Everything about Ras Hafun totally explained
Hafun (
Somali:
Xaafuun) is a 40 km long low-lying peninsula in the
Bari region of northern
Somalia. The
promontory juts out into the
Indian Ocean, where it's known as
Cape Hafun (
Ras Hafun or
Raas Xaafuun) and is the easternmost point on the
African continent.
The promontory is joined to the mainland at the town of
Foar by a
sand spit 20 km long, 1-3 km in width and roughly 5 m above sea level. The fishing town of Hafun is located 2 km east of the sand spit and has a population of about 5000.
Hafun in the Ancient World (Opone)
Ras Hafun is believed to be the location of the ancient trade center of
Opone. Opone was mentioned by an anonymous merchant in the 1st century
CE in his
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.
Ancient Egyptian,
Roman and
Persian Gulf pottery has been recovered from the site by an
archaeological team from the
University of Michigan. Opone is in the thirteenth entry of the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which in part states:
And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current also draws you, there's another market-town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced, (the arebo and moto), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; and a great quantity of tortoiseshell, better than that found elsewhere.
In ancient times, Opone operated as a port of call for merchants from
Phoenicia,
Egypt,
Greece,
Persia,
Yemen,
Nabataea,
Azania, the
Roman Empire and elsewhere, as it possessed a strategic location along the coastal route from Azania to the
Red Sea. Merchants from as far afield as
Indonesia and
Malaysia passed through Opone, trading spices, silks and other goods, before departing south for
Azania or north to
Yemen or
Egypt on the
trade routes that spanned the length of the
Indian Ocean's rim. As early as 50 AD it was well known as a center for the cinnamon trade, along with the trading of
cloves and other
spices,
ivory, exotic animal skins and
incense.
Modern Hafun
Hafun today has a population of about 2,500 fisherfolk. On
26 December 2004, Hafun was struck by a
tsunami caused by the
2004 Indian Ocean earthquake. It was the
worst affected area of Africa and the only location west of the Indian subcontinent where the waves pulled away from the shore before rushing in. The low-lying western part of the town (approximately 2m above sea level) was flooded by about 2m; 812 houses were destroyed and another 400 reported damaged. 19 bodies were recovered and another 160 inhabitants were reported missing. Parts of the sand spit connecting Hafun to the Somali mainland were flooded, but the spit wasn't overtopped by the waves.
Further Information
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