Editing Axum (section)

===18th century===
The French traveller {{ill|Charles-Jacques Poncet|fr}} visited Aksum (which he called "Heleni") in 1700, describing the stelae and the church. [[James Bruce]] also left descriptions of the old town, which in his time consisted, he estimated, of about 600 houses. He believed Aksum to have been mainly the work of the Ptolemies, crediting most of the monuments to [[Ptolemy III Euergetes]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pankhurst |first=Richard |year=1982 |title=History Of Ethiopian Towns |page=228 |isbn=9783515032049 }}</ref>

After the decline of imperial authority in the period of the [[Zemene Mesafint]], Aksum fell under the control of the rulers of Tigray. One of whom, [[Wolde Selassie]], would grant the church of St. Mary a land grant in 1794.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Pankhurst |first=Richard |year=1982 |title=History Of Ethiopian Towns |page=228|isbn=9783515032049 }}</ref>