Serae

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Seraye is the name of 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 from the "dark forests" which once thrived 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.

[edit] History

During the period of Aksum, the region became a successful trading region as it lay between Asmara and Axum. Members of the House of Ewostatewos founded the monastery of Debre Mariam in Seraye, which grew into an important center of learning.^[2] By 1400's the region became host to the capital of Mereb Mellash, Debarwa.^[1] "There was no administration that connected Hamasin and Serai to the centre of the Ethiopian Kingdom. Indeed, there was little sense in which the Bahr Negash could be said to "control" the area.^[3]

During the Italian colonial period, many plantations were established, the fertile ground attracting European colonizers.

[edit] References

1. ^ ^{a b} Killion, Tom (1998). Historical Dictionary of Eritrea. The Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0810834375. 
2. ^ Richard Pankhurst, The Ethiopian Borderlands (Lawrenceville: Red Sea Press, 1997), p. 37
3. ^ (1984) "Proceedings of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal of the International League for the Rights and Liberation of Peoples". Session on Eritrea, Rome, Italy: Research and Information Centre on Eritrea.