corundum, history.1, Sri Lanka.12, gems

A scholarly edition, English translation, and detailed commentary on the Periplus Maris Erythraei (Voyage Around the Erythraean Sea), an anonymous Greek merchant’s guide to maritime commerce in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean, probably composed during the middle of the first century AD. Lionel Casson provides the Greek text alongside an English translation, supported by an extensive introduction and commentary examining the geographical, historical, linguistic, and commercial significance of the document. The Periplus describes the principal ports, sailing routes, seasonal winds, navigational conditions, trading communities, and commodities exchanged between Roman Egypt, northeastern Africa, Arabia, India, and regions farther east. Particular attention is devoted to the exploitation of the monsoon winds, which permitted ships to cross the Arabian Sea directly between the Red Sea and western India. Important Indian trading centers include Barygaza (Bharuch), Muziris on the Malabar Coast, and ports along the southeastern coast. Of considerable gemological interest are references to pearls, diamonds, sapphires, onyx, agate, carnelian, and other precious stones traded through Indian Ocean commercial networks. The text also describes the commerce in ivory, tortoiseshell, frankincense, myrrh, spices, silk, cotton textiles, and metals, revealing the diversity and geographical extent of ancient luxury trade. Casson’s commentary evaluates the identification of ancient place names, the meanings of obscure commodity terms, and the relationship between the Periplus and other classical sources, particularly Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy. The work is an essential primary source for reconstructing the maritime trade routes linking the Mediterranean world with India and for understanding the movement of gemstones and other valuable materials in antiquity.