Evidence suggests that Semitic - speaking Aksumites and semiticized Agaw peoples had already established an independent civilisation in the territory before the arrival of the Sabaeans .
Semiticized Agaw peoples originally spoke other Afro - Asiatic languages from the family 's Cushitic branch .
Evidence suggests that Semitic - speaking Aksumites and semiticized Agaw peoples , who originally spoke other Afro - Asiatic languages from the family 's Cushitic branch , had already established an independent civilisation in the territory before the arrival of the Sabaeans .