The ancient Red Sea port of Adulis, Eritrea : results of the Eritro-British Expedition, 2004-5 / edited by David Peacock and Lucy Blue ; assisted by Darren Glazier ; illustrations by Julian Whitewright, Jillian Phillips and Penny Copeland.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Peacock, D. P. S.

Blue, Lucy Katherine.

Glazier, Darren.

Whitewright, Julian.

Phillips, Jillian.

Copeland, Penny.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Harbors.

History.

Commerce.

Excavations (Archaeology).

Antiquities.

Eritrea--Antiquities.

Eritrea.

Excavations (Archaeology)--Eritrea.

Aksum (Kingdom)--Commerce--History.

Aksum (Kingdom).

Red Sea Region--Commerce--History.

Red Sea Region.

Harbors--Eritrea--History.

Physical Description:

xii, 145 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Oxford, UK : Oxbow Books ; Oakville, CT : available from the David Brown Book Co., [2007]

Summary:

The port of Adulis was one of greatest significance in Antiquity. Best known for its pivotal role in Aksumite trade during the fourth to seventh centuries AD, it was also a major port of the earlier Roman period, featuring in the first century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. Not only did Adulis offer a good, secure harbour and market on the route to India, it was also a source for luxuries such as tortoise shell, ivory and rhinoceros horn.

Yet despite its prominence in the classical sources, the port itself has remained something of a mystery to modern scholars. Whilst the location of Adulis has been known for over a century, the ports which served the town had not been located and no finds from the period of the Periplus had been recovered from the area. The field work on which this book is based resolves many of these problems. The location of the Periplus harbours of Diodorus Island and Oreine and the Aksumite harbour of Gabaza have been descovered, along with evidence for early occupation at Adulis itself.

This book also discusses the relationship between Adulis and Aksum, and reveals for the first time the location of Samidi, a site marked on the sixth century map of Cosmas Indicopleustes, which may have been the burial place of the kings of Adulis.

Contents:

Chapter II The Historical background / Darren Glazier, David Peacock 7

Chapter III The topographic and geophysical survey / Darren Glazier, Julian Whitewright, Graeme Earl 19

Chapter IV The Galala Hills / David Peacock, Lucy Blue 33

Chapter V The ancient shoreline and maritime landscape / Lucy Blue, David Peacock 39

Chapter VI Survey on the island of Dese / Lucy Blue, David Peacock 57

Chapter VII Samidi / Darren Glazier, Julian Whitewright, David Peacock, contribution by Sonia Zakrzewski and Sarah Inskip 65

Chapter VIII Pottery from the survey / David Peacock, contributions by Ismeni Nina, Philip Kenrick, Jeroen Poblome, Roberta Tomber and Kerlijne Romanus 79

Chapter IX Stone artefacts from the survey / David Peacock, contribution by Keith Matthews 109

Appendix The topography of Periplus ports: a comparison / David Peacock, Lucy Blue 135.

Notes:

Slip inserted.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [141]-145).

ISBN:

9781842173084

1842173081

OCLC:

181142255