The history of the geographical area today called Eritrea may be traced several thousand years back in time.
In ancient times, Eritrea was called Medri Geez, the land of the free, Medri Bahari-the land of the sea and Mareb Mellash-the land beyond the river.
Eritrea is an ancient culture. Its ancient language of Geez, shares the same Semitic origins as Hebrew and Arabic. The sacred sense that attaches itself to Jerusalem and Hebrew or Arabic also attaches itself to Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.
It is believed that Eritrea has been a central part of an ancient geographical area known to the Egyptian pharaohs as the land of Punt.
The land of Punt also known to ancient Egypt as the Land of gods, was believed to have been rich in various types of commercial items.
Egyptian Pharaohs sent expeditions to the Land of Punt, as early as 2300 BC.
It is generally believed that the earliest inhabitants of the area were Nilotic peoples who migrated from the south-eastern Sudan into the western lowlands of present Eritrea.
These first settlers were later to be imposed on by the Cushitic-speaking people of northern Africa, which then was succeeded by the invading Semitic people who came from across the Red Sea about 1000 to 700 BC.
The Semitic settlers later moved inland, where they formed the kingdom of Aksum, which flourished from the forth to the sixth centuries AD.
Many of Eritrea’s inhabitants are descended from Sabean migrants who came from the Arabian Peninsula in 1,000 BC and established trading posts, and later city states on the plateau and in the Eritrea coasts.
Ancient Eritrea
