Nonnosus (historian)

Nonnosus (Greek: Νόννοσος, translit. Nónnosos) was a Byzantine ambassador under Justinian I. In around 530, he led a mission to the Red Sea area, visiting Axum, Ḥimyar, and the Arabs. His account of his visit to Axum provides a first-hand account of meeting the Axumite Negus at his royal court. [1]

Regarding his visit to the court of Axum, Nonnosus writes that he entered Ethiopia through the port city of Adulis and journeyed their overland to Axum. Nonnosus writes that along the way he saw a herd of 5000 elephants in the vicinity of Aua, which lies between Adulis and Axum. Upon meeting the Negus Kaleb of Axum, Nonnosus states that he had to kiss the ring of the regent and prostrate himself before him. An abbreviated account of the meeting reads: [2]

"He was largely nude, wearing only a loincloth together with a pearl-encrusted shawl over his shoulders and belly, bracelets on his arms, a golden turban with four tassels on each side, and a golden torque on his neck. In the company of his courtiers he stood astride a spectacular gold-leafed palanquin mounted on the circular saddles of four elephants that been yoked together"

Upon his return he wrote a history of his embassy, which has survived only in a condensed version form attributed to Photios I of Constantinople. This claims that his father, Abraham, had been an ambassador to the Arabs and that his uncle, also Nonnosus, was sent on an embassy by Anastasius I.

Notes

  1. ↑ Sergei Mariev, “Nonnosos”, Encyclopedia of the Medieval Chronicle, R.G. Dunphy ed. (Brill, Leiden and Boston 2010),
  2. ↑ Oxford University Press, The Throne of Adulis: Red Sea Wars on the Eve of Islam (2013), p. 109

References

  • Karl Otfried Müller, Theodor Müller, Letronne (Antoine-Jean, M.) (eds.): Fragmenta historicorum graecorum, Volume 4. (Paris, 1860), preserves the original Greek text and gives a Latin translation. It may be accessed online here


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