Adi Keyh

Province

Adi Keyh ( Tigrinya: ዓዲ ቀይሕ, also Addi Keyh, Adi Keyih, Qeyh Adi, Adi Caie, Addi Caieh others) is a city in the Debub region of Eritrea.

It is the center of the area Akkele Guzay and an important market town in the highlands of Eritrea. The inhabitants speak Tigrinya and Saho. Adi Keyh is at the end of the valley of Ruba Haddas, which connects the highlands of Akkele Guzay with the lowlands along the Red Sea.

History

In Adi Keyh and the surrounding area there are a number of archaeological sites, including cave paintings in Awalu Galba ( Bä ʿ atti ), Awalo, Iago and other places and old settlement sites with local architecture, cisterns, ceramics, stone tools, bronze artefacts and stone beads. These sites are located partly on the outskirts and are threatened by quarrying and the growth of industrial and residential areas. The site of the present Adi Keyh likely to have belonged to Qohaito and have been settled in voraksumitischer and Aksumite period.

In colonial times was Adi Keyh an administrative center and site of an Italian fort, a Catholic mission, a secondary school and farm equipment. During the War of Independence of Eritrea against Ethiopia it was in the 1970s and 1980s, a garrison town of the Ethiopian military, 1977 and 1990 were larger battles between Eritrean rebels and the army instead. As a result of the war, the area is heavily mined. During 2000, in the city of a medical facility with 99 beds.