Barbaria was the name used by the ancient Greeks for littoral northeast Africa. The corresponding Arabic term, bilad al-Barbar (land of the Barbar), was used in the Middle Ages. [1] The name of Barbaria is preserved today in the name of the Somali city of Berbera, [1] the city known to the Greeks as Mundus. [2]
According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea , a 1st-century travelogue written by a Greek merchant based in Alexandria, Barbaria extended from the border of Egypt just south of Berenice Troglodytica to just north of Ptolemais Theron. From there to the Bab-el-Mandeb was the kingdom ruled by Zoskales (possibly Aksum), after which the "rest of Barbaria" extended to Opone. This second Barbaria was the location of the so-called "far-side" ports. [3] [4]
In the Geography of Ptolemy (2nd century), Barbaria is said to extend even further, as far south as Zanzibar, although the land south of Opone is called Azania in the Periplus. [3] [4] Ptolemy describes the city of Rhapta as the "metropolis of Barbaria". Barbaria is also mentioned in Marcian of Heraclea. Later sources (Cosmas Indicopleustes and Stephanus of Byzantium) place it on the African side of the Arabian Sea. [5]
The first contact of the Greeks with Barbaria came in the 3rd century BC, when the Ptolemies set up bases for elephant hunting. These bases remained in use as ports for the export of myrrh and frankincense throughout antiquity. There were many smaller ports that exported tortoiseshell and ivory. [4] In the Periplus, Barbaria is said to lack central government and is ruled by local chiefs. Azania, on the other hand, is subject to the Sabaeans and Himyarites. [3] In the Periplus, the inhabitants of the first Barbaria, or the Barbarike chora (Barbarian region), include the eponymous Barbaroi (Barbarians, Berbers), but also Ichthyophagoi (fish eaters), Agriophagoi (wild beast eaters) and Moschophagoi (shoot eaters). These are probably the same people as the Trogodytes of other ancient geographers. The Moschophagoi may correspond to the Rhizophagoi (root eaters) and Spermatophagoi (seed eaters) of other geographers. [6]
Arabic sources refer to the coast as the Baḥr Berberā or al-Khalīj al-Berberī and its inhabitants as the Berbera or Berābir. They are the Somalis, distinguished from the Habash to their north and the Zanj to their south. From Arabic, this terminology for northeast Africa entered Hebrew (Barbara), Persian (Barbaristan) and even Chinese (Pi-pa-li). Most of these usages are associated with Somalia. [2] The Chinese term, although probably derived from Berbera, refers to the coast and hinterland and not just the port. [7]
The Gulf of Aden is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, Socotra and Somalia to the south. In the northwest, it connects with the Red Sea through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait, and it connects with the Arabian Sea to the east. To the west, it narrows into the Gulf of Tadjoura in Djibouti. The Aden Ridge lies along the middle of the Gulf and is causing it to widen about 15mm per year.
The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, also known by its Latin name as the Periplus Maris Erythraei, is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice Troglodytica along the coast of the Red Sea and others along the Horn of Africa, the Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, including the modern-day Sindh region of Pakistan and southwestern regions of India.
Azania is a name that has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa. In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym has been hypothesised to have referred to a portion of the Southeast Africa coast extending from southern Somalia to the border between Mozambique and South Africa. If this is correct, then during classical antiquity Azania was mostly inhabited by Southern Cushitic peoples, whose groups would rule the area until the great Bantu Migration.
Aromata, also called the Spice Port, was an ancient seaport and emporium in the Horn of Africa, today a part of Somalia. It lay near the tip of Cape Guardafui, which was itself called the "promontory of spices". It was notable for its produce of resins and various herbs.
Hafun is a town in the northeastern Bari province of Somalia. Situated in Ras Hafun on the coast of the Guardafui Channel, it is the centre of the Hafun District, and the easternmost town in continental Africa. It is an ancient town previously known as Opone.
Opone was an ancient proto-Somali city situated in Hafun, Somalia. It is primarily known for its trade with the Ancient Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Persians, and the states of ancient India. Through archaeological remains, the historic port has been identified with the city of Hafun on the Hafun peninsula in modern-day Northeast Somalia. It is possible that it corresponds to the Land of Punt as known by the ancient Egyptians during the Old, Middle, and New Kingdom.
Rhapta was an emporion said to be on the coast of Southeast Africa, first described in the 1st century CE. Its location has not been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites. The ancient Periplus of the Erythraean Sea described Rhapta as "the last emporion of Azania", two days' travel south of the Menouthias islands. The Periplus also states that the city and port were ruled by South Arabian vassals of the Himyarite kingdom, particularly a certain “Mapharitic chieftain.”
Myos Hormos was a Red Sea port founded by the Ptolemy II Philadelphus upon a headland of similar name, around the 3rd century BC. Later, it was renamed to Aphrodites Hormos but the elder appellation is more generally retained.
Berber or Berbers may refer to:
The Erythraean Sea was a former maritime designation that always included the Gulf of Aden and at times other seas between Arabia Felix and the Horn of Africa. Originally an ancient Greek geographical designation, it was used throughout Europe until the 18–19th centuries. At times the name frequently extended beyond the Gulf of Aden—as in the famous 1st-century Periplus of the Erythraean Sea—to include the present-day Red Sea, Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf, and Indian Ocean as a single maritime area.
Minnagara was a city of the Indo-Scythian kingdom, located on the Indus river in Pakistan, north of the coastal city of Barbaricum, North and West of Barygaza.
Maritime history of Somalia refers to the seafaring tradition of the Somali people. It includes various stages of Somali navigational technology, shipbuilding and design, as well as the history of the Somali port cities. It also covers the historical sea routes taken by Somali sailors which sustained the commercial enterprises of the historical Somali kingdoms and empires, in addition to the contemporary maritime culture of Somalia.
The first documented relations between Ancient India and Ancient Rome occurred during the reign of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.
Alula, also spelled Aluula, is a coastal town in the northeastern Bari region and is part of the autonomous state of Puntland, on the coast of the Guardafui Channel. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it served as the main capital of the Majeerteen Sultanate. It is ten miles east of Ras Filuk and 100 nautical miles from Bosaso.
Tyndis was an ancient Indian seaport/harbor-town mentioned in the Graeco-Roman writings. According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Tyndis was located north of port Muziris in the country of the Cerobothra.
Tourism in Somalia is regulated by the Federal Government of Somalia's Ministry of Tourism. The industry was traditionally noted for its numerous historical sites, beaches, waterfalls, mountain ranges and national parks. After the start of the civil war in the early 1990s, the Tourism Ministry shut down operations. It was re-established in the 2000s, and once again oversees the national tourist industry. The Mogadishu-based Somali Tourism Association (SOMTA) provides on-the-ground consulting services.
Malao was an ancient proto-Somali port in present-day Somaliland. The town was situated on the site of what later became the city of Berbera. It was a key trading member involved in the Red Sea-Indian Ocean commerce in the early centuries CE. The town also maintained an important monetary market for merchants exchanging goods in the currencies of the Roman Empire.
Bulhar is a historic port town in the Sahil region of Somaliland with routes dating back to antiquity. The port was rejuvenated in the 19th century and was a rival to nearby Berbera.
Avalites was an ancient port city in present-day Somalia. It corresponds with what later became the city of Zeila.
In antiquity, the ancestors of the Somali people were an important link in the Horn of Africa connecting the region's commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices, items which were considered valuable luxuries by the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans and Babylonians. During the classical era, several ancient city-states competed with the Sabaeans, Parthians and Axumites for the wealthy Indo-Greco-Roman trade.
