Matara, Eritrea

{{distinguish|Matara, Sri Lanka}} {{short description|Human settlement in Eritrea}} {{Infobox ancient site |name = Matara |native_name = |alternate_name = |image = Qohaito, Eritrea (33628113490).jpg |alt = |caption = Ruins in Matara Eritrea<ref>{{Citation |last=Clay Gilliland |title=Matara Eritrea |date=2016-05-28 |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/26781577@N07/33628113490/ |access-date=2024-06-26}}</ref> The archaeological site already has yielded evidence of several levels of habitation, including at least two different major cities, covering more than 1000 years. The topmost layers are associated with the Aksumite Empire and date from the fourth to the eighth centuries. This city was allied with or part of the powerful trading empire centered in the capital, Aksum, to the southwest |map_type = Eritrea |map_alt = |map_size = |relief = 1 |coordinates = {{coord|14.674722|N|39.424722|E|region:ER|display=inline,title}} |location = [[Southern Region (Eritrea)|Debub Region]], [[Eritrea]] |region = [[Horn of Africa]] |type = Settlement |part_of = [[Dʿmt]], [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksum]] |length = |width = |area = |height = |builder = |material = |built = Approximately [[fifth millennium BC]] |abandoned = |epochs = |cultures = |dependency_of = |occupants = |condition = |ownership = |management = |public_access = |website =  |notes = }}

'''Metera''' (መጠራ, '''𐩣𐩷𐩧'''), also known as '''Balaw Kalaw''', is a small [[town]] and important [[archeological site]] located in the [[Southern Region (Eritrea)|Debub Region]] of [[Eritrea]].

Situated a few kilometers south of [[Senafe]] (ሰንዓፈ), it was a major city in the [[Dʿmt]] ('''𐩵𐩲𐩣𐩩''') and [[Kingdom of Aksum|Aksumite]] kingdoms. The town has the oldest example of [[Geʽez|Ge’ez]], which is a pre-Aksumite Obelisk, [[Hawulti (monument)]]. Since Eritrean independence, the [[National Museum of Eritrea]] has petitioned the Ethiopian government to return [[Artifact (archaeology)|artifact]]s removed from the site. However, the efforts have thus far been rebuffed.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_1660407,00.html |title=Eritrea wants artefacts back |date=2005-10-02 |accessdate=2007-02-05 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060620005055/http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0%2C%2C2-11-1447_1660407%2C00.html |archivedate=2006-06-20 }}</ref>

==History== [[File:Lampada a olio greco-romana con cane che assale uno stambecco, da matara, I secolo ac. 01.jpg|thumb|Bronze oil lamp excavated at Matara, dating from the D’MT Kingdom ]] Matara is the name of both a small village and an important archaeological site in Eritrea. The latter is located some 136 kilometers southeast of the capital [[Asmara]], just past Senafe on the road leading south to the border with the northern [[Tigray Region]] of [[Ethiopia]]. The archaeological site already has yielded evidence of several levels of habitation, including at least two different major cities, covering more than 1,000 years. The topmost layers are associated with the Aksumite Empire and date from the fourth to the eighth centuries. This city was allied with or part of the powerful trading empire centered in the capital, [[Aksum]], to the southwest. It appears that Matara was one of a string of cities along the trade route that ran from Aksum to its port city, [[Adulis]], whose extensive ruins, surveyed but largely unexcavated, are in the vicinity of [[Zula]], southeast of [[Massawa]] on the [[Red Sea]] coast. [[Keskese]] is located {{convert|8|km}} north of Matara.<ref name="Schmidt2006">{{cite book|last=Schmidt|first=Peter Ridgway|title=Historical Archaeology in Africa: Representation, Social Memory, And Oral Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hXAZnnkFJDoC&pg=PA266|accessdate=30 May 2012|year=2006|publisher=Rowman Altamira|isbn=978-0-7591-0965-0|page=266}}</ref>

[[Hawulti (monument)|Hawulti]], a pre-Aksumite or early Aksumite era [[obelisk]], is situated here.

==See also== *[[Adulis]] *[[Keskese]] *[[Nakfa, Eritrea|Nakfa]] *[[Qohaito]] *[[Sembel]] *[[Mendefera]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20160102110515/http://hometown.aol.com/_ht_a/atobrukh/archaeology/matara/matara.html Matara]

[[Category:Aksumite cities]] [[Category:Archaeological sites in Eritrea]] [[Category:Southern region (Eritrea)]] [[Category:Former populated places in Eritrea]]