Sembrouthes was a king of Axum. He is known only from a single inscription in Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

 that was found at Deqemhare or Deqqi Mehari in modern Eritrea

Eritrea

Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...

, which is dated to his 24th regnal year

Regnal year

A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin regnum meaning kingdom, rule.The oldest dating systems were in regnal years, and considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of rule, a third, and...

. He is the first known ruler in the lands later ruled by the Emperor of Ethiopia

Emperor of Ethiopia

The Emperor of Ethiopia was the hereditary ruler of Ethiopia until the abolition of the monarchy in 1974. The Emperor was the head of state and head of government, with ultimate executive, judicial and legislative power in that country...

 to adopt the title "King of kings

King of Kings

King of Kings is a title that has been used by several monarchies and empires throughout history. The title originates in the Ancient Near East. It is broadly the equivalent of the later title Emperor....

".

S. C. Munro-Hay places his reign in a gap between `DBH

`DBH

`DBH [vocalized as `Azaba or `Adhebah] was a king of Axum, on the territory of modern-day Ethiopia, who ruled c. 230–240. He and his son GRMT are known through South Arabian inscriptions which mention Shamir, king of Dhu-Raydan and Himyar asking for his help against the Sabaean...

 and DTWNS

DTWNS

DTWNS was a king of Axum . He is mentioned with his son ZQRNS in an inscription from al-Mis`al in Yemen which Yasir Yuhan'im erected after defeating father and son.- Notes :...

, or c.250.¹ However, W.R.O. Hahn, in a study published in 1983, assigns Sembrouthes to the 4th century, between Aphilas

Aphilas

Aphilas was a king of Axum. He is known from the coins he minted, which are characterized by a number of experiments in imagery on the obverse, and being issued in fractions of weight that none of his successors copied.G.W.B...

 and Ezana, and identifies him with Ousanas

Ousanas

Ousanas was a king of Axum. S. C. Munro-Hay believes that it is "very likely" that Ousanas is the king to whom Aedesius and Frumentius were brought; this king is called in Ethiopian tradition "Ella Allada" or Ella Amida. "Ella Amida" would then be his throne name, although "Ousanas" is the name...

 or "Ella Amida".²

Munro-Hay also suggests that Sembrouthes may have been the ruler who erected the anonymous Monumentum Adulitanum

Monumentum Adulitanum

The Monumentum Adulitanum was an ancient Adulite inscription in Greek and Ge'ez depicting the military campaigns of an Adulite king. Though the inscription and the monument have never been located by archaeologists we know about it through the copying of the inscription by Cosmas Indicopleustes, a...

, an inscription at Adulis

Adulis

Adulis or Aduli is an archeological site in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, about 30 miles south of Massawa. It was the port of the Kingdom of Aksum, located on the coast of the Red Sea. Adulis Bay is named after the port...

 that Cosmas Indicopleustes

Cosmas Indicopleustes

Cosmas Indicopleustes was an Alexandrian merchant and later hermit, probably of Nestorian tendencies. He was a 6th-century traveller, who made several voyages to India during the reign of emperor Justinian...

 made a copy of for king Kaleb of Axum

Kaleb of Axum

Kaleb is perhaps the best-documented, if not best-known, king of Axum. Procopius of Caesarea calls him "Hellestheaeus", a variant of his throne name Ella Atsbeha or Ella Asbeha...

.³