Abstract
Modern-day Eritrea and northern Ethiopia was known by Egyptian Pharaohs as the Land of Punt, a region rich in precious resources including gold and ivory. Settlers from southern Arabia brought Semitic languages and stone-building techniques. Archaeological evidence suggests Asmara, the present Eritrean capital, was the site of a settled agricultural community from at least 800 BC. During the sixth century BC Arab merchants, who traded ivory and slaves, inhabited Eritrea’s coastal strip. This area and the Tigray highlands subsequently formed part of the Aksumite kingdom. At its height in the sixth century AD the kingdom, which had embraced Christianity, controlled much of the Red Sea coast from the port of Adulis (modern Zula) and traded with Mediterranean powers, as well as Persia and India.
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Further Reading
Connel, D., Against All Odds: a Chronicle of the Eritrean Revolution. 1993
Henze, Paul, Eritrea’s War: Confrontation, International Response, Outcome, Prospects. 2001
Mengisteab, Kidane, Anatomy of an African Tragedy: Political, Economic and Foreign Policy Crisis in Post-Independence Eritrea. 2005
Negash, Tekeste and Tronvoll, Kjetil, Brothers at War: Making Sense of the Eritrean–Ethiopian War. 2001
Wrong, Michaela, I Didn’t Do It For You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation. 2005
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(2022). Eritrea. In: The Statesman’s Yearbook 2023. The Statesman's Yearbook. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-96056-9_65
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-349-96056-9_65
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