474 elizabeth ann pollard
treatise that challenged Portuguese claims that the Indian Ocean was clausum,
“closed,” and theirs to control).
Sidebotham, S.E. (2011) Berenike and the Ancient Maritime Spice Route, Berkeley: University
of California Press.
Provides an accessible and wide-ranging analysis of the results of more than a decade of excava-
tions at Berenike a Red Sea port that was a vital node in exchange between the Mediterranean
(via the Nile) and the Indian Ocean. Sidebotham’s exhaustive treatment considers not just
the finds at Berenike, but also their significance for understanding what he calls a “vibrant
Old World global economy.”