Horn of Africa Himyarite Kingdom. Under Ezana (fl. 320–360), the kingdom of Aksum became the first major empire to adopt Christianity, and was named by Mani as one of the four great powers of his time, along with Persia, Rome and China. Northern Somalia was an important link in the Horn, connecting the region's commerce with the rest of the ancient world. Somali sailors and merchants were the main suppliers of frankincense, myrrh and spices, all of which were valuable luxuries to the Ancient Egyptians, Phoenicians, Mycenaeans, Babylonians and Romans. The Romans consequently began to refer to the region as "Regio Aromatica". In
German horn players since about 1930 because of the increasing ubiquity of the German horn. Since that time, the true French horn's use has been confined mainly to France, and even in that country the German horn was already gaining favour with some French players as early as 1938. In the late seventeenth century, French makers became preeminent in the manufacture of hunting horns, and were credited with the creation of the now-familiar, circular "hoop" shape of the instrument. As a result, even in England these instruments were often referred to by their French names, "trompe de chasse" or "cor de chasse"