Adulis

Adulis

A 5th-century Byzantine Christian basilica at Adulis, excavated in 1914
Shown within Eritrea
Location	Eritrea
Region	Northern Red Sea
Coordinates	15°15′47″N 39°39′38″E / 15.263061°N 39.660552°E / 15.263061; 39.660552

Adulis or Aduli (Αδουλίς in Ancient Greek) is an archeological site in the Northern Red Sea of Eritrea, situated about 30 miles south of Massawa in the Gulf of Zula. It was the port of the Kingdom of Aksum, located on the coast of the Red Sea. Adulis Bay is named after the site. It is thought that the modern town of Zula may be the Adulis of the Aksumite epoch, as Zula may reflect the local name for the Ancient Greek "Adulis."

Pliny the Elder is the earliest writer to mention Adulis (N.H. 6.34). He misunderstood the name of the place, thinking the toponym meant that it had been founded by escaped Egyptian slaves. Pliny further stated that it was the 'principal mart for the Troglodytae and the people of Aethiopia'. Adulis is also mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a guide of the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The latter guide describes the settlement as an emporium for the ivory, hides, slaves and other exports of the interior. It may have previously been known as Berenice Panchrysos of the Ptolemies. Roman merchants used the port in the second and third century AD.

Cosmas Indicopleustes records two inscriptions he found here in the 6th century: the first records how Ptolemy Euergetes (247–222 BC) used war elephants captured in the region to gain victories in his wars abroad; the second, known as the Monumentum Adulitanum, was inscribed in the 27th year of a king of Axum, perhaps named Sembrouthes, boasting of his victories in Arabia and northern Ethiopia.