Avalites (also spelledAbalitês, fromAncient Greek:Αὐαλίτης orἈβαλίτης) was an ancient port city in present-daySomaliland. It corresponds with what later became the city ofZeila.[1][2][3]
In Camoens: His Life and Lusiads,Richard F. Burton links theHabr Awal people with the ancientAvalitae mentioned by Ptolemy and in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea. He notes that Camoens’ reference to the “Barbarica Region” corresponds to the Somali coast, and followingIbn Battuta and Varthema, he identifies this group with theHabr Awal 'savages' who historically occupied the coast ofZeila toSiyara.[4][5]
According to thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea, Avalites was located on the Far-Side market south ofAdulis, stood near the entrance of the Red Sea, where the Gulf narrowed at the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.[6][7] The port city has been identified with modern dayZeila.[8]
Avalites exported spices, some ivory and a little myrrh, but the Periplus claims, better products could be obtained elsewhere. Some of these exports were transported on small crafts navigated by local people of the area and was shipped to Arabian port cities on the other side of theRed Sea.[9][10][11]
The Somali coast was an important part of the global incense trade, alongsideSoutheast Asia, South Asia, andsouthern Arabia on the Red Sea. Incense was widely used in the Mediterranean region and all of Europe, used for religious and everyday purposes. This made incense a noteworthy commodity in theIndian Ocean trade.[12]