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The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Periplus Maris Erythraei) is a Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 periplus
Periplus

Periplus is the Latinization of an ancient Greek word, pe??p???? , literally "a sailing-around." Both segments, peri- and -plous, were independently Productivity : the ancient Greek speaker understood the word in its literal sense; however, it developed a few specialized meanings, one of which became a standard term in the ancient...
, describing navigation and trading opportunities
Roman commerce

Roman trade was the engine that drove the economy of the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. Fashions and trends in historiography and in popular culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin and the exploits of the Roman legions....
 from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice
Berenice (port)

Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica , now known as Medinet-el Haras, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Red Sea....
 along the coast of the Red Sea
Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
, and others along Northeast Africa
Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden....
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. The text has been ascribed to different dates between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, but a mid-1st century date is now the most commonly accepted. Although the author is unknown, it is clearly a firsthand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
.

Although Erythraean Sea (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ?????? T??assa) literally means "Red Sea", to the Greeks it included the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
.

work consists of 66 chapters, most of them about the length of a long paragraph in English.






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The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (Periplus Maris Erythraei) is a Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 periplus
Periplus

Periplus is the Latinization of an ancient Greek word, pe??p???? , literally "a sailing-around." Both segments, peri- and -plous, were independently Productivity : the ancient Greek speaker understood the word in its literal sense; however, it developed a few specialized meanings, one of which became a standard term in the ancient...
, describing navigation and trading opportunities
Roman commerce

Roman trade was the engine that drove the economy of the late Roman Republic and the early Roman Empire. Fashions and trends in historiography and in popular culture have tended to neglect the economic basis of the empire in favor of the lingua franca of Latin and the exploits of the Roman legions....
 from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice
Berenice (port)

Berenice or Berenice Troglodytica , now known as Medinet-el Haras, is an ancient seaport of Egypt on the west coast of the Red Sea....
 along the coast of the Red Sea
Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
, and others along Northeast Africa
Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts for hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea, and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden....
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. The text has been ascribed to different dates between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, but a mid-1st century date is now the most commonly accepted. Although the author is unknown, it is clearly a firsthand description by someone familiar with the area and is nearly unique in providing accurate insights into what the ancient world knew about the lands around the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
.

Although Erythraean Sea (Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
: ?????? T??assa) literally means "Red Sea", to the Greeks it included the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
.

Overview

The work consists of 66 chapters, most of them about the length of a long paragraph in English. For instance, the short Chapter 9 reads in its entirety:
"From Malao (Berbera
Berbera

Berbera is a city in northwestern Somalia. It was for centuries the capital of the Somaliland region and also the colonial Capital of British Somaliland from 1870 to 1941 when it was moved to Hargeisa....
) it is two courses to the mart of Moundou, where ships anchor more safely by an island lying very close to the land. The imports to this are as aforesaid [Chapter 8 mentions iron, gold, silver, drinking cups, etc.], and from it likewise are exported the same goods [Chapter 8 mentions myrrh, douaka, makeir, and slaves.], and fragrant gum called mokrotou. The inhabitants who trade here are more peaceful."


In many cases, the description of places is sufficiently accurate to identify their present locations; for others, there is considerable debate. For instance, a "Rhapta
Rhapta

Rhapta was a marketplace on the coast of eastern Africa, which first rose to prominence in the First century. Its location has not yet been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites....
" is mentioned as the farthest market down the African coast of "Azania
Azania

Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Roman Empire times -- and perhaps earlier -- the name referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast south of the Horn of Africa, extending south perhaps as far as modern Tanzania....
", but there at least five locations matching the description, ranging from Tanga
Tanga, Tanzania

Tanga is both the name of the most northerly seaport city of Tanzania, and the surrounding Tanga Region. It is the Regional Headquarters of the region....
 south to the Rufiji River
Rufiji River

The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero River and Luwegu River....
 delta. The description of the Indian coast mentions the Ganges River
Ganges River

The 'Ganges' is one of the major rivers of the Indian subcontinent, flowing east through the Gangetic Plain of northern India into Bangladesh....
 clearly, yet after that is somewhat garbled, describing China as a "great inland city Thina" that is a source of raw silk
Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from Pupa#Cocoons made by the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity ....
.

Another interesting feature of the Periplus is that some of the words describing trade goods are seen nowhere else in ancient literature, and so we can only guess as to what they might mean. The Periplus also describes how Hippalus
Hippalus

Hippalus was a Greeks navigator and merchant who probably lived in the 1st century Common Era. He is sometimes conjectured to have been the captain of the Greek explorer Eudoxus of Cyzicus' ship....
 first discovered the direct route from the Red Sea to southern India.

The text derives from a Byzantine 10th-century manuscript in minuscule hand, contained in the collections of the University Library of Heidelberg (CPG 398: 40v-54v), and a copy of it dating from the 14th or 15th century in the British Museum (B.M. Add 19391 9r-12r). In the 10th-century manuscript, the text is attributed to Arrian
Arrian

File:Flavius_Arrianus.jpgLucius Flavius Arrianus 'Xenophon , known in English as Arrian , and Arrian of Nicomedia, was a Ancient Rome historian , a public servant, a military commander and a philosopher of the Roman and Byzantine Greece period....
, probably for no deeper reason than that the manuscript was adjacent to the Periplus Pontus Euxini written by him. The Periplus was first published in a modern edition by Sigismund Gelenius in 1553.

Date/Authorship

One historical analysis, published by Schoff in 1912, narrowed the date of the text to 60 A. D. Though narrowing the date down, from 1912, to a single year roughly 2000 years earlier might be considered remarkable by modern standards, a date of 60 A. D. nevertheless remains in perfect agreement with present day estimates of sometime during the middle of the first century. Schoff additionally provides an historical analysis as to the text's original authorship and arrives at the conclusion that the author must have been a "Greek
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
 in Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, a Roman subject," and by Schoff's calculations this would be during the time of Tiberius Claudius Balbilus
Tiberius Claudius Balbilus

Tiberius Claudius Balbillus or Balbilus, also known as ?Balbillus the Wise?, was an Egyptian Greeks astrologer and a learned scholar....
 (who coincidentally also was an Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
ian Greek
Greeks

The Greeks , also known as Hellenes, are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighbouring regions, who can also be found in Greek diaspora communities around the world....
).

Schoff continues by noting that the author could not have been "a highly educated man" as "is evident from his frequent confusion of Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 and Latin
Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
 words and his clumsy and sometimes ungrammatical constructions." Because of "the absence of any account of the journey up the Nile
Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
 and across the desert
Wadi Hammamat

is a wadi in Egypt's Eastern Desert, about halfway between Qusier and Qena. It was a major mining region and trade route east from the Nile Valley in ancient times, and three thousand years of rock carvings and graffiti make it a major scientific and tourist site today....
 from Coptos," Schoff prefers to pinpoint the author's residence to "Berenice rather than Alexandria
Alexandria

Alexandria , with a population of 4.1 million, is the second-largest city in Egypt, and is the country's largest seaport, serving about 80% of Egypt's imports and exports....
." Though Schoff is unclear about which "Berenice" he is referring to and several possibilities exist for "Berenice"
Berenice (disambiguation)

Berenice is a feminine name.Berenice may also refer to:...
, it is actually Berenice Troglodytica which is documented, discussed at length and vividly described within the periplus text itself.

One peculiarity noted by Schoff while translating from the original Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 version is that "the text is so vague and uncertain that [the author] seems rather to be quoting from someone else, unless indeed much of this part of the work has been lost in copying."

Opone (Somalia)

Ras Hafun in northern Somalia
Somalia

Somalia , officially the Republic of Somalia and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic, is a country located in the Horn of Africa....
 is believed to be the location of the ancient trade center of Opone. Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian, Roman
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 and Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf

The Persian Gulf, in the Southwest Asian region, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is sometimes Persian Gulf naming dispute referred to as the Arabian Gulf by certain Arab countries or simply The Gulf, although nei...
 pottery has been recovered from the site by an archaeological
Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
 team from the University of Michigan
University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan is a public university research university located in the state of Michigan. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan, which also includes two regional campuses in University of Michigan-Flint and University of Michigan-Dearborn....
. Opone is in the thirteenth entry of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which in part states:

In ancient times, Opone operated as a port of call for merchants from Phoenicia
Phoenicia

Phoenicia was an ancient civilization centered in the north of ancient Canaan, with its heartland along the coastal regions of modern day Lebanon, extending to parts of Israel, Syria and the Palestinian territories....
, Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, Greece
Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , is a country in southeastern Europe, situated on the southern end of the Balkans. It has borders with Albania, Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to the north, and Turkey to the east....
, Persia, Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
, Nabataea, Azania
Azania

Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Roman Empire times -- and perhaps earlier -- the name referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast south of the Horn of Africa, extending south perhaps as far as modern Tanzania....
, the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
 and elsewhere, as it possessed a strategic location along the coastal route from Azania to the Red Sea
Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
. Merchants from as far afield as Indonesia
Indonesia

The Republic of Indonesia , is a transcontinental country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Comprising Islands of Indonesia, it is the world's largest Archipelago state....
 and Malaysia
Malaysia

Malaysia is a federation that consists of States of Malaysia in Southeast Asia with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government....
 passed through Opone, trading spices, silks and other goods, before departing south for Azania
Azania

Azania is the name that has been applied to various parts of sub-Saharan Africa. In Roman Empire times -- and perhaps earlier -- the name referred to a portion of the Southeast African coast south of the Horn of Africa, extending south perhaps as far as modern Tanzania....
 or north to Yemen
Yemen

Yemen , officially the Republic of Yemen is an Arab country located on the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia. Yemen has an estimated population of more than 23 million people and is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the North, the Red Sea to the West, the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Aden to the South, and Oman to the east....
 or Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 on the trade route
Trade route

A trade route is a Logistics identified as a series of pathways and stoppages used for the commercial transport of cargo. Allowing Good s to reach distant markets, a single trade route contains long distance Arterial road which may further be connected to several smaller networks of commercial and non commercial transportation....
s that spanned the length of the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering about 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by Asia ; on the west by Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and Australia; and on the south by the Southern Ocean ....
's rim. As early as 50 AD, Opone was well-known as a center for the cinnamon trade, along with the trading of clove
Clove

Cloves are the aromatic dried flower buds of a tree in the family Myrtaceae. Cloves are native to Indonesia and used as a spice in cuisine all over the world....
s and other spice
Spice

A spice is a dried seed, fruit, root, bark, leaf, or vegetable used in nutritionally insignificant quantities as a food additive for the purpose of flavor, color, or as a preservative that kills harmful bacteria or prevents their growth....
s, ivory
Ivory

File:Ivory decoration.jpgIvory is formed from dentine and constitutes the bulk of the teeth and tusks of animals such as the elephant, hippopotamus, walrus, mammoth and narwhal....
, exotic animal skins and incense
Incense

Incense is composed of aromatic Biotic material materials. It releases fragrant smoke when burned. The term incense refers to the substance itself, rather than to the odor that it produces....
.

Malao (Somalia)


The ancient port city of Malao, situated in present-day Berbera
Berbera

Berbera is a city in northwestern Somalia. It was for centuries the capital of the Somaliland region and also the colonial Capital of British Somaliland from 1870 to 1941 when it was moved to Hargeisa....
 in northwestern Somalia, is also mentioned in the Periplus:

Aksum Empire (Eritrea and Ethiopia)


Aksum is mentioned in the Periplus as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world:

According to the Periplus, the ruler of Aksum in the 1st century AD was Zoscales, who, besides ruling in Aksum also held under his sway two habours on the Red Sea
Red Sea

The Red Sea is a salt water inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb sound and the Gulf of Aden....
: Adulis (near Massawa
Massawa

Massawa, formerly known as Mitsiwa and Batsi? or Badi }} is a port on the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Important for many centuries, it has been colonised by Egypt, the Ottoman Empire, Italy, UK and finally Ethiopia until 1991....
) and Avalites (Assab
Assab

Assab is a port city in the Southern Red Sea Region of Eritrea on the west coast of the Red Sea. In 1989, it had a population of 39,600. Assab possesses an Petroleum refinery which was shut down in 1997 for economical reasons....
). He is also said to have been familiar with Greek literature:

Himyarite kingdom and Saba (Arabia)

Ships from Himyar regularly traveled the East African coast. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the trading empire of Himyar and Saba
Sheba

Sheba was a southern kingdom mentioned in the Tanakh and the Qur'an. The actual location of the historical kingdom is disputed between southern Arabia and the Horn of Africa; the kingdom may have been situated in either present-day Ethiopia or present-day Yemen, or both....
, regrouped under a single ruler Charibael (Karab Il Watar Yuhan'em II), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome
Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
:

Frankincense kingdom

The Frankincense kingdom is described further east along the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. The area is an important part of the Middle East and plays a critically important geopolitics role because of its vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas....
, with the harbour of Cana (South Arabic Qana, modern Bir Ali). The ruler of this kingdom is named Eleazus
Eleazus

Eleazus, also Eleazar or Iliazz Yalit I was the Hadramaut king of the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula, the "Frankincense kingdom", in the first century CE....
, or Eleazar, thought to correspond to King Iliazz Yalit I:

Barygaza (India)

Trade with the Indian harbour of Barygaza is described extensively in the Periplus. Nahapana
Nahapana

Nahapana was an important ruler of the Western Kshatrapas, descendant of the Indo-Scythians, in northwestern India. According to one of his coins, he was the son of Bhumaka....
, ruler of the Indo-Scythian Western Satraps is mentioned under the name Nambanus, as ruler of the area around Barigaza:

Nahapana
Under the Western Satraps, Barigaza was one of the main centers of Roman trade with India
Roman trade with India

Roman trade with India through the overland caravan routes via Anatolia and Persia, though at a relative trickle comparative to later times, antedated the southern trade route via the Red Sea and Monsoons which started around the beginning of the Common Era following the reign of Augustus and ?gyptus of Ptolemaic Egypt....
. The Periplus describes the many goods exchanged:

Goods were also brought down in quantity from Ujjain
Ujjain

Ujjain , is an ancient city of Malwa in central India on the eastern bank of the Kshipra River In ancient times the city was called Ujjayini....
, the capital of the Western Satraps:

Early Chera and early Pandyan kingdoms (India)

The Chera kingdom
Chera dynasty

The Chera Dynasty was a Tamil people dynasty that ruled in Southern India from before the Sangam era until the twelfth century CE. The early Cheras ruled Kerala, Kongu Nadu and Salem District....
 lost port city of Muziris
Muziris

Muziris is the Greeks-Roman name of a port-city of the ancient period, that was located on the Malabar Coast of present-day South India, and was famous across several civilizations as a major port for trade and commerce from before the beginning of the Common Era....
, as well as the Early Pandyan Kingdom
Early Pandyan Kingdom

The Early Pandyas of the Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country, the other two being the Early Cholas and the Chera Dynasty....
 are mentioned in the Periplus as major centers of trade, pepper and other spices, metal work and semiprecious stones, between Damirica and the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
.

The widely accepted theory states it to be the Musiri
Musiri

Musiri is a panchayat town in Tiruchirappalli district in the Indian States and territories of India of Tamil Nadu....
, upstream river Kaveri, near the ancient capital of the Chera Kingdom, Karur
Karur

Karur is a town and a municipality in Karur district in the Indian States and territories of India of Tamil Nadu situated on the banks of Amaravati River....
 in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 States and territories of India of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southern most part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh....
. Roman coins and amphora
Amphora

An amphora is a type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body. The word amphora is Latin, derived from the Greek language amphoreus , an abbreviation of amphiphoreus , a compound word combining amphi- plus phoreus , from pherein , referring to the vessel's two carrying handles on opp...
e are found in abundance along with Chera-Roman collaborative mint. Also noteworthy are the Beryl
Beryl

The mineral beryl is a beryllium aluminium Silicate minerals#Cyclosilicates with the chemical formula Be3Al26. The hexagonal crystals of beryl may be very small or range to several meters in size....
s and other semi-precious stones and metal work in the region as described by the Periplus. Salem steel, antimony and lead in Egypt also confirms this to be an even more ancient port. The distance between Musiri and the sea is around 500 stadia as the Periplus accounts.

The second, controversial theory states from the hoards of coins and shards of amphora
Amphora

An amphora is a type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body. The word amphora is Latin, derived from the Greek language amphoreus , an abbreviation of amphiphoreus , a compound word combining amphi- plus phoreus , from pherein , referring to the vessel's two carrying handles on opp...
e found in the town of Pattanam
Pattanam

Pattanam is a village in the Paravur taluk in the South India Indian States and territories of India of Kerala. Recent archaeological excavations have unearthed signs of early Roman trade and heavy commerce....
, elicited recent archeological interest as a probable location of this mythical port city. Today this place is called Kodungalloor.

According to the Periplus, numerous Greek seamen managed an intense trade with Muziris: Damirica or Limyrike is Tamilakkam (Tamil ???????) – the "Tamil country
Ancient Tamil country

The ancient Tamil country, known as Tamilakam in Old Tamil and as Damirica, Dramira or Lymirike to Greco-Roman geographers, refers to South India?in Ancient history of South India....
". Further, this area served as a hub for trade with the interior, in the Gangetic plain:

Remains of the Indo-Greek kingdom

The Periplus describes numerous Greek buildings and fortifications in Barigaza
Bharuch

Bharuch today is a large seaport city of more than a million inhabitants and a municipality in Bharuch district in the state of Gujarat, India....
, although mistakenly attributing them to Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
, who never went this far south. If true, this account would relate to the remains of the southern expansion of the Indo-Greeks into Gujarat
Gujarat

Gujarat is a States and territories of India in western India. Gujarat borders Pakistan to the north west and the state of Rajasthan to the north and northeast, Madhya Pradesh to the east, Maharashtra and the Union territory of Diu, Daman District, India, Dadra and Nagar Haveli to the south....
:

The Periplus further testifies to the circulation of Indo-Greek coinage in the region:

The Greek city of Alexandria Bucephalous
Alexandria Bucephalous

Alexandria Bucephalous, or Alexandria Bucephalus or Bucephala or Bucephalia, was a city founded by Alexander the Great in memory of his beloved horse Bucephalus....
 on the Jhelum River
Jhelum River

Jehlum River or Jhelum River is a river that flows in India and Pakistan. It is the largest and most western of the five rivers of Punjab region, and passes through Jhelum District....
 is mentioned in the Periplus, as well as in the Roman Peutinger Table:

See also

  • Silk Road
    Silk Road

    The Silk Road is an extensive interconnected network of trade routes across the Asian continent connecting East, South, and Western Asia with the Mediterranean world, including North Africa and Europe....


External links

  • "The present text has been digitalized from the translation of William H. Schoff, The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1912). Some additional commentary including alternate spellings or translations from Lionel Casson's more recent edition are given in square brackets."
  • : The basic text from Schoff's 1912 translation.