The Kingdom of Askum (also known as Axum), has been the subject of countless mythical legends. Whether it’s the original home of the Queen of Sheba, or the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant, Western Civilizations have been fascinated with these guys. But this Kingdom in modern-day Ethiopia did actually exist.

In it’s heyday, it was an international trading power, and had access to the Nile and the Red Sea trading routes. By the third century A.D., it was generally assumed that it was one of the worlds four greatest kingdoms, along with Rome, China, and Persia.

The Kingdom accepted Christianity shortly after the Roman Empire did and thrived to the Middle Ages, until it became a victim to the Crusades and the expansion of Islam.