Adulis is an archeological site in Eritrea, about 30 miles south of Massawa. It was the port of the Kingdom of Aksum, located on the coast of the Red Sea. Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Massawa in the 19th century Massawa or Mitsiwa (15° 36′ 33″ N 39° 26′ 43″ E) is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. ... The Kingdom of Aksum (or Axum), was an important trading nation in northeastern Africa, growing from ca. ... Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ...

History

Pliny the Elder is the earliest writer to mention Adulis (N.H. 6.34), who misunderstood the name of the place, and thought its name meant that it had been founded by escaped Egyptian slaves. It is mentioned by the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a guide of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, which describes it as an emporium for the ivory, hides, slaves and other exports of the interior. It may have previously been known as Berenice Panchrysus of the Ptolemies. Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19c portrait. ... The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Periplus Maris Erythraei ) is a Greek periplus, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along East Africa and India. ... Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... An elaborately carved ivory decoration Ivory is a hard, white, opaque substance that is the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth, etc. ... The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Greek royal family which ruled over Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC. Ptolemy, a Macedonian and one of Alexander the Greats generals, was appointed satrap of Egypt after Alexanders death in 323 BC. In 305 BC he declared...

Cosmas Indicopleustes records two inscriptions he found here in the 6th century: the first records how Ptolemy Euergetes (247-222 BC) used war elephants captured in the region to gain victories in his wars aborad; the second, known as the Monumentum Adulitanum, was inscribed in the 27th year of an unnamed king of Axum, boasting of his victories to the north and south of Axum. Cosmas Indicopleustes (India-voyager) of Alexandria was a Greek sailor in the early 6th century who travelled to Ethiopia, India and Sri Lanka. ... Ptolemy III Euergetes I, (Ptolemaeus III) (Evergetes, Euergetes) (246 BC-222 BC). ... Indian war elephant, relief at Mathura, 2nd century BC War elephants were important, although not widespread, weapons in ancient military history. ...

The writer Palladius, who is believed to be the bishop of Helenopolis between 368 - 431, mentions that during his trip to India to investigate Brahmin philosophy, he was accompanied part of the way by one Moise or Moses, bishop of Adulis. Events Earthquake in Nicaea Births Deaths Categories: 368 ... Events June - Council of Ephesus: Nestorianism is rejected, the Nicene creed is declared to be complete. ... A Brahmin (pronunciation is Brahmann) is a member of the Hindu priestly caste. ...

Control of Adulis allowed Axum to be the major power on the Red Sea. This port was the principal staging area for Kaleb's invasion of the Himyarite kingdom of Dhu Nuwas around 520. While the scholar Yuri Kobishchanov detailed a number of raids Ethiopians made on the Arabian coast (the latest being in 702, when the port of Jeddah was occupied), and argued that Adulis was later captured by the Muslims, which brought to an end Axum's naval ability and contributed to Ethiopia's isolation from the Byzantine Empire and other traditional allies, the last years of Adulis are a mystery. Muslim writers occasionally mention both Adulis and the nearby Dahlak Archipelago as places of exile, the evidence suggests that Axum maintained its access to the Red Sea, yet suffered a clear decline in fortunes from the seventh century onwards. In any case, the sea power of Axum waned and security for the Red Sea fell on other shoulders. Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea (Arabic البحر الأحمر Baḥr al-Aḥmar, al-Baḥru l-’Aḥmar; Hebrew ים סוף Yam Suf; Tigrigna ቀይሕ ባሕሪ QeyH baHri) is a gulf or basin of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... Kaleb (c. ... A state in ancient Yemen dating from 115 BCE. Conquered neighbouring Saba in 25 BCE, Qataban in 50 CE and Hadramaut 100 CE. It was the dominant state in Arabia until the sixth century. ... Yusuf Dhu Nuwas (also called Yusuf Asar Dhu Nuwas, Masruq, and Dunas Zhidovin) was the last king of Yemen (then called Himayar) from a Jewish dynasty of unknown origin. ... Events February 20 - Epiphanius elected Patriarch of Constantinople. ... // Births April 20 - Jafar Sadiq, Muslim scholar (d. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم) (sometimes also spelled Moslem) is an adherent of Islam. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ... The Dahlak archipelago is an island group located in the Red Sea off Massawa. ...

Archeological excavations

Adulis was one of the first Axumite sites to undergo excavation, when a French mission to Ethiopia under Vignaud and Petit performed an initial survey in 1840, and prepared a map which marked the location of thee structures they believed were temples. In 1868, workers attached to Napier's campaign against Tewodros II visited Adulis and exposed several buildings, including the foundations of a Byzantine-like church. Petit is a French surname (meaning small) mostly associated with two football players: retired French international and former Monaco, Arsenal, Barcelona and Chelsea star Emmanuel Petit Portuguese international and currently SL Benfica player Armando Teixeira Also, Jean-Pierre Petit is a French scientist, and Alexis Thérèse Petit was... 1840 is a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala (1810-1890), was a British soldier. ... Tewodros II (also known as Theodore II) (born Kassa Hailu) (1818-1868) was an emperor of Ethiopia. ... The Byzantine Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Greek-speaking Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered at its capital in Constantinople. ...

The first scientific excavations were undertaken by a German expedition in 1906 under the supervision of R. Sundström, who worked in the northern sector of the site, exposing a large structure Sundström labelled the "palace of Adulis", as well as recovering Axumite coinage; their results were published in four volumes in 1913. R. Paribeni excavated in Adulis the following year, discovering many structures similar to what Sundström had found the previous year, but also a number of ordinary dwellings. 1906 (MCMVI) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Over 50 years passed until the next series of excavations, when in 1961 and 1962 the Ethiopian Institute of Archeology sponsored an expedition led by Francis Anfray, which not only recovered materials showing a strong affinities with the late Axumite kingdom, but a destruction layer which prompted Kobishchanov to later argue that Adulis had been destroyed by an Arab raid in the mid-7th century, a view that has since been rejected. 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... // Overview Events The Roman-Persian Wars end. ...

Bibliography

• Stuart Munro-Hay. Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity. Edinburgh: University Press. 1991. ISBN 0748601066
• Yuri M. Kobishchanov. Axum (Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator). University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979. ISBN 0271005319