Kingdom of Aksum

====Palace architecture====
[[File:Aksum, chiesa nuova di santa maria di zion, costruita da haile selassie negli anni '60, esterno 00,0.jpg|thumb|An Axumite Cathedral, [[Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion|Lady Mary of Zion]].]]

In general, elite Aksumite buildings such as palaces were constructed atop [[podia]] built of loose stones held together with mud-mortar, with carefully cut granite corner blocks which rebated back a few centimeters at regular intervals as the wall got higher, so the walls narrowed as they rose higher. These podia are often all that survive of Aksumite ruins. Above the podia, walls were generally built with alternating layers of loose stone (often whitewashed, like at [[Yemrehana Krestos Church]]) and horizontal wooden beams, with smaller round wooden beams set in the stonework often projecting out of the walls (these are called 'monkey heads') on the exterior and sometimes the interior. 

Both the podia and the walls above exhibited no long straight stretches but were indented at regular intervals so that any long walls consisted of a series of recesses and salients. This helped to strengthen the walls. Worked granite was used for architectural features including columns, bases, capitals, doors, windows, paving, water spouts (often shaped like lion heads) and so on, as well as enormous flights of stairs that often flanked the walls of palace pavilions on several sides. Doors and windows were usually framed by stone or wooden cross-members, linked at the corners by square 'monkey heads', though simple lintels were also used. Many of these Aksumite features are seen carved into the famous stelae as well as in the later [[rock-cut architecture|rock hewn churches]] of [[Tigray Region|Tigray]] and [[Lalibela]].<ref name="Munro-Hay57" />

[[Palace]]s usually consisted of a central [[pavilion]] surrounded by subsidiary structures pierced by doors and gates that provided some privacy (see [[Dungur]] for an example). The largest of these structures now known is the Ta'akha Maryam, which measured 120 × 80m, though as its pavilion was smaller than others discovered it is likely that others were even larger.<ref name="Munro-Hay57"/>

Some clay models of houses survive to give us an idea of what smaller dwellings were like. One depicts a round hut with a conical roof thatched in layers, while another depicts a rectangular house with rectangular doors and windows, a roof supported by beams that end in 'monkey heads', and a parapet and water spout on the roof. Both were found in [[Hawulti (monument)|Hawelti]]. Another depicts a square house with what appear to be layers of pitched thatch forming the roof.<ref name="Munro-Hay57" />