Yeha, Ethiopia. About the Settlement of Yeha. The Work of the Years 2013 to 2020

Abstract

Within the Ethiopian-German project in Yeha and its surroundings, the research fo­cused not only on the monumental buildings but also on the settlement in terms of its dimension, shape and chronological phases. Extensive site surveys, geophysical prospections and selected sondages resulted in an approximate extension of the ancient settlement of about 650 × 450 m. For the early Aksumite period (1st–4th cen­tury CE), an agriculturally organised residential area could be identified in the south of the present village, which probably was based on an older habitation from the 1st millennium BCE. In late Aksumite times (6th–10th century CE), the settlement was then concentrated in the central area around the Ethio-Sabaean temple, which had been converted into a church.