Ancient site · City
Matara
Also known as Metera, Balaw Kalaw
An ancient town near Senafe in southern Eritrea, an important centre of the Dʿmt kingdom and later of Aksum, a few kilometres south of Senafe. Its most famous monument is the Hawulti, a pre-Aksumite or early Aksumite stone obelisk whose inscription is the oldest known example of the Geʽez script, still used today by Ethiopian and Eritrean churches.
The Hawulti was toppled and damaged by Ethiopian troops during the Eritrean–Ethiopian War and has since been repaired by the National Museum of Eritrea.
- Dates
- c. 8th century BCE – 7th century CE (approximate; pre-Aksumite to Aksumite)
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 14.67° N, 39.42° E
How we know
The town is known from excavation and from the Hawulti obelisk, which carries the oldest known inscription in the Geʽez script.
Nearby sites
- Yeha (Great Temple) temple c. 700 BCE
- Aksum (stelae fields) capital from c. 1st century BCE–1st century CE; great stelae c. 300–400 CE
- Great Dam of Marib 8th century BCE – c. 570s CE
- Meroë c. 800 BCE – 350 CE; royal pyramids c. 300 BCE – 350 CE
- Laas Geel c. 3500–2500 BCE (estimated)
- Kerma c. 2500–1500 BCE
Related
- Pre-Aksumite and Proto-Aksumite (Dʿmt) archaeological culture
- The world in 1000 BCE: Out of the Collapse chapter