Editing History of Eritrea (section)

==Antiquity==
===Ona culture===
Excavations at [[Sembel]] found evidence of an ancient pre-[[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite]] civilization in greater Asmara. This Ona urban culture is believed to have been among the earliest pastoral and agricultural communities in the Horn region. Artefacts at the site have been dated to between 800 BC and 400 BC, contemporaneous with other pre-Aksumite settlements in the Eritrean and Ethiopian highlands during the mid-first millennium BC.<ref name="Schmidt">{{cite journal|last1=Schmidt|first1=Peter R.|title=The 'Ona' culture of greater Asmara: archaeology's liberation of Eritrea's ancient history from colonial paradigms|journal=Journal of Eritrean Studies|date=2002|volume=1|issue=1|pages=29–58|url=http://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=270036407&DB=p|access-date=8 September 2014|archive-date=8 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140908201206/http://www.africabib.org/rec.php?RID=270036407&DB=p|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Additionally, the Ona culture may have had connections with the ancient Land of Punt. In a tomb in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] dated to the reign of Pharaoh [[Amenhotep II|Amenophis II]] (Amenhotep II), long-necked pots similar to those made by the Ona people are depicted as part of the cargo in a ship from Punt.<ref name="Avanzini">{{cite book|last1=Avanzini|first1=Alessandra|title=Profumi d'Arabia: atti del convegno|date=1997|publisher=L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER|isbn=8870629759|page=280|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3zOlYZmJiiAC|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref>

===Gash Group & Wetenet empire===
{{main|Gash Group}}
Excavations in and near [[Agordat]] in central Eritrea yielded the remains of an ancient pre-Aksumite civilization known as the Gash Group,<ref name="Leclant402">{{cite book|last1=Leclant|first1=Jean|title=Sesto Congresso internazionale di egittologia: atti, Volume 2|date=1993|publisher=International Association of Egyptologists|page=402|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0B1yAAAAMAAJ|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref> a territory overlapping chronologically and territorially with the ancient Wetenet empire.<ref>Cooper, Julien. "Egyptian Geography of the Southern Red Sea: The Land of Wetenet." Journal of Egyptian History 17.1 (2024): 1-45</ref> Ceramics were discovered that were related to those of the [[Nubian C-Group|C-Group]] (Temehu) pastoral culture, which inhabited the [[Nile Valley]] between 2500 and 1500 BC.<ref name="Cole">{{cite book|last1=Cole|first1=Sonia Mary|title=The Prehistory of East|publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson|date=1964|page=273}}</ref> Sherds akin to those of the [[Kerma]] culture, another community that flourished in the Nile Valley around the same period, were also found at other local archaeological sites in the Barka valley belonging to the Gash Group.<ref name="Leclant402"/> According to Peter Behrens (1981) and Marianne Bechaus-Gerst (2000), linguistic evidence indicates that the C-Group and Kerma peoples spoke [[Afro-Asiatic languages]] of the [[Berber languages|Berber]] and [[Cushitic languages|Cushitic]] branches, respectively.<ref name="Bechaus-Gerst">{{cite book|last1=Marianne Bechaus-Gerst|first1=Roger Blench, Kevin MacDonald (ed.)|title=The Origins and Development of African Livestock: Archaeology, Genetics, Linguistics and Ethnography – "Linguistic evidence for the prehistory of livestock in Sudan" (2000)|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1135434168|page=453|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-t5QAwAAQBAJ|access-date=15 September 2014}}</ref><ref name="Lbant">{{cite book|last1=Behrens|first1=Peter|title=Libya Antiqua: Report and Papers of the Symposium Organized by Unesco in Paris, 16 to 18 January 1984 – "Language and migrations of the early Saharan cattle herders: the formation of the Berber branch"|date=1986|publisher=Unesco|isbn=9231023764|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p_hwAAAAMAAJ|access-date=14 September 2014}}</ref>

===Kingdom of D'mt===
{{main|Dʿmt}}
[[File:Leaping Ibex, Ethiopia (2130266960).jpg|thumb|Bronze oil lamp excavated at [[Matara, Eritrea|Matara]], dating from the [[Dʿmt|Kingdom of Dʿmt]] (1st century BCE or earlier)]]
[[D'mt]] was a kingdom that encompassed most of Eritrea and the northern fringes of Ethiopia, it existed during the 8th and 7th centuries BC. Given the presence of a massive temple complex, its capital was most likely [[Yeha, Ethiopia|Yeha]]. [[Qohaito]], often identified as the town ''Koloe'' in the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'',<ref>G.W.B. Huntingford, ''Historical Geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704'' (London: British Academy, 1989), pp. 38f</ref> as well as [[Matara, Eritrea|Matara]] were important ancient D'mt kingdom cities in southern Eritrea. There are many [[Ancient cities in Eritrea]].

The realm developed [[irrigation]] schemes, used [[plow]]s, grew [[millet]], and made [[iron]] tools and weapons. After the fall of Dʿmt in the 5th century BC, the plateau came to be dominated by smaller successor kingdoms until the rise of one of these polities during the first century, the [[Kingdom of Aksum]], which was able to reunite the area.<ref>Pankhurst, Richard K.P. (17 January 2003){{cite web|url=http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2003/01/17-01-03/Let.htm |title=Let's Look Across the Red Sea I |access-date=2013-02-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060109162335/http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2003/01/17-01-03/Let.htm |archive-date=2006-01-09 }}, ''Addis Tribune''</ref>

===Kingdom of Aksum===
{{main|Kingdom of Aksum}}
[[Debre Sina (monastery)|Debre Sina]] monastery from the 4th century is the first [[Christianity|Christian]] place of worship recorded in [[Eritrea]].  It was the site of the first [[Holy Communion]] prepared in the [[Eritrean Orthodox Church]], by the 4th-century bishop [[Aba Salama]]. It is one of the oldest monasteries in Africa and the world, as it was probably built in the third century.

[[Debre Bizen]] monastery was built during  1350s near the town of Nefasit in [[Eritrea]]. The [[Kingdom of Aksum]] was a trading empire centered in Eritrea and northern Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite book|date=1 November 2012|edition=Second|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=48|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xeJMAgAAQBAJ&q=Aksum+eritrea&pg=PA48|author=David Phillipson: revised by Michael DiBlasi|title=The Oxford Companion to Archaeology|isbn=9780199735785|editor=Neil Asher Silberman}}</ref> It existed from approximately 100–940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite [[Iron Age]] period c. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD.

The Aksumites established bases on the northern highlands of the Ethiopian Plateau and from there expanded southward. The [[Sassanid Empire|Persia]]n religious figure [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] listed Axum with [[Roman Empire|Rome]], Persia, and [[China]] as one of the four great powers of his time. The origins of the Axumite Kingdom are unclear, although experts have offered their speculations about it. Even whom should be considered the earliest known king is contested: although [[Carlo Conti Rossini]] proposed that [[Zoskales]] of Axum, mentioned in the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', should be identified with one Za Haqle mentioned in the Ethiopian King Lists (a view embraced by later historians of Ethiopia such as [[Yuri M. Kobishchanov]]<ref>Yuri M. Kobishchanov, ''Axum'', Joseph W. Michels, editor; Lorraine T. Kapitanoff, translator, (University Park, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania, 1979), pp.54–59.</ref> and Sergew Hable Sellasie), [[G.W.B. Huntingford]] argued that Zoskales was only a sub-king whose authority was limited to [[Adulis]], and that Conti Rossini's identification can not be substantiated.<ref>Expressed, for example, in his ''The Historical Geography of Ethiopia'' (London: the British Academy, 1989), p.39.</ref>

According to the medieval ''Liber Axumae'' ([[Book of Aksum]]), Aksum's first capital, Mazaber, was built by Itiyopis, son of Cush.<ref name="Agrvt">{{cite book|title=Africa Geoscience Review, Volume 10|date=2003|publisher=Rock View International|page=366|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QWBPAQAAIAAJ|access-date=9 August 2014}}</ref> [[Stuart Munro-Hay]] cites the Muslim historian [[Abu Ja'far al-Khwarazmi]]/Kharazmi (who wrote before 833) as stating that the capital of "the kingdom of Habash" was [[Jarma (Aksum)|Jarma]] (hypothetically from Ge'ez ''girma'', "remarkable, revered").<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Aksum'', pp.95–98.</ref> The capital was later moved to [[Axum|Aksum]] in northern Ethiopia. The Kingdom used the name "Axum" as early as the 4th century.<ref name="Munro-Hay57">{{Cite book | author=Stuart Munro-Hay | url=http://www.dskmariam.org/artsandlitreature/litreature/pdf/aksum.pdf | title=Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity | location=Edinburgh | publisher=University Press | year=1991 | page=57 | access-date=February 1, 2013 | archive-date=August 9, 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170809074230/http://www.dskmariam.org/artsandlitreature/litreature/pdf/aksum.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Paul B. Henze, ''Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia'', 2005.</ref>

The Aksumites erected a number of large [[Stele|stelae]], which served a religious purpose in pre-[[Christianity|Christian]] times. One of these granite columns is the largest such structure in the world, standing at 90 feet.<ref name="Eospvo">{{cite book|last=Brockman|first=Norbert|title=Encyclopedia of Sacred Places, Volume 1|year=2011|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1598846546|page=30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JkSk4euA-TEC}}</ref> Under [[Ezana of Axum|Ezana]] ([[floruit|fl.]] 320–360), Aksum later adopted [[Christianity]].<ref name="Munro-Hay">{{cite book|last1=Munro-Hay|first1=Stuart C.|title=Aksum: An African Civilisation of Late Antiquity|date=1991|publisher=Edinburgh University Press|isbn=0748601066|page=77|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RlRzAAAAMAAJ|access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref> In 615, during the lifetime of [[Muhammad]], the Aksumite King [[Sahama]] provided asylum to early [[Muslim]]s from [[Mecca]] fleeing persecution.<ref name="Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum, p.56">Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Aksum'', p.56.</ref> This journey is known in [[Islamic history]] as the [[Migration to Abyssinia|First Hijra]]. The area is also the alleged resting place of the [[Ark of the Covenant]] and the purported home of the [[Queen of Sheba]].<ref>{{cite journal|first=Paul |last=Raffaele|url=http://www.smithsonianmag.com/people-places/ark-covenant-200712.html?c=y&page=1 |title=Keepers of the Lost Ark?|journal=Smithsonian Magazine|date=December 2007 |access-date= 5 April 2011}}</ref>  

'''Hawulti''' ([[Tigrinya language|Tigrinya]]: ሓወልቲ) is a [[Qohaito|pre-Aksumite]] [[obelisk]] located in [[Matara, Eritrea|Matara]], [[Eritrea]]. The [[Aksumite architecture|monument]] bears the oldest known example of the ancient [[Ge'ez script]].

[[File:Stela aksum.jpg|thumb|right|[[King Ezana's Stele]] in [[Axum]] ]]
The kingdom is mentioned in the ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' as an important market place for [[Ivory trade|ivory]], which was exported throughout the ancient world. Aksum was at the time ruled by Zoskales, who also governed the port of Adulis.<ref name="Periplusme">[http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html ''Periplus of the Erythreaean Sea''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140814160845/http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/periplus.html |date=2014-08-14 }}, chs. 4, 5</ref> The Aksumite rulers facilitated trade by minting their own [[Aksumite currency]].

The state also established its hegemony over the declining [[Kingdom of Kush]] and regularly entered the politics of the kingdoms on the [[Arabian peninsula]], eventually extending its rule over the region with the conquest of the [[Himyarite Kingdom]]. Inscriptions have been found in [[Southern Arabia]] celebrating victories over one [[GDRT]], described as "''nagashi'' of [[Habesha people|Habashat]] [i.e. Abyssinia] and of Axum." Other dated inscriptions are used to determine a ''floruit'' for GDRT (interpreted as representing a Ge'ez name such as Gadarat, Gedur, or Gedara) around the beginning of the 3rd century. A bronze scepter or wand has been discovered at [[Atsbi Dera]] with in inscription mentioning "GDR of Axum". Coins showing the royal portrait began to be minted under King [[Endubis]] toward the end of the 3rd century.

Additionally, expeditions by [[Ezana of Axum|Ezana]] into the [[Kingdom of Kush]] at [[Meroe]] in Sudan may have brought about the latter polity's demise, though there is evidence that the kingdom was experiencing a period of decline beforehand. As a result of Ezana's expansions, Aksum bordered the Roman [[Aegyptus (Roman province)|province of Egypt]]. The degree of Aksum's control over Yemen is uncertain. Though there is little evidence supporting Aksumite control of the region at that time, his title, which includes ''king of Saba and Salhen, Himyar and Dhu-Raydan'' (all in modern-day Yemen), along with gold Aksumite coins with the inscriptions, "king of the ''[[Habesha|Habshat]]''" or "Habashite," indicate that Aksum might have retained some legal or actual footing in the area.<ref>Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Aksum'', p. 81.</ref>
[[File:Debre Bizen.jpg|thumb|Some of the buildings of the [[Christianity|Christian]] monastery complex in Eritrea was built during 1350s but is much older than the oldest monastery [[Debre Sina (monastery)]]  from 4th century]]
Details of the Aksumite Kingdom, never abundant, become even more scarce after this point. The last king known to mint coins is [[Armah]], whose coinage refers to the Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614. Stuart Munro-Hay believes that Axum had been abandoned as the capital by Sahama's reign.<ref name="Stuart Munro-Hay, Aksum, p.56"/> However, Kobishchanov suggests that the Axum kingdom retained hegemony over the Arabian ports until at least as late as 702.<ref>Kobishchanov, ''Axum'', p.116.</ref>