The Rise and Fall of the Aksumites, from Jeff Watson
Pete Earle wrote a very good article over at Mises.org.
The Aksumite civilization began coalescing approximately 400 years before the birth of Christ, with the aggregation of a number of tribes and clans in present-day Ethiopia.
Personally, I feel my heart swell knowing that I have friends as smart as Pete and the rest of the contributors to Dailyspeculations for that matter.