Aromata ( Greek: Αρώματα, lit. " spices, aromatics"), also called the Spice Port, Lionel Casson (ed.), ''The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation, and Commentary'' (Princeton University Press, 1989), p. 115. was an

emporium Emporium may refer to: Historical * Emporium (antiquity), a trading post, factory, or market of Classical antiquity * Emporium (early medieval), a 6th- to 9th-century trading settlement in Northwestern Europe * Emporium (Italy), an ancient town ...

and

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 Ham ...

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, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

. It lay near the tip of Cape Guardafui, 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. According to the 1st-century ''

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea The ''Periplus of the Erythraean Sea'' ( grc, Περίπλους τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς Θαλάσσης, ', modern Greek '), also known by its Latin name as the , is a Greco-Roman periplus written in Koine Greek that describes navigation and ...

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

roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5- ...

anchorage Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...

(''hormos'') in the land of the

Barbaroi A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by some to be less c ...

. 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 and beyond the strait of

Bab-el-Mandeb The Bab-el-Mandeb (Arabic: , , ) 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. Name The strait derives its name from the dangers attendin ...

. Merchants left

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

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

Zeyla Zeila ( so, Saylac, ar, زيلع, Zayla), 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 (or Hawilah) with the Bibli ...

(''Aualites''),

Berbera Berbera (; so, Barbara, ar, بربرة) is the capital of the Sahil region of Somaliland and is the main sea port of the country. Berbera is a coastal city and was the former capital of the British Somaliland protectorate before Hargeisa. It ...

(''Malao''), Heis (''Moundou''), Bandar Kasim (''Mosullon'') and Bandar Alula (''Akannai''). It is to be identified with Damo, a site protected on the south but exposed on the north. It could occasionally be dangerous to ships. British archaeologist Neville Chittick discovered

Roman pottery Pottery was produced in enormous quantities in ancient Rome, mostly for utilitarian purposes. It is found all over the former Roman Empire and beyond. Monte Testaccio is a huge mound, waste mound in Rome made almost entirely of broken amphorae us ...

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. According to the 2nd-century ''

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

'' of

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...

, 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 ( el, , ''Trōglodytai''), or Troglodyti (literally "cave goers"), were people mentioned in various locations by many Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and Ancient Rome, Roman geographers and historians, including Herodotus (5th centu ...

on his right (west) almost as far as Rhapta in

Azania Azania ( grc, Ἀζανία) is a name that has been applied to various parts of southeastern tropical Africa. In the Roman period and perhaps earlier, the toponym referred to a portion of the Southeast Africa coast extending from northern Kenya ...

. Citing

Marinus of Tyre Marinus of Tyre ( grc-gre, Μαρῖνος ὁ Τύριος, ''Marînos ho Týrios''; 70–130) was a Greek geographer, cartographer and mathematician, who founded mathematical geography and provided the underpinnings of Claudius Ptolemy's ...

, 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 A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. The ...

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

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) 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 Channe ...

and not in the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

. 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 aromatic resin used in incense and perfumes, obtained from trees of the genus ''Boswellia'' in the family Burseraceae. The word is from Old French ('high-quality incense'). There are several species o ...

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 (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, 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. The '' Monumentum Adulitanum'' is a 4th-century monumental inscription by King

Ezana of Axum Ezana ( gez, ዔዛና ''‘Ezana'', unvocalized ዐዘነ ''‘zn''; also spelled Aezana or Aizan) was ruler of the Kingdom of Axum, an ancient kingdom located in what is now Eritrea and Ethiopia. (320s – c. 360 AD). He himself employed the ...

recording his various victories in war. It is lost, but its text was copied down in the 6th century by

Cosmas Indicopleustes Cosmas Indicopleustes ( grc-x-koine, Κοσμᾶς Ἰνδικοπλεύστης, lit=Cosmas who sailed to India; also known as Cosmas the Monk) was a Greek merchant and later hermit from Alexandria of Egypt. He was a 6th-century traveller who ma ...

in his ''

Christian Topography The ''Christian Topography'' ( grc, Χριστιανικὴ Τοπογραφία, la, Topographia Christiana) is a 6th-century work, one of the earliest essays in scientific geography written by a Christian author. It originally consisted of fiv ...

''. It describes Ezana's easternmost conquest as the "land of Aromatics",Stuart Munro-Hay, ''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 /nowiki>Mahram">Mahram.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Mahram">/nowiki>Mahram/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 or Cush may refer to: Bible * Cush (Bible), two people and one or more places in the Hebrew Bible Places * Kush (mountain), a mountain near Kalat, Pakistan Balochistan * Kush (satrapy), a satrapy of the Achaemenid Empire * Hindu Kush, a m ...

] 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 ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

through Somalia and perhaps even a part of

South Arabia South Arabia () is a historical region that consists of the southern region of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia, mainly centered in what is now the Republic of Yemen, yet it has also historically included Najran, Jizan, Al-Bahah, and 'Asi ...

. Yuzo Shitomi suggests that it may in fact have been Ḥaḍramawt in South Arabia.

L. P. Kirwan Sir Archibald Laurence Patrick Kirwan KCMG (13 May 1907 – 16 April 1999) was a British archaeologist and geographer who made major contributions to the study of ancient Egypt, Nubia, East Africa and South Arabia. ''The Guardian'', in his obitua ...

distinguishes two lands of incense: that of the ''Monumentum Adulitanum'' (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

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