Serae ሰራየ is a former province of Eritrea which had an estimated population of 515,000 in 1990 and an area of. The province is home to three of the Eritrean ethnic groups namely the Tigrinyas, Tigre, and Saho. It has since been incorporated primarily into the Debub Region, though some western districts have become part of the Gash-Barka Region. It is believed that the name of the province is from the "dark forests" which once thrived on its fertile ground. Today the region is home to twelve monasteries of the Eritrean Orthodox Church as well as a number of new factories in the town of Mendefera.
Districts
History
Serae/ Seraye was a region of the Kingdom of D'mt ዳእማት ወይ ዳዕማት, which would evolve in the Aksum ኣክሱም and later on the center of kingdom of Medri Bahri centered in Debarwa with its leadersBahri Negasi. Seraye was bound by regions of Akeleguzay in the east, Hamassien in the North, Tigray proper in the south and Gashin Setitn in the west During this Axumite period, the region became a successful trading region as it lay between the Red Sea port of Adulis ኣዱሊስ, Asmara ኣስመራ, and Axum ኣክሱም. Bahri Negasi existed until the 1600s. The region had its own written native administration codes that was used from the beginning of the 1400AD, which was named as the law of Adkeme-Miligae ሕጊ ኣድከመ ምልጋእ. The book existed until the come of the anti Christian jihadist Ahmad Gragn ኣሕመድ ግራይ in the 1600s, burning churches and killing the believers and progressing northwards from present-day eastern Ethiopia or around Somalia, and the book was lost/burnt at that time. The people of Serae/ Seraye were administered without the book verbally until the come of the Italians in the end of the 19th century. In 1938 again the book of native law code was written of elderly and knowledgeable people from 7 villages representing the whole awraja Seraye except the Logo Tchiwa ሎጎ ጭዋ which had its own codes in addition to the Adkeme Miligae. This Law had more liberal customs and low restrictions on women's rights for land ownership than any other laws in the country. Most of Seraye and Akeleguzay are together now inside the Southern region.
