Zula ግእዝ ዙላ saba ሰብኣ 𐩸𐩡 is a small town in central

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 ...

. It is situated near the head of Annesley Bay (also known as the Gulf of Zula), on the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; T ...

coast. Four kilometers away is the archeological site of Adulis, which was an emporium and the

port 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 ...

Axum Axum, or Aksum (pronounced: ), is a town in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia with a population of 66,900 residents (as of 2015). It is the site of the historic capital of the Aksumite Empire, a naval and trading power that ruled the whole region ...

History

The Eritrean Research Project Team composed of Eritrean,

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

, Dutch and

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

scientists discovered a Paleolithic site with stone and obsidian tools dated to over 125,000 years old near the

Bay of Zula The Gulf of Zula, also known as Annesley Bay, Baia di Arafali or Zula Bahir Selat’ē, is a body of water on the Eritrean coastline on the Red Sea. Geography The Gulf lies to the east of Massawa, near the midpoint of the Eritrean coast. It is ...

south of Massawa, along the Red Sea littoral. The tools are believed to have been used by early humans to harvest marine resources like

clams Clam is a common name for several kinds of bivalve molluscs. The word is often applied only to those that are edible and live as infauna, spending most of their lives halfway buried in the sand of the seafloor or riverbeds. Clams have two shel ...

and

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

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The Kingdom of Aksum was a powerful trading empire centered in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. It existed from approximately 100–940 AD, growing from the proto-Aksumite D'mt, Damot of the Iron Age period c. 4th century BC to achieve prominence by the 1st century AD. An important

trade route A trade route is a logistical network identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. The term can also be used to refer to trade over bodies of water. Allowing goods to reach distant markets, a sing ...

led from Adulis, then on the coast, to the capital of the kingdom, Aksum, located in the

Tigray Region The Tigray Region, officially the Tigray National Regional State, is the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia. The Tigray Region is the homeland of the Tigrayan, Irob, and Kunama people. Its capital and largest city is Mekelle. Tigray is ...

of Ethiopia. In 1857, an agreement was entered into by the Dejazmach of Tigray, in revolt against

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

Tewodros II of Ethiopia , spoken = ; ''djānhoi'', lit. ''"O steemedroyal"'' , alternative = ; ''getochu'', lit. ''"Our master"'' (pl.) Tewodros II ( gez, ዳግማዊ ቴዎድሮስ, baptized as Gebre Kidan; 1818 – 13 April 1868) was Emperor of Ethiopi ...

, to cede Zula to the

. Agew Niguse was defeated by Emperor Tewodros, and the commander of a French cruiser sent to Annesley Bay in 1859 found the country in a state of anarchy. No further steps were taken by France to assert its sovereignty, and Zula with the neighbouring coast passed, nominally, to

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 1866. Zula was the place where the British expedition of 1867 – 1868 against Tewodros disembarked, Annesley Bay affording safe and ample anchorage for the largest ocean-going vessels. A road was built by the British from Zula to Senafe in the Eritrean Highlands. The authority of Egypt having lapsed over Zula, an Italian

protectorate A protectorate, in the context of international relations, is a State (polity), state that is under protection by another state for defence against aggression and other violations of law. It is a dependent territory that enjoys autonomy over m ...

was proclaimed in 1888, and in 1890 the town was incorporated into the colony of

Geography

Zula is a village and port on the Red Sea in central Eritrea. It stands on the right bank of the River Aligede, on a narrow coastal plain on the west side of a natural inlet, the Gulf of Zula, some to the east of

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

. The coast here is lined with mangroves, and there is an aircraft landing strip to the north. The original port of Adulis is now inland, debris washed down from the mountains having accumulated along the coastline, extending it further out to sea. At Zula, the remains of the railway tracks, laid by Napier's Expedition to haul his heavy equipment ashore, can still be seen.

References

{{Coord, 15, 15, N, 39, 40, E, region:ER_type:city, display=title Aksumite cities Populated places in Eritrea