gems, history of gemology, ivory, Africa, trade, commerce, trade routes

The program of elephant hunting inaugurated by the Ptolemies has received mention in all histories of their reign and has been dealt with in more or less detail by a number of writers. Yet nowhere do we find full awareness of how great an achievement it was or of who deserves the chief credit. The honors, I will show, are to be awarded to Philadelphus: it was he who put in place the complex and farflung organization the program required, solved difficult problems of recruitment, and promoted an essential new development in naval technology.