Le campagne del Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana ad Adulis (Eritrea). Scavi 2018-2019

In this paper we present the preliminary results of the archaeological campaigns held in Adulis (present day Eritrea) by the Pontificio Istituto di Archeologia Cristiana in 2018 and 2019. Adulis, on the Red Sea shore, was the main port of the Aksumite Kingdom, extended throughout the Horn of Africa from the 1st until the 7th centuries AD. Relying on written and epigraphic sources, early Christianity was rooted already since the half of the 4th century, with a first bishop in Adulis in the half of the 5th. Our archaeological excavations have led to the identification of the biggest church of the town, to be dated to 6th century. Its monumentality, structure and prestige lead us to interpret it as the ecclesia episcopalis of Adulis, that underwent through many different building phases, including also an Islamic reoccupation after its abandonment as a church.