- Opone was a port on the coastline of Somalia south of the Horn of Africa.
Description
- It was mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as being on the Trade Route from Egypt to India and Azania.
- By c.50 CE it was the centre of the Cinnamon trade, and Goods from China and the Indian Ocean were exchanged there.
- Opone may also have been the Port where Queen Hatshepsut (c.1473-1458 BCE) sent a fleet of 5 ships to the Land of Punt, which returned with Myrrh and Frankincense.
The Archeological Site
- The archeological site of Opone was found near the modern day port of Hafun in Somalia.
- It was excavated by the British Archeologist Neville Chittick, on behalf of the Somali Government, between October to December in 1975 CE.
Hafun, Somalia