In antiquity, the ancestors of the Somali people were an important link in the Horn of Africa connecting the region's commerce with the rest of the ancient world.

Somali sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices, items which were considered valuable luxuries by the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans and Babylonians.

Ruins of tumuli and pyramid structures are today found in the vicinity of the city, which was part of the classical era Somali city-state under the regional name Barbario.

Ancient Greek travelers including the likes of Strabo and Cosmas Indicopleustes made visits to the Somali peninsula between the first and fifth century CE.

The Romans and Greeks believed the source of cinnamon to have been the Somali peninsula, but in reality, the highly valued product was brought to Somalia by way of Indian ships.

[8] The Monumentum Adulitanum a 4th-century monumental inscription by a King of Axum perhaps named Sembrouthes recording his various victories in war, copied in the 6th century by Cosmas Indicopleustes in his Christian Topography.

The vast majority of the settlements were found inshore, each port city had its own unmistakable character some were unwelcoming to the Romans others welcoming and often depended on the conditions and perspectives of the locals.

The boat was used mainly because of its speed [21] The ports of Mosylon, Mundus, Opone, Malao, Avalites And Sarapion, were trading in items such as incenses, frankincense, myrrh and cassia.

The cities would engage in a lucrative trade network connecting Somali merchants with Phoenicia, Tabae, Ptolemic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea and the Roman Empire.