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that lived on the coast of Yemen and on
the coast of Ethiopia and Eretria were
almost identical. The links between
Ethiopia Kush and Arabia must be
considered in the context of any
discourse on Arab people, or more
precisely stated the Black Africans of
Arabia.

couple of day’s journey on a sea raft or
small canoe. Communication and travel
have consequently been possible since
pre-historic times.
It will thus not be a surprising claim to
the well informed that East African
people (being the first aboriginals of the
earth) have long settled in Arabia as the
original inhabitants. For instance,
besides the Caspian culture, African
people also founded the so-called AfroArabian Tihama cultural complex in the
mid-2nd millennium.
In addition to the coastal site of Adulis
in Eritrea and sites farther inland in
Eritrea, Ethiopia, and Sudan, vestiges of
the Tihama cultural complex are
represented on the Saudi coastal plains
and the western and southern coasts of
Yemen. (Fattovich 1997).

Ethiopia-Kush
As stated in the preceding paragraph,
the key to understanding the origin and
culture of the Arabs is through African
Kushitic Ethiopia.
Contacts between eastern Africa and
Arabia have existed since the time
immemorial. Archaeological evidence
has demonstrated that Africans of the
Caspian culture probably moved across
the Strait of Bab El Mandel and
implanted the same Caspian culture in
Arabia on the other side of the strait.
See Leaky, L.S.B., Stone Age Africa pp
38-78.
The Strait of Bab-El-Mandel, which
separates Africa from Arabia, is quite
narrow at some points averaging a

Moreover, African settlements were
further stimulated by the growth of the
Egyptian state from the 4th millennium
onward, with more extensive migration
of African population in Arabia around
the 3rd and 2nd millennia B.C. Semitic
speaking settlers from Ethiopia - Kush
settled in Arabia built complex cultures
and civilizations of which the later
Assyrians, Greeks, Romans and Jews
would document for coming
generations. See Josephus Book 1.
Long before Yemen had become a
politically articulated entity, the
Ethiopian-Axumites had built many
powerful states along the coast of Red
Sea and the hilly countries of Ethiopia
such as ancient Adulis, Coloe, Yeha
Tokanda, and the so called Ethio-Sabean
state of Daamat (circa 800-600 B.C.) etc.