Beyond Akroterion Aromaton (Horn of Africa), from Tabai and Opone down to Rhapta, the entire land is called Azania; the appellation encompasses today’s eastern coast of Somalia, as well as the coast of Kenya and Tanzania. Azania is the oldest name used collectively for this entire area (approx. 3000 km long!), and the only collective appellation throughout history. Of course, one may refer to the Ancient Egyptian name ‘Punt’, target-area of the homonymous pharaonic expedition undertaken by Nehesi, the admiral to Pharaoh Hatshepsut. However, Punt served to designate a rather small kingdom in the Horn of Africa region; we cannot conclude accurately about the extent, the size and the power of the 2nd millennium BCE Kingdom of Punt, on the basis of the hieroglyphic text of the Deir al Bahari mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (Thebes – West, Luqsor) and of other earlier and later mentions of this toponymic in Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic texts. However, the name Punt presents definite similarities to the later Ancient Greek toponymic Opone, since –t and –e are respectively Egyptian and Greek endings of feminine names and/or toponymics.

What makes a striking impression is the explicit reference of the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean (Red) Sea to the fact that the entire vast area of Azania, according to an ancient law, belonged to the (Yemenite) ruler (‘tyrannos’) of Mofar, and that the earliest state formation that was developed here was due to Yemenites of the Mofar and Muza region. Because of this, the texts states the rights accorded to the merchants of Muza by the Yemenite king (‘basileus’). More than just political control and commercial presence, the text (precisely in paragraph 16) testifies to high level Yemenite colonial practices:

"Furthermore, they (Yemenites from Muza and Mofar) send here (Azania, East Africa coast) merchant fleet manned by Yemenite captains and sailors, who thanks to their mixed marriages with indigenous women, as well as to their familiarization with the entire area, know very well the local dialect and the traditions".

In addition, the text offers valuable information about the trade exchanged between Yemen and its African colony, Azania. Yemenites were exporting military artifacts and other crafts to the African coast of Azania, and they were also sending wheat and wine as gifts to the local tribal leaders (paragraph 17) in a diplomatic effort to keep their colonial rule stabilized and unchallenged.
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From:
Yemen’s Past and Perspectives are in Africa, not a fictitious 'Arab' world (2nd Part)
By Prof. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
First published in Buzzle on 4th August 2005
www.buzzle.com/editorials/8-4-2005-74197.asp
Republished: http://phoenicia.org/imgs/YemenAfrica...

Leading article by the distinguished Professor Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis which explains the troublesome background that led to the miserable, evil and inhuman situation in which Yemen has been plung