Crater

Crater is situated upon the coast of the sheikdom of Sheba, within the Imamate of Zaida, in the southwestern corner of the Arabian Peninsula. Located on the Gulf of Berbera, it's about 100 mi. east of the Strait of Bab el Mandeb. Though a large city, it's importance as a market^9R centre dwarfs the size of its population, making this one of the wealthiest trading cities in the game world. As such, the port serves as a financial banking centre as well as a commercial hub.

The Romans occupied the port of Crater as early as the 1st century BC. Its natural defenses, harbour facilities and strategic location served to make the port an important commercial centre in the medieval Arab trade between the India and Christian Europe. With the discovery of the sea route around Africa in 1498, Crater began to lose its significance. Affonso de Albuquerque, the Portuguese conqueror, laid siege to Crater unsuccessfully in 1513, but in 1538 it fell to the Turks, who held the area until 1630. Thereupon it came under the control of the Imams of Zaida, whose sovereignty continues to the present day.

The port is sheltered by a barren, rocky peninsula of volcanic origin that projects into the Gulf of Berbera. This mass extends about 5 mi. from east to west and 3 mi. from north to south, and is joined to the mainland by a flat, sandy isthmus, which is ¾ mi. wide at the narrowest point. Jebel Shamsan, the high peak on the peninsula, rises 1,725 ft. The climate is hot and dry, ranging from pleasant in the winter to sweltering in the summer. Rainfall averages only 3 in. annually; seasonal sandstorms occur.

Trade

Much of Crater's surrounding land is intensively irrigated using underground springs; in addition, Sheba's oases support considerably rich croplands, so that this desert region is an exporter of foodstuffs.

Goods produced in and around Crater include salt^2R, foodstuffs, cloth^2R, cotton, skins, hides, charcoal, gum mastic, incense, dyestuffs, indigo, barley^2R, cereals, maize, millet^2R, wheat^2R, coffee, sesame seed, alfalfa, tobacco^2R, apricots, bananas, dates, papayas, peaches, livestock, honey and fish. Crater serves as the single market centre for the sheikdom of Sheba. Population (c.1650), 28,750.