A Study on the Trading Routes Connecting the Red Sea and Ethiopia as Serial Heritages

The Red Sea Area in north-east Africa, characterized by its specific geographical condition represented by deserts and highlands, has been the stage of interrelation among different political powers and cultural groups. The presence of imperial Ethiopia was decisive in the highland area while other powers such as Egypt and Turkey tried to dominate coastal area by way of navigation. Port cities like Suakin, Massawa, Zeila were thus established under the authority of Ottoman Empire or Egyptian rulers. These ports were connected to inland cities by caravan route. Inland post cities like Sennar, Adowa, and Harar flourished as relaying post and market. This paper aims at the analysis and the re-evaluation of the onceexisted network of such caravan routes by clarifying the urban formation of port and post cities, the identification of the routes, their transformation in the modern period and resulting decaying process. The rapid changes of transportation system in the 20^ century have made them out of fashion. Some of these cities have been menaced by severe deterioration, both in natural and social senses