thumb|500px|names, routes and locations of the periplus of the erythraean sea. the periplus of the erythraean sea or periplus of the red sea (, ) is a greco-roman periplus, written in greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from roman egyptian ports like berenice along the coast of the red sea, and others along northeast africa and the indian subcontinent. the text has been ascribed to different dates between the 1st and 3rd centuries ce, 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 european world knew about the lands around the indian ocean. the erythraean sea () literally means "red sea". however, to the greeks, it included the indian ocean and the persian gulf. ==overview== thumb|300px|17th century map depicting the locations of the periplus of the erythraean sea. 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) 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 (cf. sanskrit makaranda). 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" is mentioned as the farthest market down the african coast of "azania", but there are at least five locations matching the description, ranging from tanga to south of the rufiji river delta. the description of the indian coast mentions the ganges river clearly, yet after that is somewhat garbled, describing china as a "great inland city thina" that is a source of raw silk. the periplus says that a direct sailing route from the red sea to the indian peninsula across the open ocean was discovered by hippalus (1st century bc). many trade goods are mentioned in the periplus, but some of the words naming trade goods are seen nowhere else in ancient literature, and so we can only gues
1st-century_books AfricaaIndia_relations Ancient_Greek_geography Foreign_relations_of_Ancient_Rome History_of_Pakistan Periplus_of_the_Erythraean_Sea