Aksum was Africa's premier empire for over five hundred years. This great civilization was the last in Africa to rival the Mediterranean powers as a equal. Headquartered on the Ethiopian plateau, the kingdom's influence stretched from the interior of the continent to the southern boundary of the Roman empire and across the Red Sea to the Arabian peninsula. As Akum's kings got richer and more powerful they took to building giant monuments - mostly obelisks - bragging of their accomplishments. One of these - now fallen - is still the single largest piece of stone quarried in human history. But it was all to end. Aksum's influence was contingent on a temporary confluence of climatic conditions.
