Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route

457 Pages·2011·17.254 MB·English

by  Steven E. Sidebotham

Sidebotham, Berenike 11/18/10 10:24 AM Page a
Thepublishergratefullyacknowledgesthegeneroussupport
oftheAhmansonFoundationHumanitiesEndowmentFund
oftheUniversityofCaliforniaPressFoundation.
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Sidebotham, Berenike 11/18/10 10:24 AM Page i
BERENIKEANDTHEANCIENTMARITIMESPICEROUTE
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THECALIFORNIAWORLDHISTORYLIBRARY
EditedbyEdmundBurkeIII,KennethPomeranz,andPatriciaSeed
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BERENIKE AND THE
ANCIENT MARITIME
SPICE ROUTE
StevenE.Sidebotham
university of california press
Berkeley LosAngeles London
Sidebotham, Berenike 12/6/10 4:53 PM Page iv
UniversityofCaliforniaPress,oneofthemostdistinguisheduniversity
pressesintheUnitedStates,enricheslivesaroundtheworldbyadvancing
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UniversityofCaliforniaPress
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UniversityofCaliforniaPress,Ltd.
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©2011byTheRegentsoftheUniversityofCalifornia
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Sidebotham,StevenE.
Berenikeandtheancientmaritimespiceroute/StevenE.Sidebotham.
p. cm. (TheCaliforniaworldhistorylibrary;18)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
isbn978-0-520-24430-6(cloth:alk.paper)
1. Baranis(Egypt)—Antiquities. 2. Baranis(Egypt)—Antiquities,
Roman. 3. Excavations(Archaeology)—Egypt—Baranis. 4. Spice
trade—Egypt—Baranis—History.—To1500. 5. Traderoutes—Egypt—
Baranis—History.—To1500. 6. Baranis(Egypt)—Commerce—History.
7. Portcities—Egypt—History—To1500. 8. EasternDesert(Egypt)—
Commerce—History. 9. Internationaltrade—History.—To1500.
10. Baranis(Egypt)—Sociallifeandcustoms. I. Title.
dt73.b375s4 2011
932—dc22 2010038906
ManufacturedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica
19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Thepaperusedinthispublicationmeetstheminimumrequirements
ofansi/nisoz39.48-1992(r1997)(PermanenceofPaper).
Sidebotham, Berenike 11/18/10 10:24 AM Page v
CONTENTS
ListofFigures vii
•
PrefaceandAcknowledgments • xi
ListofAbbreviations • xiii
1. Introduction • 1
2. Geography,Climate,AncientAuthors,andModernVisitors • 7
3. Pre-RomanInfrastructureintheEasternDesert • 21
4. PtolemaicDiplomatic-Military-CommercialActivities • 32
5. PtolemaicandEarlyRomanBerenikeandEnvirons • 55
6. InhabitantsofBerenikeinRomanTimes • 68
7. WaterintheDesertandthePorts • 87
8. Nile–RedSeaRoads • 125
9. OtherEmporia • 175
10. MerchantShips • 195
11. CommercialNetworksandTradeCosts • 206
12. TradeinRomanBerenike • 221
13. LateRomanBerenikeandItsDemise • 259
Notes • 283
Bibliography • 355
Index • 425
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FIGURES
1-1. MapofsoutheasternMediterraneanSea,RedSea,PersianGulf,
IndianOcean,andsurroundinglandmasses • 2
1-2. MapoftheNilevalleyandtheRedSeacoast • 4
2-1. Berenike,planofsite • 10
3-1. MapoftheEasternDesertofEgyptandadjacentRedSeacoast • 27
3-2. Fortatal-Kanaïs • 30
4-1. MapofEgypt,theNearEast,andArabiainPtolemaicandearlyRoman
times • 33
4-2. MapofmonsoonpatternsinnorthwesternIndianOcean • 36
4-3. Rockoutcropatal-KanaïswithPtolemaic-erapetroglyphofelephant • 42
5-1. Berenike,lateRoman-stylebuildingtechniqueusingextinctcoralheads
forwalls • 56
5-2. Berenike,frontandbackofbrokenstatuetterepresentingAphrodite/
Venus • 58
5-3. Berenike,stonesphinxmadeoflocalgypsum/anhydrite • 59
5-4. Berenike,artist’sreconstructionofabronzestatueandtheinscription
inShrineofthePalmyrenes • 64
5-5. Berenike,bilingualGreek-Palmyreneinscriptiondedicatingastatue
toYarhibol/Hierobol • 65
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