Serae
Serae ሰራየ (or Seraye) is a former province of Eritrea. It has since been incorporated primarily into the Debub Region, though some western districts have become part of the Gash-Barka Region. It is believed that the name of the province is from the "dark forests" which once throve on its fertile ground.[1]
Today the region is home to twelve monasteries of the Eritrean Orthodox Church as well as a number of new factories in the town of Mendefera.
Districts
- Tsilima ጽልማ
- Debub ደቡብ
- GuH'tsi'A ጉሕጭዓ
- Mai Tsa'eda ማይጻዕዳ/ ማጫዕዳ
- Meraguz መራጉዝ
- QoHain ቆሓይን
- Gundet ጒንደት
- Aila ዓይላ
- Sef'a ሰፍኣ
- Harfe Gurotto ሃርፈጒረቶ
- Deqi Digna ደቂ ድግና
- Deqi Aites ደቂ ጣዒስ
- Zeban Ona ዝባን ዑና
- Dembelas ደምበላስ
- Zaide'kolom ዛይደ'ኮሎም
- Anagir ዓናግር
- Medri Wedi'Sebera ምድሪ ወዲ ሰበራ
- Kuno Redae ኩኖ ረዳእ
- Etan Zere ዕጣን ዘርአ
- Misyam
- Medri Felasi ምድሪ ፈላሲ
History
Serae was a region of the Kingdom of D'mt ዳእማት ወይ ዳዕማት, which would evolve in the Aksum ኣክሱም. During this Axumite period, the region became a successful trading region as it lay between the Red Sea port of Adulis ኣዱሊስ, Asmara ኣስመራ, and Axum ኣክሱም. Beja people, around AD 640, were obliged to migrate southwards from Egypt. They then attacked all the Axumite regions, Eritrean lowlands and the Red Sea and they extended their power through Eritrea. Only the highlands regions, Hamasien, Serae and Akele Guzai, were autonomous from the Beja power.[2]