Iᵉʳ siècle – VIIᵉ siècle
Red Sea coast, Eritrea
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Adulis was an Aksumite port and commercial settlement on the southern Red Sea. Initially described as a small African market or village, it later became the leading harbor between Clysme and the ports of India during the fifth and sixth centuries. Its prosperity depended heavily on Aksumite state patronage and on maritime exchange involving Egypt, Arabia, the Mediterranean world, India, and island ports.
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Le récit
Adulis was the Red Sea-facing commercial settlement linked to the inland city of Aksum. The Periplus Maris Erythraei described it as a large village several days from Koloè and from the city of the Aksumites. Its position made it an outlet for goods arriving from the interior, especially ivory, and connected Aksumite commerce with maritime routes across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The port was known to Greek and Roman authors before and around the beginning of the Aksumite period. Pliny referred to it as the maximum emporium of the Troglodytes and Ethiopians, while the Periplus also listed rhinoceros horn, tortoise-shell, and obsidian among the goods sold there. These references place Adulis within a trade system extending from inland regions beyond the Nile toward the coast.
By the time of the archaeological investigations described in the extract, Adulis was a deserted site largely covered by rock, sand, and vegetation. The ruins lay about four kilometres inland rather than directly on the coast, within an area roughly five hundred metres long and four hundred metres wide. Surface remains included fragments of pillars, large quantities of pottery shards, and walls exposed by several expeditions.
The site was investigated by a British expeditionary force in 1868, by Paribeni’s mission in 1906, and by the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology in 1961–62. These operations revealed several architectural remains, including a large northern building and two smaller structures to the east and west. The surviving evidence confirms the scale of the settlement while leaving much of its ancient urban form unrecovered.
Iᵉʳ siècle – VIIᵉ siècle
Red Sea coast, Eritrea
Traduction non disponible · Original (anglais) · français indisponible
Adulis was an Aksumite port and commercial settlement on the southern Red Sea. Initially described as a small African market or village, it later became the leading harbor between Clysme and the ports of India during the fifth and sixth centuries. Its prosperity depended heavily on Aksumite state patronage and on maritime exchange involving Egypt, Arabia, the Mediterranean world, India, and island ports.
Poursuivre l’exploration
Le récit
Adulis was the Red Sea-facing commercial settlement linked to the inland city of Aksum. The Periplus Maris Erythraei described it as a large village several days from Koloè and from the city of the Aksumites. Its position made it an outlet for goods arriving from the interior, especially ivory, and connected Aksumite commerce with maritime routes across the Red Sea and Indian Ocean.
The port was known to Greek and Roman authors before and around the beginning of the Aksumite period. Pliny referred to it as the maximum emporium of the Troglodytes and Ethiopians, while the Periplus also listed rhinoceros horn, tortoise-shell, and obsidian among the goods sold there. These references place Adulis within a trade system extending from inland regions beyond the Nile toward the coast.
By the time of the archaeological investigations described in the extract, Adulis was a deserted site largely covered by rock, sand, and vegetation. The ruins lay about four kilometres inland rather than directly on the coast, within an area roughly five hundred metres long and four hundred metres wide. Surface remains included fragments of pillars, large quantities of pottery shards, and walls exposed by several expeditions.
The site was investigated by a British expeditionary force in 1868, by Paribeni’s mission in 1906, and by the Ethiopian Institute of Archaeology in 1961–62. These operations revealed several architectural remains, including a large northern building and two smaller structures to the east and west. The surviving evidence confirms the scale of the settlement while leaving much of its ancient urban form unrecovered.
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