The Periplus Maris Erythraei (Circumnavigation of the Red Sea)
It was only whilst discussing the location of what the ancient Egyptians called “God’s Land”, or Punt, that I was introduced to the Periplus Maris Erythraei. Although the term “Erythraei” translates as the “Red Sea”, for the Greeks it also included the Persian Gulf and the western part of the Indian Ocean. The original text of this unique document was written by an anonymous Egyptian Greek merchant in the middle of the first century AD. Its content now only survives through a manuscript in the Heidelberg’s Universitäts Bibliothek, which was copied at the beginning of the 10th century.
Map of the seaways covered by the 'Periplus' (Abraham Ortelius)
Written from firsthand experience and with a detailed knowledge of marine navigation, the Periplus was clearly intended to serve as a indispensable manual for other merchants trading out of Roman Egypt from the Red Sea ports of Myos Hormos and Berenicê. It is clear that the author had visited most, if not all, of the ports mentioned in his treatise. Divided into two sections, the books covers the two principle trade routes leaving the Red Sea. The first traced the eastern shores of Africa right down to the port that is probably to be identified with Rhapta, just south of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. The second concerns the easterly route taken via southern Arabia, past the Persian Gulf and over to the west coast of India.
The Red Sea Coastline
Serving primarily as an essential navigational aid for other Egyptian traders operating along these trades routes, the Periplus is packed full of invaluable insights concerning the key ports that one might visit. It also describes the location of anchorage points for the seafarers to land and unload their produce. The author delights in his lively descriptions of the principal entrepôts that he has discovered during his own voyages, even including amusing anecdotes about the rulers with whom one might be expected to do business. Very much in the manner of a foreign embassy issuing a travel alert today, he is ever mindful of warning his fellow merchants of any dangers that a particular region might present!
Most importantly, the author lists at great length the various goods on offer in the marketplaces of each destination, in addition to the range of products that the local rulers were interested in acquiring. We’re not talking about inexpensive everyday items here. These were prized luxury items. Returning from the east African coast merchants would have brought back ivory, rhinoceros horns, tortoise shells, myrrh, frankincense, cassia, aromatics, drugs and slaves; whilst the southern Arabian peninsula was well-known for the quality of its myrrh and frankincense.
The emporia of India feature the most extensive lists of produce, including turquoise, lapis lazuli, pearls, diamonds, sapphires, silk cloth, fine cotton clothing, Chinese pelts, pepper, spices and various other aromatics. A single cargo would have generated substantial profits for the shipowners, as well as a sizeable import duty for the Roman empire. These guys were the LVMH traders par excellence of the ancient world.
The most recent edition of the text is presented, together a translation and concise grammatical and lexicographical commentaries, in Lionel Casson’s excellent The Periplus Maris Erythraei: Text with Introduction, Translation and Commentary, Princeton University Press, 1989.
Please check back soon for a guest article on the land of Punt by Kenneth A. Kitchen, Emeritus Professor of Egyptology at the University of Liverpool.