Round 12: Tossup 8

Stuart Munro-Hay mistakenly identified a ruler of this kingdom with a figure named Saifu in a tradition recorded by the scholar Liu Zhi. This kingdom gives its name to a type of frieze with square projecting cross-beams. Cosmas the Monk recorded a now-lost inscription during his visit (10[1])to this kingdom’s port of Adulis. One of the (10[1])Nine Saints (10[1])founded an abbey in this kingdom that produced the Garima Gospels. (10[1])After this kingdom’s conquest of Himyar, its general Abraha attempted to invade (-5[1])Mecca with elephants. A queen named Gudit (-5[1])legendarily ended the rule of this kingdom, which stopped building stelae like its namesake “Obelisk” (10[1])after (10[1])Frumentius’s conversion of its king Ezana. For 10 points, name this kingdom in the Horn of Africa that converted to Christianity in the fourth century. ■END■ (10[3])

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