Newer Interpretation: Presence of South Arabian (SA), especially Sabaean, immigrants in Eritrea & Aksume in mid – 1st mill. BCE cannot be disputed; similarities in 2 cultures can be seen in e.g. worship of same deities, use of same symbols, such as disc & crescent (see image) use of SA place – names. But SA/ Sabaean presence & influence limited in scope & time, remaining as distinct cultural group perhaps for only few decades, cultural influences quickly localised i.e.

assimilated into prevailing local culture in a region now known as Eritrea & Aksume which later became Ethiopia .

Evidence supporting the old Interpretation: South Arabian Civilization:

• Various SA states. e.g. Sabaa ( the first, longest enduring and most powerful of the SA Kingdoms), Main , Qatban, Raidan, Hadramawt & Himyar which succeeded Sabaa as chief of these states by end of 1 st cent. CE, Sabaa later reasserted itself until Aksumite invasions of 3 rd cent. CE - hence Sabaean titles assumed by Aksumite rulers.

• SA civilization characterised by monumental architecture in dressed stone, inscriptional material in indigenous script, major irrigation construction (dams, cisterns), trade.

• SA cultural trait in pre-Aksumite Eritrea & Ethiopia, e.g. massive stone architecture at Yeha (associated with period of distinct Sabaean presence, 450-300 BCE), irrigation & water-storage technology, religion, e.g. deity call Al-Muqah ( Sabaean national God), disc & crescent symbol, place-names , e.g. Marib, Yeha, Sahart, Hawzen, priest-king titles, SA script & Semitic languages are examples which are cited to support view that origins of pre-Aksumite, & therefore Quohaito, Kaskase & Aksume, civilization were SA.

But question is whether obvious SA cultural features seen in parts of Saho region of Eritrea and Aksume in Ethiopia from 500 BCE onwards indicate a) 1 st contact between SAs and Cushitic people of Eritrea & Ethiopia b)1 st arrival of Semitic speakers to Eritrean then to Ethiopian region ? c) Presence of large numbers of SA colonists in Qouhaito, Kaskase, Matara & Aksume etc.. d) Political domination by Sabaa? e) What level of culture & what kind of social/political organisation existed before ?

Evidence Supporting the Newer Interpretation:

• Food Production:- Eritrea / Ethiopia early centre of food production, small group of crops domesticated in highland region, e.g. finger millet , also cattle keeping from ca 2000 BCE.

As in other parts of Africa where food production was established early on we can assume development of settled agricultural communities, reliable development of religious beliefs & rituals centred on e.g. harvest, weather, soil fertility, social stratification (e.g. rulers, priests, merchants), social sanctions to govern behaviour, etc.. i.e. complex societies already established before arrival of SA immigrants.

• Language:- Linguistic evidence indicates that words for agricultural implements in the modern Semitic Eritrean/Ethiopian languages Tigrinia/Amharic derive from ancient Cushitic language/s and supports hypothesis that agriculture pre-dates arrival of Semitic-speaking SAs in mid - 1 st mill. BCE. Also view that Semitic languages arrived in Eritrea / Ethiopia by way of SA has been challenged. The alternative view states : Semitic languages may have originated in Horn of Africa region and spread outwards from there, i.e. SA Semitic languages, especially Sabaean, represent a re-introduction of Semitic into Eritrean/Ethiopian regions, giving credence to the idea that people had been moving across Red Sea in both directions long before mid-1 st mill. BCE.

• Trade:- Trade routes & trading settlements already established before arrival of SA merchants. Ancients trade in Obsidian ( semi - precious stone) from African side of Red Sea to Arabian side and ancient trading links with Egypt .

• Archaeology :- At principal pre-Aksumite sites pottery shows strong, local antecedents. In northern highland region pottery types show Nubian influence & suggest cultural connections with Meroi. Thus, evidence of material & cultural links with African interior as well as with SA, evidence of established culture/s before arrival of SA immigrants, absorbing/ assimilating SA influences, not beginning with them.

Archaeologists have retrieved ornaments used by some of the Egyptian dynasties, which were originated from Saho region.

'Data from pre-dynastic Egyptian archaeological sites like Nagada demonstrates that obsidian material from the Horn and South Arabian Red Sea coastal areas was used to manufacture highly valuable artefacts for pre-dynastic communities. Egyptian use of southern Red Sea obsidian continued into Egyptian Archaic period. Source characterization research of Egyptian artefacts from this period indicates that obsidian material from the Arafali "Idafalo" source of Eritrea was utilized during Egypt's first dynasty (Zarins 1996). There is some evidence that gold from Eritrea may have been used in Archaic Egypt as well (Ogden 1976; Zarins 1996). (Curtis, M 2002)".

The old Eritrean port known as Adulis is about 60 kilometres south of Massawa. It lies between the villages Zola and Afta, in the proximity of the larger locality Fodo. The original name for Adulis in Saho is probably "Adu Lai"