Avalites (also spelled Abalitês, from Ancient Greek: Αὐαλίτης or Ἀβαλίτης) was an ancient port city in present-day Somalia. It corresponds with what later became the city of Zeila.[1][2][3]
According to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, Avalites was located on the Far-Side market south of Adulis, stood near the entrance of the Red Sea, where the Gulf narrowed at the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.[4][5] The port city has been identified with modern day Zeila.[6]
Avalites exported spices, some ivory and a little myrrh, but the Periplus claims, better products could be obtained elsewhere. Some of these exports were transported on small crafts navigated by local people of the area and was shipped to Arabian port cities on the other side of the Red Sea.[7][8][9]
The Somali coast was an important part of the global incense trade, alongside Southeast Asia, South Asia, and southern Arabia on the Red Sea. Incense was widely used in the Mediterranean region and all of Europe, used for religious and everyday purposes. This made incense a noteworthy commodity in the Indian Ocean trade.[10]
- ^ Michael Peppard, "A Letter Concerning Boats in Berenike and Trade on the Red Sea", Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 171 (2009).
- ^ G. W. B. Huntingford (ed.), The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, by an Unknown Author: With Some Extracts from Agatharkhides 'On the Erythraean Sea' (Ashgate, 1980), p. 90.
- ^ Lionel Casson (ed.), The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation and Commentary (Princeton University Press, 1989), pp. 116–17. Avalites may be Assab or a village named Abalit near Obock.
- ^ The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Schoff's 1912 Translation.
- ^ The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy. Raul McLaughlin. p. 122.
- ^ The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction Page 117
- ^ Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region: Proceedings of Red Sea Project I Held in the British Museum
- ^ The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Schoff's 1912 Translation.
- ^ The Roman Empire and the Indian Ocean: The Ancient World Economy. Raul McLaughlin. p. 122.
- ^ South east Asia Trade and Polities.[permanent dead link]