A Gateway from the Eastern Mediterranean to India: The Red Sea in Antiquity

Interdisciplinary studies about the connections between India and the Mediterranean world in antiquity have been growing in the last few decades. These have followed a range of approaches. This book focuses on one segment of the maritime world geographically defined as the Red Sea and its surrounding areas. This regional perspective is necessary to understand the dynamics of exchange. A large number of texts in Greek and Latin, papyri, ostraca, stone inscriptions, archaeological excavations and surveys especially at sites such as Berenike and Myos Hormos provide a wealth of data on historical development in the Red Sea region. Contributors to this volume are drawn from a variety of disciplines such as philology, Egyptology, African studies, archaeology and ancient history and base their papers on recent discoveries as well as re-interpretation of textual sources. Many of these papers first appeared in issues of the French journal Topoi but on account of their importance to maritime history of the Indian Ocean it was decided to publish them for a wider audience. Published in association with Maison De Lorient Mediterraneen, Jean Pouilloux.

Table of Contents:
Preface by M.-F. Boussac and J.-F. Salles; Some Observations on F. De Romanis Approach: Remarks on F. De Romanis Book. The Egyptologists Point of View by J.-Cl. Goyon; A Fantasmatic Cinnamon by S. Amigues; An answer to J.-Cl. Goyon and S. Amigues by F. De Romanis; The Eastern Desert of Egypt and the Port of the Red Sea (unpublished updated contribution): Researches in the Eastern Desert 1996-1999 by H. Cuvigny; Greek Graffiti found in the Wadi Menih el-Her: A vestorius between Coptos and Berenike by F. De Romanis; Kinaidokolpitai mentioned on a Greek Ostracon from the Eastern Desert by H. Cuvigny and Ch. Robin; Quseir al-Qadim and the Location of Myos Hormos by D. Whitcomb; An Overview of Archaeological Work in the Eastern Desert and along the Red Sea Coast by the University of DelawareLeiden University, 1987-1995 by S.E. Sidebotham; Trade Patterns in the Red Sea: From the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Egypt and Long Distance Trade in the Roman Period: The Evidence of the Ceramics by P. Ballet; Ivory and Ptolemaic Exploration of the Red Sea: The Missing Factor by S.M. Burstein; Romans and Arabs in the Red Sea by S.F. Sidebotham; Archaeology in the Red Sea by C. Haldane; Literary Sources and Ancient Navigations: Anaxikrates Expedition in Western Arabia by S. Amigues; On the Hippalos Sea, following the Hippalos Wind by J. Desanges; Hypalos: Distances and Winds between Arabia and Indian in the Hellenistic Knowledge by F. De Romanis; Who used to Read the Periplus Maris Erythraei? by M. Casevitz. Travels to the Edges of the World: The Arab Trade through the Seven Travels of Sindbad by C. Allibert; Miscellanea: Review of C. Meyer, Glass from Quseir al-Qadim and the Indian Ocean Trade, 1992 by M.D. Nenna; Review of A. Bresson and P. Rouillard eds, LEmporion, 1993 by J.-F. Salles; Review of H.P. Ray, The Winds of Change: Buddhism and the Maritime Links of Early South Asia, 1994 by J.-F. Salles; List of Illustrations.

About the Author :
Marie-Francoise Boussac is Professor in Greek History at Lille University and Deputy Director of the French Mission at Mahasthangarh in Bangladesh. She is currently in-charge of excavations at Taposirisa Graeco-Roman site in Egypt, near Alexandria. She continues to edit Topoi devoted to the Mediterranean world and its linkages with Asia.