Red Sea port city, the chief emporium of Aksum's Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade.
Declined and was abandoned over the late 7th–early 8th century CE; traditional claims that Arab raiders destroyed the city in 640 CE are unverified and archaeologically inconclusive — the Arab naval expedition of that year was repulsed. The port's demise resulted from the redirection of Red Sea trade after the Islamic conquests and the concurrent decline of Aksum, with no evidence of significant occupation after the 8th century.
Broad survey covering Aksumite Red Sea ports such as Adulis.
Primary source: a 6th-century merchant-monk who passed through Adulis on the Red Sea coast and recorded its Greek inscriptions and Aksumite trade — a contemporary eyewitness to the port.