Yemen and its Red Seaside according to the ‘Periplus of the Red Sea’

By: Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis
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[ Posted On: 2007-04-02 ]

The 'Periplus of the Red Sea,' an Ancient Greek text written by an Alexandrian Egyptian of the times of the Roman Emperor Nero, refers to the Yemenite coast from al Mokha to Aden, and to Perim Island. It is essential to delve first into the Yemenite past, if we want to envision later future potentialities…

When present day issues come to mind, one has the strong inclination to take into consideration the historical records available in order to better found arguments and thoughts. The current realities at the strategic area of the Bab al Mandeb straits at the southern end of the Red Sea have been shaped by no less than five countries, which are directly involved in the area, namely Yemen, Djibouti, Eritrea, Abyssinia and Somalia. Among them only Yemen and Abyssinia do not emanate entirely from the colonial era and interference, although the latter has been affected to some extent by Italian colonial expansion in the area.

The formation of post-colonial states (Djibouti, Somalia, Eritrea) released centripetal and centrifugal powers that can at times be impressive. Somalia attempted to invade Ogaden in the 70s, as if all the country's problems had been resolved (!), only to explode into a multitude of mini-states 20 years later. Eritrea became independent, but got involved in successive wars with Yemen and Abyssinia. Yet, the similarities among these five countries are most striking. In reality what they have in common is stronger and much more important, multifaceted, and valuable than what has been created – 'machinated' I should say – by colonial powers to divide them.

The first aspect that unites all these countries is nature: the existence of the straits themselves. History proved that instead of separating, the Bab al Mandeb Straits bring one close to another all around the two coasts. A good example is given by the 1st century CE Greek text that an anonymous Egyptian Alexandrian captain and merchant wrote about navigation and trade throughout the seas of the south, from Egypt to Indonesia.

The Yemenite coast from al Mokha to Aden in the 'Periplus of the Red Sea'

1. Mouza (today's al Mokha) Administration

After giving a brief description of Mouza in paragraph 21, the author of the Periplus of the Red Sea gives topographical details about the Himyarite kingdom of which part was Mouza. This is presented in two short paragraphs of the text, 22 and 23. The text reads as follows:

"After three days inland trip, we reach Savve, the capital of Mofar Province, which extended all around. There, lives and has his palace the local administrator, Kholaibos.

And after another nine days trip in the inland, we reach Safar, the capital of the entire country, where by law reigns Kharibael joining under his scepter the two peoples, the Himyarites and the nearby Sabaeans. He is a friend to the Roman emperors, thanks to the continuously exchanged embassies and presents".

2. Sabaa and Himyar kingdoms merged

It is noteworthy that for the author of the Periplus of the Red Sea, who writes around 70 CE, the two kingdoms, Sabaa and Himyar, had merged to form just one state. Even more interesting is that the author refers not to two states but to two peoples, namely the 'Sabaeites' and the 'Homerites'. He testifies to an insightful understanding of the reality that there were several Yemenite peoples, not just one people divided into two states.

In this regard, it is necessary to bear in mind that it was very common for Ancient Greek authors to moderately hellenize foreign names of all sorts (from toponymics to ethnic and personal names) in a way so that they allude to a reminiscence of the Greek cultural heritage environment. Consequently, the noun 'Himyarites' become 'Homerites,' alluding to Homer, but yet it did not become absolutely the same as the adjective 'homericos' that derives from the name of the Greek epic poet.

3. Yemenite – Roman relationship

The reference to Kharibael exchanging embassies with the Roman Empire is another piece of valuable information coming out of the present passage; it testifies to the establishment and pursuance of regular interstate relationships. Most probably, Rome was the furthermost (and northernmost) capital ancient Yemenite diplomats were appointed in. The fact also shows that the famous naval expedition of Aelius Gallus that took place around 26 BCE, a few years after Octavian Augustus, invaded Alexandria, had had some results.

Through Roman sources we know that the Aelius Gallus expedition did not end up in a real success. Roman soldiers got all sorts of sicknesses, whereas navigation was felt as too long! Well, 1900 km distance is something, when you begin sailing at the very edge of your country, i.e. the northern part of Egypt's Red Sea coast! Furthermore, a real Yemenite capital city was not found, since probably the Romans had difficulty to advance much in the mountainous Yemenite interior, being so far from their homes, and stricken by – previously unknown to them – tropical diseases.

In addition, a real battle was not engaged (probably the Sabaeans and the Himyarites practiced retreat tactics better than WW II Soviets, trying through skirmishes to make Romans realize that they spent too much time in such a faraway place without any concrete gain!).

But, as we already said, this passage of the 'Periplus of the Red Sea' proves that the Augustan expedition had some impact. Further on, in another passage we will attest another reference to the event of the Roman expedition against Yemen that – quite impressively – happened 100 years before the author of this text wrote these details! We can deduce that, although the attack did not end in a major battle victory and in the destruction of a capital city, it left an impact, since it was truly unprecedented. Never before had Yemen been attacked by any country…

4. Sabaa – Himyar under Kharibael: a Constitutional Monarchy?

The legitimacy and the righteous character of Kharibael's rule are also important. Using the adjective 'enthesmos' for the Yemenite king, the author employs a term that means not only compliance with an old legislation, and enthronement according all the traditional protocol, but also a degree of constitutional monarchy, of a balance of power existing among the king and the council of the Old Mukkarib, as well as of justice prevailing throughout the country, being guaranteed by Kharibael.

5. Mouza (al Mokha) Market

Then, the author returns to the main subject, the description of trade and navigation throughout the Red Sea, and narrates in detail the trade at Mouza, in paragraph 24.

"The port of Mouza is not facilitated by a natural harbour, but there is an embankment, and in addition a ship can anchor easily thanks to the sandy shores all around. In the market we do find purple textile and yard goods of either exceptional or ordinary quality; we also find Yemenite clothes with long sleeves, clothes embellished with a lot of decorative motifs, clothes of common type, clothes woven with golden yard, clothes in rectangular designs, all sorts of clothing, coats and fleeces, bed coverings, blankets either without decoration, or with the traditional decoration, belts in dark coloured strips, currency in cash, safran, cyperus (cyperus longus), vast quantities of myrrh, but not much wine and wheat, since the country produces little wine, and even less wheat. To the king and the administrator are offered horses and mules along with their respective saddles, golden- and silverware, and copperware, as well as exquisite clothes. From Mouza all the aforementioned is exported to Adulis on the opposite coast, and so is white marble, as well as all types of myrrh, namely the best quality myrrh, the common type that is called stakte ('liquified'), the abeirian type, and Minyan myrrh. The travel is undertaken under best meteorological conditions, if we sail from Egypt in September, that is Thot month, but however nothing prohibits us to sail earlier".

In this excerpt, beyond the detailed information about the merchandises and the taxes ("To the king and the administrator are offered…"), we get significant information about various subjects. Mouza seems to be the export center of Yemen for all the products transported to Egypt, Meroe (Sudan), Axum (Abyssinia), Africa, and (through Egypt) Rome. This means that the bulk of the Yemenite merchandises was exported via sea routes, whereas the land route (through Arabia to Petra) was rather limited for exports to Syria, Mesopotamia and Anatolia.

6. Mouza and Adulis: a Comparison

Through the references of the Periplus of the Red Sea, it becomes clear that in the area we call today the Red Sea, Adulis on the western coast and Mouza on the eastern coast were the richest, biggest and most active ports. If we compare the references, we certainly notice that the text for Adulis is lengthier but the text for Mouza refers to more luxurious, valuable and expensive commodities.

The state involvement is more obvious in Mouza, the port is more closely controlled by the capital Safar and the king Kharibael, through means of intermediate control by the Savve administrator Kholaibos.

Although the distance between Adulis and Axumites (8 days trip) seems smaller than the distance between Mouza and Safar (12 days trip), Zoscales King of Axum seems not to levy from the Adulis the taxes Kharibael was able to impose on the Mouza trade treasures.

The country of the Sabaeans and the Himyarites is presented as definitely bigger, larger and stronger than the realm of Zoscales for which the text does not state even the country's name.

On the other hand, the diffusion of Greek as international language was certainly greater in the western coast, since Zoscales was speaking Greek, whereas nothing similar is said for Kharibael. Knowing earlier (Achaemenid) and later (Sassanid) phases of Iranian history and involvement in the area, we assume that Aramaic and Ancient Persian were the two foreign languages that were principally studied, written and spoken in Sabaean and Himyarite Yemen.

Through the excerpts of the 'Periplus of the Red Sea' that we analyzed, we realize that Yemen's interaction with the Axumite kingdom on the Eastern coast of Africa was due to common understanding of the mutual need for the best exploitation of the Red Sea's geophysical and meteorological traits.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis - is Orientalist, Assyriologist, Egyptologist, Iranologist, Islamologist, Historian and Political Scientist. Dr. Megalommatis, 49, is the author of 12 books, dozens of scholarly articles, hundreds of encyclopedia entries, and thousands of articles. He speaks, reads and writes more than 15, modern and ancient, languages.

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