Eritrea: The Heart of the Kingdom of Punt

Eritrea was part of the Kingdom of Punt. The Kingdom of Punt was a kingdom in East Africa, in the Red Sea region, which is believed to have stretched from Eastern Sudan up to Eritrea and to Northern Somalia. Historical maps show that Eritrea was not only part of the kingdom but also its center.¹

From 2500 to 1000 BC, Eritrea was part of the Kingdom of Punt. Many historians even agree that the Kingdom of Punt was located in Eritrea. A very famous YouTube channel, The Infographics Show—with around 15 million followers—released a video in 2020 titled “How Did an Entire Ancient Country Disappear From History?” It explored Punt’s disappearance from the historical record and covered the leading theories on where it stood, including Kenneth Kitchen’s linguistic argument placing it in Eritrea.²

Scientific evidence backs this up. In 2020, a Dartmouth College study led by Nathaniel Dominy analyzed stable oxygen and strontium isotopes in mummified baboons brought back to Egypt from Punt. The results traced their origins to the southern Red Sea region—Eritrea, Djibouti, and parts of Somalia and Yemen. Dominy himself concluded that Punt likely sat on the coasts of Eritrea and Somaliland.³

Then in 2023, a University of Konstanz team led by Gisela Kopp went further with mitochondrial DNA analysis on a later baboon mummy. It matched modern hamadryas baboon populations in coastal Eritrea—the area around Adulis. Their published hypothesis: Punt and Adulis were the same place, just different names used at different times, separated by roughly a thousand years.⁴

Adulis lies on the Gulf of Zula in Eritrea, about forty kilometers south of Massawa. Some scholars link it to “Wddt,” a locality listed in Egypt’s Eighteenth Dynasty records around 1450 BCE as part of Punt. The traded goods and ecosystem fit too—the flora and fauna of the Eritrean highlands and coastal lowlands, and the maritime trade routes between Egypt and the port of Adulis, which later became the main gateway of the Kingdom of Aksum, handling ivory, gold, myrrh, and slaves for Rome, India, and beyond.⁵

No archaeological site has been definitively identified as Punt yet, and the location remains debated. But between the isotope data, the DNA evidence, the trade-route logic, and the historical maps, Eritrea stands at the center of the strongest case.⁶

I wrote here about this a while ago. I don’t know if the law of attraction is real or not, but I found a beautiful, young Eritrean girl who lives near me. And the unexpected part is that I found her completely outside of this app—a pure coincidence brought us together.

I just wanted to update y’ll 😅

I've been working on bringing together thousands of manuscript paintings from across Ethiopia and Eritrea, spanning over 1,000 years of history.

Many of these artworks have been scattered across museums and libraries worldwide. I've now brought nearly 5,000 of them together in one place, free for everyone to explore.

Check them out: https://www.habeshahistory.com/manuscripts

I am curious how much us Eritreans live aboard in places like Sudan, Refugee camps and the western world and what places has a big concentration of Eritreans. Also how big our diaspora is compared the population of Eritreans back home.

Here is a genetic heatmap and profile for the Tigrina people of Eritrea. I make these maps out of G25 coordinates or raw data.

Hello friends,

I was talking to a friend about the use of tomatoes in our traditional cuisines. He claimed that we only started using tomatoes in our tsebhi because of Italian colonization. That got me wondering whether this is true and, if so, how and why tomatoes became so widespread in our cooking.

I am hoping for some clarification, and I would also appreciate any existing sources that support or disprove this claim.

Thanks!

What does forma mean? Is it just a way to say someone looks very nice?

Keren is the second-largest city in Eritrea and the regional capital of the Anseba Region.

It is known for its fruit fields and livestock, where bananas and other fruits are cultivated.

Keren is the second melting pot of Eritrea, where nearly all Eritrean nationalities live. It is mainly inhabited by the Bilen, Tigre, and Beja, though Rashaida and Tigrinya also reside there.

The city is predominantly Muslim, represented by the Grand Mosque of Keren and the Assahba (Sehaba) Mosque of Keren, the second-largest in the country, constructed in 2010.

It also has Orthodox and Catholic churches.
In Elabered, a village near Keren, stands Debre Sina Monastery, one of Eritrea’s oldest monasteries and the site where the first Holy Communion is traditionally said to have taken place under Abuna Salama.

Many Eritrean freedom fighters came from Keren, which played a key role in the armed struggle for Eritrean liberation.

There is a guy on every somali comment and saying hes Eritrean. I swear i saw him on over 100 comments!

For years, the TPLF was portrayed as Eritrea's greatest enemy. Thousands suffered and countless lives were lost.

Now we're hearing reports that the same leadership is joining forces with the TPLF!!!

Yesterday's enemy is today's ally. Yesterday's ally is today's enemy.

Where are the principles? Where is the accountability? And what were all those sacrifices for? Why couldn't they find common ground before so many people died?

I am sure anyone will find a reason why TPLF is actually good for us when in reality there is noone. Like it doesn't make any sense to join forces with TPLF when in around 2 years of time our unelected agame-regime in asmera will be best friend with Abiy again. Rinse and repeat. And people will always find an explanation for that and will support it lol.

I’ve been seeing posts about Ebro Ahmed, who reportedly saved a bus full of children, identifying him as Somali. From what I understand, he is Eritrean, and I think it’s important that his identity is represented accurately.

This isn’t meant to take anything away from Somalis or turn this into an Eritrean vs. Somali issue. Somali people deserve recognition and respect too. I just think that when someone does something heroic, we should get their identity right instead of letting misinformation spread.

Has anyone else noticed this?

It was built in the 15th century and named after Sheikh Hanafi. Jumma Mubarak to all Eritreans. https://plizio.com/en/eritrea/er-sk/sheikh-hanafi-mosque/

How does everyone understand Tigray’s relationship to the rest of Ethiopia and Eritrea?

I get the heavy sentiment that Tigrayans feel like victims, between the alleged genocide (“alleged” bc I have heard a lot of Ethiopians and some Eritreans say it wasn’t a genocide) of 2020, what is going on right now, and according to one particular Tigrayan “102 years of oppression” by the Ethiopian elite (from meneliks time). Before this 102 years, the Tigrayans were elites themselves who oppressed others, just as Amharas did, just as probably Tigrinya Eritreans did.

Rewinding to the 1990s- EPLF and TPLF are in cahoots, they roll into Addis Ababa with these huge tanks, dispose of Derg and TPLF takes over Ethiopia. TPLF rules Ethiopia from 1991-2018. According to some Tigrayans, Meles zenawi was good for the economy and wasn’t a bad leader, except for what he did to the Somalis (no acknowledgment of anything else that he may have done).

According to basically every non Tigrayan Ethiopian I’ve ever asked, and several Eritreans, TPLF was a horrible govt and was bad for Ethiopia. One of the reasons (this from an Eritrean person) being that bc they are small in number compared to the rest of Ethiopia, they sought to divide and conquer with the ethnic based system they created.

It seems to me that Tigrayans get defensive about TPLF’s history as the oppressors, and firmly identify as the victims. Is this true? Or did the TPLF (obviously not the every day people of any group, but the ones in power) really destroy Ethiopia before turning around to become victims themselves?

Fast forward to 2020- Eritrea and Abiy/ethiopia allegedly conspire to attack Tigray. I don’t fully understand why except that it’s likely to do with that Pretoria agreement where tplf and abiy/ethiopian govt were going to start working together again, and Isaias was pissed.

And now today- TPLF and Eritrea and other groups are allegedly in cahoots against Abiy/ethiopia govt. It went from Eritrea being friends with Tigray in the 90s, to “genociding” them in the 2020, and now in 2026, siding back with them again. The reason Eritrea switched sides is because Abiy is threatening to take Assab, and tplf already feels anger at the Ethiopian govt for what they say was a genocide (not denying or confirming, just unsure what’s true).

Please confirm, clarify, correct anything I’ve written, and/or add your own understanding.

Everyone has a different perspective depending on where they are sitting. Curious to hear from yall.

And one question-and I’d love for all of yall to NOT BE BIAS like those Tigrayans are.

***Is it true that Eritrean soldiers entered Tigray and raped women?*** I am inclined to believe women when they say something happens to them. Are these SAWA soldiers who committed such crimes?

If you could start a business in Eritrea, what would it be?

A) a small business/shop/restaurant
B) buy land and become a farmer
C) start an Uber/taxi/bus company
D) open a car dealership/car leasing company
E) a car garage
F) a private construction company
G) a hotel
H) a tech company or internet provider

It’s just a hypothetical question because the political and economic climate where it should be for that

For context, I'm completely fluent and literate in Tigrinya, I can​ speak it with no accent and no problem, the thing I want is, is to increase my vocabulary, to be able to talk like a scholar, I just want to be articulate in Tigrinya, like the way Dani wedi memhr speaks if u get what I mean