◈ hidden gem
📷 David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada · CC BY 2.0
Where in the world
Eritrea
Adulis
Aksumite · Eritrea
Field notes
- civilizations
- Aksumite
- types
- Village · Port
- built
- 1,450 BCE
- occupied
- 1,450 BCE — 640 CE
- country
- Eritrea
The site
Adulis was an ancient port city on the Red Sea, in the Gulf of Zula in what is now Eritrea, tied to the Aksumite kingdom. Serving as a bustling emporium, it channeled luxury goods along trade routes reaching toward Greece and the Byzantine Empire. Occupied from roughly 1450 BCE to 640 CE, Adulis sat within the region ancient Egyptians knew as the Land of Punt.