The 'old town' of Suakin was an island city in the harbour of Suakin, built of coral, and it is now abandoned crumbling ruins. Old Suakin was a very grand pretentious city in its day, with impressive town gates and many minarets mosques and opulent palaces. Suakin was the main port of the Sudan, before Port Sudan superseded it.

Suakin is firts mentioned in early 10th century by the South Arabian scholar al-Hamdani, who describes the port as an ancient location. Sawakin, the town's name in Arabic literally means 'dwellers' or 'stillness', and suggests the haunting of jinn. According to one legend Suakin serves as a prison to which the prophet Sulayman ibn Daud - known in the Old Testament as King Solomon - banished demons, and the town's name derives from sawajinn, a fanciful plural of the Arabic sinj or prison.

Whatever the origin, it is certain that Suakin is truly a mina min zaman, a port of old, whose beginnings lie far back in time. Its sheltered harbour, connected to the Red Sea by a long, narrow channel, was the finest anchorage on the African Red Sea coast between present day Quseir in Egypt and Massawa in Eritrea, both ancient moorings themselves.

December 10 2005

Ancient Market at Suakin

At dawn the caravanserai snaked its way into the old market town of Suakin. Overhead there's a high whistling cry, the familiar call of whistling kites.

As the sun rises, in the lapping of the wavelets at the old sea wall, one can almost hear the voices of Suakin's past: the Egyptian of Pharoah's officers, the classical Greek of Ptolemy's seafarers, the Arabic and Hindi of the Red Sea merchants, the tribal tongues of West African pilgrims bound for Makka, the Portuguese of European explorers, the To Bedawie of Osman Digna's dervishes and the English of Kitchener's embattled soldiers.

These are only some of the languages that once rose above the sounds of loading and unloading at the wharves of this island town. Today few voices mention this remote Sea port, whose name, Suakin, nonetheless hints at the mystery of the past.

Take the time to set up a stall in the old market town. This is the perfect place to acquire some unique artefacts for Christmas. Bartering and trading on the Caravanserai blogger is highly recommended.

For more market ideas make sure to check out the Lemurian Archipelago Sunday Market Place. It has long been a favourite destination for Silk Road Travellers.