# Qohaito > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Qohaito > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Qohaito.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qohaito > Source revision: 1322891592 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Human settlement in Eritrea Qohaito The columns of a ruined structure at Qohaito Location of Qohaito in Eritrea 14°51′58″N 39°25′26″E / 14.86611°N 39.42389°E / 14.86611; 39.42389 Type Settlement Location Debub Region, Eritrea Region Horn of Africa Part of Punt, Dʿmt, Aksum **Qohaito** ([Tigrinya](/source/Tigrinya_language): ቆሓይቶ) or **Koloe** was a major ancient city in what is now the [Debub region](/source/Southern_region_(Eritrea)) of [Eritrea](/source/Eritrea). It was a pre-[Aksumite](/source/Kingdom_of_Aksum) settlement that thrived during the Aksumite period. The city was located over 2,500 meters above [sea level](/source/Sea_level), on a high plateau at the edge of the [Great Rift Valley](/source/Great_Rift_Valley%2C_Ethiopia), about half way between [Aksum](/source/Aksum) and its port of [Adulis](/source/Adulis). As of 2011[\[update\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qohaito&action=edit), Qohaito's stone ruins have yet to be excavated. The ancient port city of Adulis is directly to the north east, while [Matara](/source/Matara%2C_Eritrea) lies to the south.[1][2] In 2011, the site was submitted to the 'Tentative List of States Parties' of [UNESCO World Heritage Sites](/source/UNESCO_World_Heritage_Sites).[3] ## History A tomb entrance on the Qohaito plateau (1965). [Rock art](/source/Rock_art) near Qohaito appears to indicate habitation in the area since the [fifth millennium BC](/source/Fifth_millennium_BC), while the town is known to have survived to the sixth century AD. Mount [Emba Soira](/source/Emba_Soira), Eritrea's highest mountain, lies near the site, as does a small successor village.[4][5] Qohaito is often identified as the town *Koloe* described in the *[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea](/source/Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea)*, a Greco-Roman document dated to the end of the first century AD.[4] The settlement thrived as a stop on the [trade route](/source/Trade_route) between [Adulis](/source/Adulis) and [Aksum](/source/Aksum). It is thought that [crops](/source/Agriculture) were interspersed with buildings in the town. These old edifices included the pre-[Christian](/source/Christianity) Temple of Mariam Wakino and the Sahira Dam, which might also be pre-Aksumite.[6] The ruins at Qohaito were first located in 1868 by the British explorer [Clements Markham](/source/Clements_Markham). However, they were at the time erroneously identified as a "[Greek](/source/Ancient_Greece) deposit".[7] Between 1996 and 1998 a team from the [National Museum of Eritrea](/source/National_Museum_of_Eritrea) conducted an extensive survey and inventory of the site, in which they noted that some areas had been modified or damaged by inhabitants in recent decades.[5] A related site outside of [Senafe](/source/Senafe), [Matara](/source/Matara%2C_Eritrea), lies about 15 kilometers to the south, and was excavated in the 1960s.[8] ## Description Rock art in the Adi Alauti cave When coming from [Adi Keyh](/source/Adi_Keyh), one first comes across the Safra's Damn, which is a square basin with sides of around 70 metres for the collection of water, attributed to the ancient Semitic colonization. The lower southern side is blocked by a wall made of square stone blocks, with four protruding blocks serving as a staircase. On the eastern side there are the remains of a building which is 20 by 22 metres (perhaps a sanctuary), while on the north side there is another oval basin, of 55 by 25 metres, closed by an embankment.[9] Moving north, there are various ruins, and among those are three buildings. The first is a rectangular building with three pillars, with two of those still visible. The second building is named the *Temple of Mariam Wakiro*, which was most likely a church with a rectangular base of 14 by 25 metres, with three naves separated by two lines of six pillars. Around 100m further south is a pillar with its capital, and the rest of a third rectangular building. Immediately to the east of the clearing, the land plunges into a ravine, in which there are various tombs, containing rock paintings depicting camels and cows.[9] To the north-east of the valley, there are the ruins of a rectangular building (9.3 by 12 metres) with four pillars, one of which has fallen, surrounded by a courtyard.[9] A little further north is another rectangular building with six pillars, known as *Tomb of the Egyptian* or *Meqabir Ghibsi*, a large Christian or Ottoman tomb.[10] ## See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to [Qohaito](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Qohaito). - [Adulis](/source/Adulis) - [Keskese](/source/Keskese) - [Matara](/source/Matara%2C_Eritrea) - [Nakfa](/source/Nakfa%2C_Eritrea) - [Sembel](/source/Sembel) - [Zula](/source/Zula) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Qohaito | Adi Keih, Eritrea Attractions"](https://www.lonelyplanet.com/eritrea/adi-keih/attractions/qohaito/a/poi-sig/1021900/1341688). Retrieved 20 June 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Qohaito | Archiqoo"](https://archiqoo.com/locations/qohaito.php). Retrieved 20 June 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Qoahito Cultural Landscape - UNESCO World Heritage Centre"](https://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5600/). *whc.unesco.org*. Retrieved 21 June 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_4-1) G.W.B. Huntingford, *Historical Geography of Ethiopia from the first century AD to 1704* (London: British Academy, 1989), pp. 38f 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:1_5-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:1_5-1) ["QOHAITO"](https://shabait.com/2012/09/07/qohaito/). *Eritrea Ministry Of Information*. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 21 June 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Phillipson, David (2012);Foundations of an African Civilisation: Aksum and the northern Horn, 1000 BC - AD 1300;[ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1847010414](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1847010414). 1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [C. R. Markham](/source/Clements_Markham), ["Geographical Results of the Abyssinian Expedition", *Journal of the Royal Geographical Society*](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1798567), **38** (1868), p. 23 1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Anfray, Francis (1 January 2012). ["Matara: the Archaeological Investigation of a City of Ancient Eritrea"](https://journals.openedition.org/palethnologie/5690#tocto2n1). *Palethnologie. Archéologie et sciences humaines*. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.4000/palethnologie.5690](https://doi.org/10.4000%2Fpalethnologie.5690). Retrieved 21 June 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:2_9-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:2_9-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-:2_9-2) *Guida dell'Africa Orientale*. Milano: Consociazione Turistica Italiana. 1938. p. 291-292. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Qohaito, Ancient City in Eritrea"](https://web.archive.org/web/20240529045326/https://www.visiteritrea.net/qohaito.html). *Visit Eritrea*. Archived from [the original](https://www.visiteritrea.net/qohaito.html) on 29 May 2024. Retrieved 21 June 2025. --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Qohaito](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qohaito) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qohaito?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.