Ancient pyramidical structures, mausoleums, ruined cities and stone walls, such as theWargaade Wall, are evidence of an old civilization that once thrived in the Somali peninsula.[40][41] This civilization enjoyed a trading relationship with Ancient Egypt and Mycenaean Greece since the second millennium BCE, supporting the hypothesis that Somalia or adjacent regions were the location of the ancient Land of Punt.[40][42] The Puntites tradedmyrrh, spices, gold, ebony, short-horned cattle, ivory and frankincense with the Egyptians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, Indians, Chinese and Romans through their commercial ports. An Egyptian expedition sent to Punt by the 18th dynasty Queen Hatshepsut is recorded on the temple reliefs at Deir el-Bahari, during the reign of the Puntite King Parahu and Queen Ati.[40]
The camel is believed to have been domesticated in the Horn somewhere between the 3rd and 2nd millennium BCE. From there it spread to Egypt and North Africa.[43] In the classical period, the city states of Mosylon, Opone, Malao, Avalites, Essina and Tabae developed a lucrative trade network connecting with merchants from Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea, and theRoman Empire. They used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the beden to transport their cargo.
The Laas Geel complex on the outskirts of Hargeisa in northwestern Somalia dates back around 5,000 years, and has rock art depicting both wild animals and decorated cows.[35] Other cave paintings are found in the northern Dhambalin region, which feature one of the earliest known depictions of a hunter on horseback. The rock art is in the distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style, dated to 1,000 to 3,000 BCE.[36][37] Additionally, between the towns of Las Khorey and El Ayo in northern Somalia lies Karinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each