Cultural Continuity Along the Western Red Sea Littoral

Summary

The study of the ancient cultural history of northern Ethiopia, modern Tigray, often includes an interpretation of the obvious connections with the Arabian Peninsula, to the east, and the Nile Valley to the west. Less attention is usually given to contacts with the African heartland, to the south, and the relatively arid region between the Nile Valley and the Red Sea, usually referred to as the Eastern Desert, to the north. The cultural connections with the latter are reflected in linguistic and material traditions (basketry, ceramics, headrests, etc.) and more recently in the central place of coffee in daily life. In this presentation the long-term cultural continuity along the western Red Sea littoral will be illustrated. Given the limitations of the data currently available, this will be from a theoretical and more or less anecdotal perspective.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Regional Connections in Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea: Relationships between the Eastern, Western, and Central Highlands

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 13214