Page:The Periplus of the Erythræan Sea.djvu/70

 also is a Semitic name, probably Nabat, allied to Nabatu of the Assyrian inscriptions, to Nebaioth (son of Ishmael), and to the later Nabataeans of §19.

Herodotus (II, 8) refers to the "mountains of Arabia" extending from north to south along the Nile, stretcing up to the Erythraean Sea, and says that at its greatest width from east to west it is a two-months' journey; and that "eastward its confines produce frankincense." Here also is an indication of the connection of Nubia with Somaliland, confirmed by the pompous titles of the later Cushite kings in Meroes (Ed. Meyer Geschichte Aegyptens, 359): "Kings of the four quarters of the world and of the nine distant peoples."

3. Ptolemais.—This is identified with Er-rih island, 18° 9′N., 38° 27′E., the southern portion of the Tokar delta. It was fortified by Ptolemy Philadelphus (B.C. 285–246), and became the center of the elephant-trade. Being situated near the Nubian forest, where elephants abounded, its location was very favorable. The Egyptians had formerly imported their elephants from Asia; but the cost was high and the supply uncertain, and Ptolemy sent his own hunters to Nubia, against the will of the inhabitants, to obtain a nearer supply.

From very early times there was a trade-route from the Red Sea to the Nile at this point, terminating near Meroe, and corresponding closely to the railway recently built between Berber on the Nile and Port Sudan on the Red Sea.

3. Adulis.—The present port is Massowa, center of the Italian colony of Eritrea, which lies near the mouth of the bay of Adulis. The ancient name is preserved in the modern village of Zula. The location has been described by J. Theodore Bent, (Sacred City of the Ethiopians, London, 1896: pp.228–230). It is on the west side of Annesley Bay, and numerous black basalt ruins are still visible there. Adulis was one of the colonies of Ptolemy Philadelphus, and was always of commercial importance because it was the natural port for Abyssinia and the Sudan. It seems to have been built by Syrian Greeks. Here was the famous inscription reciting the conquests of Ptolemy Euergetes (B.C. 247–223) with an addition by Aizanas, or El Abreha, King of Abyssinia about 330 A. D., for a copy of which we are indebted to the Christian Topography of Cosmas Indicopleustes.

4. Coloe.—The ruins of Coloe were found by Bent at Kohaito (Sacred City of the Ethiopians, Chap. XII.). It is a large flat plateau many miles in extent, high above the surrounding country (7000 feet) and thus cool and comfortable. It seems to have been the main settlement, and Adulis the trading-post, which was inhabited no more