An Indian Terracotta Figurine from the Eritrean Port of Adulis

Adulis, situated on the present Eritrean coast, was the most important trading port of the Northern Horn of Africa from the latest centuries BCE to the early 7th century CE, and it was a trading hub connecting peoples from the Mediterranean and from the western Indian Ocean. The recent finding at the site of a ceramic figurine ascribed to the Indian Empire of Gupta, is one of the earliest evidence of long distance maritime trade contacts among India and the Northern Horn of Africa. This paper discusses the identification and significance of this important find.