happy

with our religion as me and my wife. As we finish for the day and head home, my wife spends a

majority of her day doing chores around the house and doing our shopping and trading with the

merchants downtown. We’re not rich in coin by any means, but we are comfortable which lets

me trust when we have children we’ll be okay. My wife enjoys buying jewelry from the artisan

merchants when we have some extra coin to spend. After our dinner is done and we’ve said our

prayers we enjoy each other's company for the evening, we personally like to take walks seeing

as our Kingdom is beautiful and full of highlands. Some nights we even head down to the

churches for scripture or early christian testimonies.

Needless to say that it may seem as though we live a fairly simplistic life, Siza and I

absolutely love the life that we live. Though our neighbors are not as keen to this new life the

King has put into place, we enjoy it and look forward to scripture. We enjoy shopping and
trading and working as though many people do not, and look forward to the day that I can pass

on traditions and work to my children as my father did for me. I am the youngest architect on the

team and though I’m usually disregarded for it, I also realize I’m one the most hard working and

that’s why I got my nickname and that’s why I love what I do.

DISCLAIMER: This story is completely fictitious, names and concepts. I found little

evidence about the roles of women and children so opted out of children for Vusi but a wife

and sort of used my imagination based on what I learned last chapter about Muhammad

and his religious views on women.

Inspired by -- Citations

Ancient Africa. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2020, from

https://www.ducksters.com/history/africa/kingdom_of_aksum_axum.php

Hutchinson, Jennifer. "Early Africa." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO,

2020, ancienthistory2.abc-clio.com/Topics/Display/24. Accessed 17 Apr. 2020.

Davis, Paul K. "Aksum." World History: Ancient and Medieval Eras, ABC-CLIO, 2020,

ancienthistory2.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/601429. Accessed 17 Apr. 2020.

Metmuseum.org, www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/aksu_1/hd_aksu_1.htm.