Abstract: The kingdom of Axum, a small African nation on the shores of the Red Sea and in the highlands of Ethiopia, thrived in the first few centuries of the Common Era. This small kingdom experienced territorial expansion through conquest, religious conversion at the hands of a major power, and the booming of a trade hub. Axum first took control of their neighbors in the fourth century and then looked beyond, primarily across the Red Sea. The Byzantines saw Axum taking control of the land to the south of Egypt and seized the opportunity to make them their allies. The conversion of the King of Axum made Eastern Orthodox Christianity the official religion and provided a launch point for prosperity. The Byzantines did not only bring their religion but also their business. Ivory became a highly demanded commodity at the Axumite trade hub of Adulis; however, the Byzantine interest in this commodity was contingent upon the success of Axum’s armies against Byzantium’s adversaries. Once the Axumite armies experienced defeat against those enemies, direct Byzantine influence declined. This once wealthy nation fell off the map and out of historical record over the next few centuries and little record displays exactly how this happens. The end of the Axumite kingdom is not clearly defined; however, the signs of decline are. These signs are glaringly similar to their road to success: territorial losses, religious turmoil, and economic recession. Because of the lack of historical writing, primary, archeological, theological, and economic sources describe the decline, and they rarely do so directly. (November 2021 – unpublished)