Aromata (

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

: Αρώματα, lit. "

spices In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...

aromatics Aromatic compounds or arenes are organic compounds "with a chemistry typified by benzene" and "cyclically conjugated." The word "aromatic" originates from the past grouping of molecules based on odor, before their general chemical properties were ...

"), also called the Spice Port,

Lionel Casson Lionel Casson (July 22, 1914 – July 18, 2009) was a classical archaeologist, professor emeritus at New York University, and a specialist in maritime history. He earned his B.A. in 1934 at New York University, and in 1936 became an assistant pr ...

(ed.), ''The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary'' (Princeton University Press, 1989), p. 115. was an ancient

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

and emporium in the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

, today a part of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. It lay near the tip of

Cape Guardafui Cape Guardafui is a headland in Somalia, in the federal state of Puntland. It forms the geographical apex of the Horn of Africa. Its shore at 51°27'52"E is the second easternmost point on mainland Africa after Ras Hafun. The offshore oceanic st ...

, which was itself called the "promontory of spices" (''Aromaton akron'', Αρώματον ἄκρον).Casson 1989, pp. 129–30. It was notable for its produce of resins and various herbs.

Location

It is to be identified with Damo, a site protected on the south but exposed on the north. British archaeologist

Neville Chittick Dr. Neville H. Chittick (September 18, 1924 – July 27, 1984) was a British scholar and Archaeology, archaeologist. He specialized in the historic cultures of Northeast Africa, and also devoted various works to the Swahili Coast. Biography Chit ...

discovered Roman pottery near Damo, confirming the identification. Previously,

G. W. B. Huntingford George Wynn Brereton Huntingford (19 November 1901 – 19 February 1978) was an English linguist, anthropologist and historian. He lectured in East African languages and cultures at SOAS, University of London from 1950 until 1966.Olok (Olog), which is to the west.Huntingford 1980, p. 83.

Descriptions

According to the 1st-century ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' (), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and Roman commerce, trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports lik ...

'', the "port of spices" (''Aromaton emporion'', Ἀρωμάτων ἐμπόριον) had a

roadstead A roadstead or road is a sheltered body of water where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5-360. Port Construction and Rehabilitation'. Washington: United States. Gove ...

anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

(''hormos'') in the land of the Barbaroi. It was one of the "far side" ports that lay in a line along the north Somali coast. They were "far" because they came after

Adulis Adulis (Sabaic, Sabaean: 𐩱 𐩵 𐩡 𐩪, , ) was an ancient city along the Red Sea in the Gulf of Zula, about south of Massawa. Its ruins lie within the modern Eritrean list of cities in Eritrea, city of Zula. It was the emporium (antiquit ...

and beyond the strait of

Bab-el-Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb (), the Gate of Grief or the Gate of Tears, is a strait between Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti and Eritrea in the Horn of Africa. It connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and by extension the Indian Ocean. ...

. Merchants left

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

in July to reach them. Aromata was the sixth port after

Zeyla Zeila (, ), also known as Zaila or Zayla, is a historical port town in the western Awdal region of Somaliland. In the Middle Ages, the Jewish traveller Benjamin of Tudela identified Zeila with the Biblical location of Havilah. Most modern schola ...

(''Aualites''),

Berbera Berbera (; , ) is the capital of the Sahil, Somaliland, Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country, located approximately 160 km from the national capital, Hargeisa. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of t ...

(''Malao''), Heis (''Moundou''), Bandar Kasim (''Mosullon'') and Bandar Alula (''Akannai''). It could occasionally be dangerous to ships. According to the 2nd-century ''

Geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

'' of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

, a merchant named Diogenes, returning from India, was driven south by a north wind as he approached Aromata. He sailed for 25 days with the coast of the

Troglodytae The Troglodytae (, ''Trōglodytai''), or Troglodyti (literally "cave goers"), were people mentioned in various locations by many ancient Greek and Roman geographers and historians, including Herodotus (5th century BCE), Agatharchides (2nd centur ...

on his right (west) almost as far as

Rhapta 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 Er ...

in Azania. Citing

Marinus of Tyre Marinus of Tyre (, ''Marînos ho Týrios''; 70–130) was a List of Graeco-Roman geographers, geographer, Cartography, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography and provided the underpinnings of Claudius Ptolemy's i ...

, Ptolemy adds that a merchant named Theophilos sailed from Rhapta to Aromata in twenty days with a south wind blowing. Ptolemy emphasises that these were single sailings and he does not know the average number of days to sail between Aromata and Rhapta. He places Aromata 6°N, while Marinus places it 4.25°N. He cites a certain Dioskoros for the location of Cape Prason, the southernmost point the Greeks reached in Africa, being "many days" beyond Rhapta. He then estimates the distance from Aromata to Cape Prason as 20.67° of latitude. Ptolemy also says that he has heard from traders that the direction from

Arabia Felix Arabia Felix (literally: Fertile/Happy Arabia; also Ancient Greek: Εὐδαίμων Ἀραβία, ''Eudaemon Arabia'') was the Latin name previously used by geographers to describe South Arabia, or what is now Yemen. Etymology The Latin term ...

to Aromata is southwest not due south. He places Aromata on the

Gulf of Aden 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, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

and not in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. Aromata, like all other ports on the Gulf of Aden, was independent and ruled by its own chief. Its major exports were

frankincense Frankincense, also known as olibanum (), is an Aroma compound, aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family (biology), family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality in ...

and all grades of cassia (''gizeir'', ''asuphe'', ''magla'' and ''moto''). It may have served as a major transshipment port for goods coming from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

, the latter being the main source for cassia. It also exported grain, rice, sesame oil and cotton cloth. According to the ''Periplus'', a ship warned at Aromata of an approaching storm on the Indian Ocean could take refuge at Tabai ( Chori Hordio), two days' sailing and on the other side of the cape.

Land of Aromatics

The ''

Monumentum Adulitanum The ''Monumentum Adulitanum'' is the name for two Greek inscriptions from Adulis, the major port city in the modern day Eritrea Kingdom of Aksum. The two Greek inscriptions are known, respectively, as Monumentum Adulitanum I and Monumentum Adulitan ...

'' is a third-century monumental inscription by an anonymous King of Axum recording his various victories in war. It is lost, but its text was copied down in the 6th century by

Cosmas Indicopleustes Cosmas Indicopleustes (; also known as Cosmas the Monk) was a merchant and later hermit from Alexandria in Egypt. He was a 6th-century traveller who made several voyages to India during the reign of emperor Justinian. His work '' Christian Topogr ...

in his '' Christian Topography''. It describes the King's conquest of a country towards the east as the "Land of Aromatics",

Stuart Munro-Hay Stuart Christopher Munro-Hay (21 April 1947 – 14 October 2004) was a British archaeologist, numismatist and Ethiopianist. He studied the culture and history of ancient Ethiopia, the Horn of Africa region and South Arabia, particularly their his ...

, ''Aksum: An African Civilization of Late Antiquity'' (Edinburgh University Press, 1991), p. 187.Stuart Munro-Hay, ''Ethiopia, the Unknown Land: A Cultural and Historical Guide'' (I. B. Tauris, 2003), p. 235. also translated "Land of Incense"Y. Shitomi (1997), "A New Interpretation of the ''Monumentum Adulitanum''", ''Memoirs of the Research Department of the Toyo Bunko'' 55, 81–102. or "Frankincense Country":

I am the first and only of the kings my predecessors to have subdued all these peoples by the grace given me by my mighty god Ares Maḥrem">Maher_(god).html" ;"title="/nowiki>Maher (god)">Maḥrem/nowiki>, who also engendered me. It is through him that I have submitted to my power all the peoples neighbouring my empire, in the east to the Land of Aromatics, to the west to the land of Ethiopia [Kingdom of Kush">Kush KUSH 1600 AM is a radio station licensed to Cushing, Oklahoma. The station broadcasts a Full service format, consisting of local and national talk, sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, tha ...

] and the Sasou [?Sesea]; some I fought myself, against others I sent my armies. Paul Henze takes this to refer to the whole of the "dry coastal region, a major source of incense" from the lowlands of what is today

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

through Somalia and perhaps even a part of

South Arabia South Arabia (), or Greater Yemen, is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jazan, ...

. Yuzo Shitomi suggests that it may in fact have been Ḥaḍramawt in South Arabia. L. P. Kirwan distinguishes two lands of incense: that of the ''

'' (which he places in South Arabia) and that of the ''Christian Topography'' itself (which is the Aromata of the ''Periplus'' and Ptolemy).L. P. Kirwan (1972), "The Christian Topography and the Kingdom of Axum", ''The Geographical Journal'' 138(2), 166–177.

References

{{coord, 11.83, N, 51.24, E, display=title Ancient Somalia Ancient Greek geography