Agordat
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Agordat ኣቆርዳት Ak'ordat |
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 Agordat
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| Coordinates: 15°33′N 37°53′E / 15.550°N 37.883°E | |
| Country | Eritrea |
| Region | Gash-Barka |
| Time zone | EAT (UTC+3) |
Agordat (Ge'ez: ኣቆርዳት; also Akordat or Ak'ordat) is a city in Gash-Barka, Eritrea. It was the capital of the former Barka province, which was situated between the present-day Gash-Barka and Anseba regions.
Agordat lies in the western part of the country on the Barka River. An important market town, it is home to a large mosque.
Excavations in Agordat uncovered pottery related to the C-Group (Temehu) pastoral culture, which inhabited the Nile Valley between 2500-1500 BC. 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. 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 and Cushitic branches, respectively.
Agordat was the last major town along the Eritrean Railway to Massawa through Asmara. The line continued on through to Bishia its terminus. The local economy is reliant on passing traders moving between Asmara and Kessela in Sudan.
Agordat has many restaurants, as well as a hospital built during the colonial period in Italian Eritrea. A considerable amount of Eritrea's fruit and vegetables, particularly bananas and oranges, are transported through the town. Additionally, the Akat fruit is grown locally.
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