chapter 5._

ABYDOS.

An ancient city on the Asiatic side of the Hellespont, mentioned in the Iliad as one of the towns that were in alliance with the Trojans. Originally Thracian, as is supposed, it became a colony of Miletus, and passed at different times under Persian, Athenian, Lacedæmonian and Macedonian rule. Its site was at the narrowest point of the Hellespont—the scene of the ancient romantic story of Hero and Leander—nearly opposite to the town of Sestus. It was in the near neighborhood of Abydos that Xerxes built his bridge of boats; at Abydos, Alcibiades and the Athenians won an important victory over the Peloponnesians.

See GREECE: B. C. 480, and 411-407.

ABYDOS, Tablet of.

One of the most valuable records of Egyptian history, found in the ruins of Abydos and now preserved in the British Museum. It gives a list of kings whom Ramses II. selected from among his ancestors to pay homage to. The tablet was much mutilated when found, but another copy more perfect has been unearthed by M. Mariette, which supplies nearly all the names lacking on the first.

_F. Lenormant, Manual of Ancient History of the East, volume 1, book 3._

ABYSSINIA: Embraced in ancient Ethiopia.

See ETHIOPIA.

ABYSSINIA: Fourth Century. Conversion to Christianity.

"Whatever may have been the effect produced in his native country by the conversion of Queen Candace's treasurer, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles [chapter VIII.], it would appear to have been transitory; and the Ethiopian or Abyssinian church owes its origin to an expedition made early in the fourth century by Meropius, a philosopher of Tyre, for the purpose of scientific inquiry. On his voyage homewards, he and his companions were attacked at a place where they had landed in search of water, and all were massacred except two youths, Ædesius and Frumentius, the relatives and pupils of Meropius. These were carried to the king of the country, who advanced Ædesius to be his cup-bearer, and Frumentius to be his secretary and treasurer. On the death of the king, who left a boy as his heir, the two strangers, at the request of the widowed queen, acted as regents of the kingdom until the prince came of age. Ædesius then returned to Tyre, where he became a presbyter. Frumentius, who, with the help of such Christian traders as visited the country, had already introduced the Christian doctrine and worship into Abyssinia, repaired to Alexandria, related his story to Athanasius, and … Athanasius … consecrated him to the bishoprick of Axum [the capital of the Abyssinain kingdom]. The church thus founded continues to this day subject to the see of Alexandria."

_J. C. Robertson, History of the Christian Church, book 2, chapter 6._

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ABYSSINIA: 6th to 16th Centuries. Wars in Arabia. Struggle with the Mahometans. Isolation from the Christian world.

"The fate of the Christian church among the Homerites in Arabia Felix afforded an opportunity for the Abyssinians, under the reigns of the Emperors Justin and Justinian, to show their zeal in behalf of the cause of the Christians. The prince of that Arabian population, Dunaan, or Dsunovas, was a zealous adherent of Judaism; and, under pretext of avenging the oppressions which his fellow-believers were obliged to suffer in the Roman empire, he caused the Christian merchants who came from that quarter and visited Arabia for the purposes of trade, or passed through the country to Abyssinia, to be murdered. Elesbaan, the Christian king of Abyssinia, made this a cause for declaring war on the Arabian prince. He conquered Dsunovas, deprived him of the government, and set up a Christian, by the name of Abraham, as king in his stead. But at the death of the latter, which happened soon after, Dsunovas again made himself master of the throne; and it was a natural consequence of what he had suffered, that he now became a fiercer and more cruel persecutor than he was before. … Upon this, Elesbaan interfered once more, under the reign of the emperor Justinian, who stimulated him to the undertaking. He made a second expedition to Arabia Felix, and was again victorious. Dsunovas lost his life in the war; the Abyssinian prince put an end to the ancient, independent empire of the Homerites, and established a new government favourable to the Christians."

_A. Neander, General History of the Christian Religion and Church, second period, section 1._

"In the year 592, as nearly as can be calculated from the dates given by the native writers, the Persians, whose power seems to have kept pace with the decline of the Roman empire, sent a great force against the Abyssinians, possessed themselves once more of Arabia, acquired a naval superiority in the gulf, and secured the principal ports on either side of it."

"It is uncertain how long these conquerors retained their acquisition; but, in all probability their ascendancy gave way to the rising greatness of the Mahometan power; which soon afterwards overwhelmed all the nations contiguous to Arabia, spread to the remotest parts of the East, and even penetrated the African deserts from Egypt to the Congo. Meanwhile Abyssinia, though within two hundred miles of the walls of Mecca, remained unconquered and true to the Christian faith; presenting a mortifying and galling object to the more zealous followers of the Prophet. On this account, implacable and incessant wars ravaged her territories. … She lost her commerce, saw her consequence annihilated, her capital threatened, and the richest of her provinces laid waste. … There is reason to apprehend that she must shortly have sunk under the pressure of repeated invasions, had not the Portuguese arrived [in the 16th century] at a seasonable moment to aid her endeavours against the Moslem chiefs."

_M. Russell, Nubia and Abyssinia,