What's new as of 16 February 2006:

(1) I added to my account of the incident at Quhaito on 4 July 1969 a view with translation of a photocopy of the receipt given to the leader of our tour group by the captain of the ELF platoon thanking us for giving them a pair of binoculars. I have retained this photocopy since the event; the location of the original is not known at this time. I also updated the text of the account, including identifications of two of the members of our party whom I formerly had treated anonymously.

(2) I made some changes to this page, as you probably have noticed, making it more like the equivalent page on my personal website. I plan to make substantial further changes to this website, and intend to add many more photographs of the archaeological site.

Copyright © 1969-2006, Skip Dahlgren. All photos, graphics and text copyright ©, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.

What's new as of 21 February 2005:

(1) The PDF file of an important and informative monograph by Rodolfo Fattovich entitled "The development of urbanism in the northern Horn of Africa in ancient and medieval times" somehow had become corrupted. I uploaded a fresh copy. The file is in PDF format. Click to get Acrobat Reader.

(2) The basic structure of this website depends on a frame format to make the navigation bar instantly available from any part of the site. While this is a useful technique, I have discovered some major difficulties with it, the most important of which is the fact that an external link to the site loads only the page containing the link, and not the navigation bar contained in the frame. Since I have been unable to find a method to force load the frame and then deliver the particular link, I am putting a Home button at appropriate places on all pages. This will allow the visitor to get to the home page and load the frame from any part of the site. For those whose browsers don't accommodate frames, there is a no-frames version as well on the home page. If anyone finds links that don't work properly, please contact me.

(3) For the new year and to differentiate the Home page from this page in other than background color, I added a new background to the Home page, with a Welcome message in English and Tigrinya.

(4) To more clearly link this site with my personal website, which includes extensive material relating to my Asmara years and my four seasons spent excavating at Matara, Yeha, and Aksum, I have added a link to the Navigation bar (left). I also corrected the link that I had included in the previous post. I inadverently had used an old, indirect address.

Copyright © 1969-2006, Skip Dahlgren. All photos, graphics and text copyright ©, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.

What's new as of 31 January 2005:

(1) The previous upgrade to this site primarily consisted of posting a link to my new personal website, which includes extensive new material relating to my five years spent living in Asmara, and my four seasons spent excavating at Matara, Yeha, and Aksum. I'm referring to it again now because of the extensive new matarial that I've added recently, primarily a growing section featuring photos, illustrations, and text about Yeha, much more than I have so far included in the Archaeological Evidence and Historical View sections.

(2) I've made some changes to this page, making navigation easier, and delineating the distinction between sections. There are links from every section to the previous and subsequent sections, allowing for movement between sections by mouseclick rather than scrolling

(3) I've also made a few additions to the website, in particular an additional photograph of the hawulti, taken during the rainy season (left); click for larger view of this photo and several others. Much more substantial further additions will be coming soon.

Copyright © 1969-2006, Skip Dahlgren. All photos, graphics and text copyright ©, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.

What's new as of 14 September 2004:

(1) I invite you to visit my new personal website. Not exactly a memoir, certainly less than an autobiography, this is an introduction to my life, to where I've lived and what I've done over the years. It is also an opportunity for me to display some of my photos that don't fit in the archaeological context for this site. In addtion, the site has links to my various other websites, which include the Central Arkansas Herpetological Society site and one dedicated to some of my favorite animals. Click here to see it, or you can get there from the Personal Links section of the Links page.

Copyright © 1969-2004, Skip Dahlgren. All photos, graphics and text copyright ©, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.

What's new as of 1 July 2004:

(1) First and probably most important is the new information from the Claims Commission concerning the damage to the hawulti during May 2000, while the site was occupied by Ethiopian military forces. This is found in the Current Status section. This link leads to the latest information on the results of the Border Commission of the United Nations, whose decision is still in the process of implementation on the ground.

(2) The Archaeological Evidence section has been significantly expanded, with more explasnatory text, more photographs, and a new set of video clips which provide a panoramic view of the entire excavation site. This video pan can be compared with the panoramic photos and aerial views of the same area in the Panoramic & Aerial Views section. Also added in the section on pre-Aksumite architectural remains are photos of the most famous structure in Yeha, the capital of the Sabaean-related kingdom of Da'amat. These photos provide visible evidence of the nature of the pre-Aksumite buildings which are almost completely hidden beneath the Aksumite remains at Matara.

(3) Other sections have been expanded and enriched as well, particularly the Historical View and the Panoramic & Aerial Views sections. Another map has been added to the Maps & Plans section, which dates from the period of Italian occupation and so provides a historical perspective as well as more place names for the region, since it is larger scale than the other road map. An interesting website has been added to the References section. Called AncientScripts.com, it provides a fascinating look at the history of alphabets, including both the South Arabian and Ethiopic writing systems. Following links from section to section will provide much additional information about a topic or related topics. If extensive exploration leads so far from an original topic that backtracking becomes impractical, use the navigation menu on the left side of the website to return to a starting point. Revisions and improvements have been made throughout the site. Errors, broken links, spelling problems, and the like have been fixed where found, an ongoing process, to be sure.

(4) At the time of posting this latest revision of the website, we approach the 35th anniversary of the day in 1969 when I and a number of friends experienced a new meaning for Independence Day at Quhaito, the ruined Aksumite city, which stands near the modern Eritrean city Adi Qaieh (sometimes spelled Adi Keyih - see map for location), at the edge of the escarpment overlooking the coastal lowlands and the ancient trade route to the port city, Adulis. My memoir of our encounter with members of the Eritrean Liberation Front, so unlike encounters with so-called "freedom fighters" today, is included in this website along with photos of some of the ruins and landscape of Quhaito.

Copyright © 1969-2004, Skip Dahlgren. All photos, graphics and text copyright ©, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.

Feedback of any kind is encouraged. Please address any comments, questions, corrections, or complaints about this site or its contents to the author and Webmaster, Ato Brukh (), a.k.a. Skip Dahlgren.

Copyright © 1969-2006, All photos, graphics and text copyright © 1969-2006, Skip Dahlgren, unless otherwise credited.