 During antiquity Zeila was part of the Somali city-states that in engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting Somali merchants with Phoenicia, Ptolemaic Egypt, Greece, Parthian Persia, Saba, Nabataea, and the Roman Empire.Somali sailors used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the "beden" to transport their cargo.Zeila is an ancient city, and has been identified with what was referred to in classical antiquity as the town of "Avalites" (), situated in the erstwhile Barbara geographical region on the northern Somali coast.