The Christian Church in Aksum
Lesson details
Learning outcome
I can describe the early Christian kingdom of Aksum and how historians have learnt about it.
Key learning points
- Christian Churches did not just emerge in the Western Roman Empire and the Byzantine Empire.
- In Aksum, an important trading kingdom near the Red Sea, Christianity became the dominant religion in the 4th century.
- Sources such as coins, Ezana's stela and the Ezana Stone, suggest that this took place during the rule of King Ezana.
- In Ethiopia today, many Aksumite churches have been found carved into rocky mountainsides.
- Inside these churches the walls are covered with beautiful paintings of Christian stories.
Keywords
Trade - people trade by buying or selling items they need or want
Missionary - a missionary is a religious person who is sent to other places to tell others about that religion
Common misconception
Christianity is a Western religion.
Christianity originated in the Middle East and quickly spread across various regions, including Africa.
Teacher tip
For learning cycle 3, explore creating art in a cave by sticking paper to the underside of children's desks and asking them to recreate the art of the Aksumite rock-cut churches.
Licence
Lesson video
Loading...
Prior knowledge starter quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Christianity started in in the Middle East.
Q2.Match the word to the description of the treatment of early Christians.
treated badly and unfairly because of their Christian faith
Christians were blamed for others' mistakes and wrongdoings
person who died or suffered rather than give up their Christian belief
Q3.Match the emperor to the statement that describes them best.
first Christian emperor
persecuted Christians
created a code of law and ordered his people to be Christian
Q4.The bishop of Rome, also known as the , was believed to have supremacy over the Christian Church as a whole.
Q5.In the Byzantine Empire, the Church developed.
Q6.The Byzantines considered themselves to be and .
Assessment exit quiz
6 Questions
Q1.Complete the sentence. A religious person who is sent to tell others about that religion is called a .
Q2.True or false: Christianity stayed in the Roman Empire.
Q3.Where was the Kingdom of Askum located?
Q4.In what century is it believed that the missionary Frumentius arrived in Askum to spread Christianity there?
Q5.Which of these archaeological sources tell the story of King Ezana's conversion to Christianity?
Q6.What evidence shows us that Christianity continued in Askum after King Ezana's reign?
To help you plan your 4 history lesson on: The Christian Church in Aksum, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your 4 history lesson on: The Christian Church in Aksum, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 history lessons from the The Romans: what is the story of Christianity's rise? unit, dive into the full primary history curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.