PERIPLUS OF THE ERYTHRAEAN SEA ABOUT SOMALIA

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Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is an ancient text dating to around 50 AD, it talks of the trade routes along the red sea and indian ocean. It is not clear whether the author personally made the voyages or simply collected information from different sailors and merchants who had. However the text gives us a unique perspective in commodities that were being bought and sold in the Somali region.

Below is the section most related to the somali coast, notice here it is mentioned Avalites (Assab in Eritrea) , Malao (Berbera in Somaliland) and Opone (Hafun in Puntland) all of these places are denoted as belonging to the berber coast.

7. From this place the Arabian Gulf trends toward the east and becomes narrowest just before the Gulf of Avalites. After about four thousand stadia, for those sailing eastward along the same coast, there are other Berber market-towns, known as the “far-side” ports; lying at intervals one after the other, without harbors but having roadsteads where ships can anchor and lie in good weather. The first is called Avalites; to this place the voyage from Arabia to the far-side coast is the shortest. Here there is a small market-town called Avalites, which must be reached by boats and rafts. There are imported into this place, flint glass, assorted; juice of sour grapes from Diospolis; dressed cloth, assorted, made for the Berbers; wheat, wine, and a little tin. There are exported from the same place, and sometimes by the Berbers themselves crossing on rafts to Ocelis and Muza on the opposite shore, spices, a little ivory, tortoise-shell, and a very little myrrh, but better than the rest. And the Berbers who live in the place are very unruly.

8 After Avalites there is another market-town, better than this, called Malao, distant a sail of about eight hundred stadia. The anchorage is an open road-stead, sheltered by a spit running out from the east. Here the natives are more peaceable. There are imported into this place the things already mentioned, and many tunics, cloaks from Arsinoe, dressed and dyed; drinking-cups, sheets of soft copper in small quantity, iron, and gold and silver coin, not much. There are exported from these places myrrh, a little frankincense (that known as “far-side”), the harder cinnamon, duaca, Indian copal and macir, which are imported into Arabia; and slaves, but rarely.

9. Two days’ sail, or three, beyond Malao is the market-town of Mundus, where the ships lie at anchor more safely behind a projecting island close to the shore. There are imported into this place the things previously set forth, and from it likewise are exported the merchandise already stated, and the incense calledmocrotu. And the traders living here are more quarrelsome [Greek sklêros: “tough”—i.e., shrewd traders].

10. Beyond Mundus, sailing toward the east, after another two days’ sail, or three, you reach Mosyllum, on a beach, with a bad anchorage. There are imported here the same things already mentioned, also silver plate, a very little iron, and glass. There are shipped from the place a great quantity of cinnamon, (so that this market-town requires ships of larger size), and fragrant gums, spices, a little tortoise shell, and mocrotu, (poorer than that of Mundus), frankincense [from] the “far-side”, ivory and myrrh in small quantities.

11. Sailing along the coast beyond Mosyllum, after a two days’ course you come to the so-called Little Nile River, and a fine spring, and a small laurel-grove, and Cape Elephant. Then the shore recedes into a bay, and has a river, called Elephant, and a large laurel-grove called Acanna; where alone is produced the far-side frankincense, in great quantity and of the best grade.

12. Beyond this place, the coast trending toward the south, there is the Market and Cape of Spices, an abrupt promontory, at the very end of the Berber coast toward the east. The anchorage is dangerous at times from the ground-swell, because the place is exposed to the north. A sign of an approaching storm which is peculiar to the place, is that the deep water becomes more turbid and changes its color. When this happens they all run to a large promontory called Taba, which offers safe shelter. There are imported into this market-town the things already mentioned; and there are produced in it cinnamon, (and its different varieties, gizir, asypha, arebo, magla, and moto) and frankincense.

13. Beyond Taba, after four hundred stadia, there is the village of Pano. And then, after sailing four hundred stadia along a promontory, toward which place the current also draws you, there is another market-town called Opone, into which the same things are imported as those already mentioned, and in it the greatest quantity of cinnamon is produced, (the arebo and moto), and slaves of the better sort, which are brought to Egypt in increasing numbers; and a great quantity of tortoise-shell, better than that found elsewhere.

 

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https://www.researchgate.net/public...plus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea_A_Network_Approach