Between 330 and 356 CE, King Ezana ruled the African Kingdom of Axum, a powerful state located in contemporary Ethiopia and the predecessor kingdom of modern-day Ethiopia. Little known today, he is still one of the best-documented rulers of Axum and is notable as the country’s first king to embrace Christianity and make it the official religion of the kingdom. Ezana’s faith was likely influenced by the teachings of his slave-teacher, the Syrian Christian Frumentius, who later became head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.