Mahadayas

Mahadayas (Mahaygas, Maheygasa, Mhwys, Mhygs, Mhygsn), Emperor (perhaps fl. c. 5th century A. D.), was a Christian ruler of the Aksumite Empire. His coins of bronze, bearing his effigy and the Cross of Christ, are inscribed in Ge’ez, but the vocalization of his name is uncertain.

Richard K. P. Pankhurst

Bibliography

E. Littmann, *Deutsche Aksum-Expedition *(Berlin, 1913), Vol. I, 56.

C. Conti Rossini, “Monete aksumite,” Africa Italiana, Vol. I (1927): 203-204.

A. Kammerer, La Mer Rouge, l’Abyssinie et l’Arabie depuis l’antiquité (Le Caire, 1929), Vol. I, 222-223.

J. Doresse, L’Empire du Prêtre-Jean (Paris, 1957), Vol. I, 134.

A. Anzani, “Numismatica axumita,” Rivista Italiana di Numismatica e Scienze Affini, XXXIX (1926): 33, 63-64.

F. Anfray, “Les rois d’Axoum d’après la numismatique,” Journal of Ethiopian Studies, Vol. VI, No. 2 (1968): 2-3.

This article is reproduced, with permission, from The Dictionary of Ethiopian Biography, Vol. 1 ‘From Early Times to the End of the Zagwé Dynasty c. 1270 A.D.,’ copyright © 1975, edited by Belaynesh Michael, S. Chojnacki and Richard Pankhurst, Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. All rights reserved.