Description

El Ayo is one of a series of ancient settlements in Somaliland. About one mile from the town are the ruins of an old city, which are held to have belonged to an earlier civilization. Between El Ayo and Las Khorey lies Karinhegane, the site of numerous cave paintings of real and mythical animals. Each painting has an inscription below it, which collectively have been estimated to be around 2,500 years old. Karinhegane’s rock art is in the same distinctive Ethiopian-Arabian style as the Laas Geel cave paintings.

Additionally, a number of small- to medium-sized cairns are especially concentrated on the plain that lies between the coast adjacent to El Ayo and an inland ridge around 2 km in length.

El Ayo was also an early local hub of Islam, with the religion spreading through maritime enterprise with and immigration from the Middle East.

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