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Ras Hafun (, , ), also known as Cape Hafun, is a promontory in the northeastern Bari region of the Puntland state in Somalia.
In the 1970s, a Somali-British archaeological expedition in Hafun and other parts of northern Somalia, led by Neville Chittick, recovered numerous examples of historical artefacts and structures, including ancient coins, Roman Empire pottery, drystone buildings, , , walled enclosures, and Monument. Many of the finds were of pre- origin and associated with city-states and trading centers described in ancient documents. The Damo site, in particular, was suggested by Chittick to correspond with the Periplus' "Aromata". Some of the smaller artefacts that the company found were subsequently deposited for preservation at the British Museum.
A later expedition in Hafun, led by an archaeological team with the University of Michigan, excavated , Roman and Persian Gulf pottery. In the 1980s, the British Institute in Eastern Africa also recovered pre-Islamic Parthian Empire-Sassanid Empire ceramics from the peninsula, which were dated to the first century BCE and the second through fifth centuries CE.Paul J. J. Sinclair, "Archaeology in Eastern Africa: An Overview of Current Chronological Issues", Journal of African History , 32 (1991), p. 181
Archaeological excavations at the western Hafun site have yielded ceramics from ancient kingdoms in the Nile Valley, Near East, Persia and Mesopotamia, as well as some sherds of possible derivation from the Indian subcontinent. Among this ware is a late Ptolemaic Egypt lamp fragment, Parthian Empire glazed sherds, and Hellenistic lagynos wares. Smith and Wright have dated the finds to sometime between the 1st century BCE and the early first century CE. Additionally, some ceramics affiliated with green glazed ware from Sohar on the littoral have also been found in the area. These pieces have been dated to between the 1st century BC and the 5th century BCE.
Hafun is also home to an ancient necropolis. Similar historical structured areas exist in various other parts of the country.
In December 2004, Hafun was struck by a tsunami caused by the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was the most affected area on the continent, and the only location west of the Indian subcontinent where the waves pulled away from the shore before rushing in.
In November 2020, Hafun was struck directly by Cyclone Gati as a Category 2 equivalent cyclone or a Very Severe Cyclonic Storm in Indian Ocean scale with windspeeds of 165 kmph and 140 kmph. This remains the strongest cyclone to hit the Horn of Africa and the nation of Somalia since reliable records began.
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