The Periplus Maris Erythraei (or "Voyage around the Erythraean Sea") is an anonymous work from around the middle of the first century CE written by a Greek speaking Egyptian merchant. The first part of the work (sections 1-18) describes the maritime trade-routes following the north-south axis from Egypt down the coast of East Africa as far as modern day Tanzania. The remainder describes the routes of the East-West axis running from Egypt, around the Arabian Peninsula and past the Persian Gulf on to the west coast of India. From the vivid descriptions of the places mentioned it is generally...