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The kingdom had its own written language called Ge'ez, and also developed its own style of architecture exemplified by such structures as the obelisk of Axum. The kingdom was at its height under king Ezana, baptized as Abriha, in the 300s A.D. (which was also when it became official Orthodox Christian).

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church claims that the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Axum houses the Biblical Ark of the Covenant in which lies the Tablets of Law upon which the Ten CommandmentsThis article is about the list of religious and moral imperatives. For the 1956 film with Charlton Heston, see The Ten Commandments (1956 movie The Ten Commandments or Decalogue are a list of religious and moral imperatives that feature prominently in Jud are inscribed. The city is considered to be the holiest in Ethiopia and is an important destination of pilgrimages. Significant religious festivals are the T'imk'et Festival (known as the EpiphanyEpiphany is a Christian feast intended to celebrate the 'shining forth' or revelation of God to mankind in human form, in the person of Jesus Christ. The observance originally included the birth of Jesus Christ; the visit of the three Magi (Caspar, Melchi in western Christianity) on 7th January and the Festival of Maryam Zion in late November.

Seventy-five percent of the people in the city are Ethiopian Orthodox ChristianThe term Orthodox Christian refers to two Christian traditions: Oriental Orthodoxy, which separated from the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church in the 5th century; Eastern Orthodoxy, which separated from Roman Catholicism in the 11th century Great Schs. The remainder of the population is Sunni MuslimA Muslim is a believer in or follower of Islam. The word Muslim means one who submits and implies complete submission to the will of God ( Allah). Muslims believe that nature is itself Islamic, since it follows natural laws placed by God. Thus, a Muslim s and P'ent'ayThe term P'ent'ay is widely used in modern Ethiopia to describe adherents of the Protestant religion birthed in Western Europe. The P'ent'ay religion is badly fractured and divided, though there are three major "denominations" (the K'alay Hiywet/Word of L. Although Axumite Muslims have attempted to build a mosque in this most holy of Ethiopian towns, Orthodox residents have replied that they must be allowed to build an Ethiopian Orthodox church in Mecca if the Muslims are to be allowed to build a mosque in Aksum. The king of Axum provided protection to the early adherents of MuhammadMuhammad ( Arabic also transliterated Mohammad Mohammed and formerly Mahomet following Latin spelling) was the founder of Islam, and is revered by Muslims as the final prophet of God. According to his traditional Muslim biographies (called sirah in Arabic during the HijraFor other uses see Hijra. The Hijra , or withdrawal, is the emigration of Muhammad and his followers to the city of Medina in 622. Alternate spellings of this Arabic word in the Latin alphabet are Hijrah or Hegira in Latin. Muhammad, preaching the doctrin. One of the Muslim refugees who lived in Ethiopia during this time converted to Orthodox Christianity, thus becoming the first known convert from Islam to Christianity.