Frumentius | |
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Confessor Bishop of Axum Apostle to Ethiopia | |
Born | 4th century Tyre, Phoenice, Byzantine Empire (modern-day Lebanon) |
Died | c. 383 Kingdom of Aksum |
Venerated in | Eastern Orthodox Church Oriental Orthodoxy Catholicism Anglican Communion |
Feast |
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Patronage | Kingdom of Aksum |
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Frumentius (Ge'ez: ፍሬምናጦስ; died c. 383) was a Phoenician Christian missionary and the first bishop of Axum who brought Christianity to the Kingdom of Aksum.[1] He is sometimes known by other names, such as Abuna ("Our Father") and Aba Salama ("Father of Peace").[2]
He was ethnically a Phoenician, according to Rufinus, born in Tyre, modern day Lebanon.[3][4][5][6] As a boy, he was captured with his brother on a voyage, and they became slaves to the King of Axum. He freed them shortly before his death, and they were invited to educate his young heir. They also began to teach Christianity in the region. Later, Frumentius traveled to Alexandria, Egypt, where he appealed to have a bishop appointed and missionary priests sent south to Axum. Thereafter, he was appointed bishop and established the Church in Ethiopia, converting many local people, as well as the king. His appointment began a tradition that the Patriarch of Alexandria appoint the bishops of Ethiopia.[7]
Rufinus, Ecclesiastical History, 10.9-10, records the account of Aedesius and Frumentius, nephews of the Phoenician trader Meropius, who were kidnapped on the coast of "further India" in the time of Constantine and later raised at the royal court.
The narrative is widely known. Meropius, a philosopher from Tyre on the Lebanese coast, is travelling through the Red Sea with two young brothers belonging to his own family, Frumentius and Aedesius.
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