Agame

Agame () is a province in northern Ethiopia. It includes the northeastern corner of Tigray, borders the Eritrean province of Akele Guzai in the north, Tembien, Kalatta Awlalo and Enderta in the south, and the Afar lowlands in the east. This province of Agame consists of the famous Debre Dammo monastery and the city of Adigrat. In pre-1991, Agame had a total area of about with an estimated population of 344,800. thumb|Tigray, Agame province, a skyline of Adigrat city surroundings|259x259px

==History== ===980 BC – 940 AD=== Agame is one of the oldest regions of Ethiopia, being part of the Kingdom of D'mt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea that would develop into the Kingdom of Aksum. It was a main center of Aksumite culture (second only to Central Tigray, where the capital was located), with a distinct sub-culture that separated the two regions from that of Central Tigray (Axum, Adwa, & Yeha), Central Eritrea (Seraye, Hamasien, Akele Guzai and Adulis), and frontier areas in northern Eritrea. Agame is one of the very few place-names identified in the Adulis inscription as early as the 3rd century. It is mentioned there as an apparently viable local political entity and it seems that it continued as such from then onwards. The area also appears to have been part of the eastern cultural province of ancient Aksum: to this period dates back the foundation of the monastery of Debre Damo, which played a major role in Ethiopia's ecclesiastic history throughout the Middle Ages up to the modern times.