Initially established to procure African
elephants for service in the armies of the Ptolemaic kings of Egypt, and to
import aromatics and other commodities, Berenike developed into a prominent
nexus concatenating Europe, Africa and Asia in a vast maritime network during
the Roman era. Archaeological evidence indicates relations between Berenike and
vast areas of the Mediterranean as far west as Morocco and Spain, into West
Asia as well as along the Indian Ocean coast of Africa during the first to the
later fifth/early sixth centuries AD. Evidence also suggests indirect
communication with Indonesia. However, the most intensive and extensive
contacts outside the Roman world were with India.
This lecture will focus on the remains of the
ships that brought Indians to Berenike for commercial purposes and the
extensive evidence for their presence at the emporium.