W`ZB

W`ZB (vocalized as Wa`zeb) or Ella Gabaz was a king of Axum (flourished mid 6th century). He uses the name "Ella Gabaz" on his coinage, but calls himself W`ZB in an inscription where he states he is the "son of Ella Atsbeha", or king Kaleb.¹

In his discussion of this king, Munro-Hay draws on material from the story of Abba Libanos, the "Apostle of Eritrea", in which a king named "Za-Gabaza Aksum" is mentioned, to suggest that Ella Gabaz and Za-Gabaza might be epithets W`ZB adopted, and indicate that he did some important construction on Mariam Syon (or Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion) in Axum.²

Notes

# A translation of this inscription by Richard Pankhurst is included in G.W.B. Huntingford, "The Historical Geography of Ethiopia" (London: The British Academy, 1989), pp. 65f.
# S. C. Munro-Hay, "Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity" (Edinburgh: University Press, 1991), p. 89.