|
Ancient
Essina |
|
| Location | Somalia |
| City-state existed: | 1st century AD |
|
Essina () was an ancient Marketplace located on the southeastern coast of present-day Somalia in the Horn of Africa.[Ptolemy's Topography of Eastern Equatorial Africa, by Henry Schlichter Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society and Monthly Record of Geography © 1891 - pg 443]
History
Having risen to prominence in the 2nd century CE, Essina was mentioned in
Ptolemy's
Geographia. Several modern scholars have positioned the ancient harbour in the vicinity of the early medieval cities of
Merca and
Barawa in modern-day southern
Somalia based on Ptolemy's work. Alternatively, it has been suggested that Essina was buried somewhere along the
Benadir coast. However, due to a general lack of excavations in the area, the old city's exact geographical location is unknown.
See also
