Bab el-Mandeb 46, 87, 99, 102, 107
Babylonia 31–32; Neo-Babylonian Empire
66 – 67, 87; royal exchange 48–49; textile
production 30; tortoise shell imports 94
Bactria 123, 130–31, 134– 35
Badakhstan 37, 39
Baghdad 138
Bahrain 20, 32
Bakare 107
balance of trade deficit 96–98, 136
Balearic Islands 65
Bali 110, 113
Baltic Sea and region 75; amber 21–22;
Aegean link 58
Ban Gu 11–12, 136; Ferghana expedition
132; Han Wudi 124; Southeast Asian
luxury goods 117; Xiongnu and Yuezhi
127; Zhang Qian’s journey 130, 134
Banda Sea and IslandsseeSpice Islands
Barbaricum 105–6, 128
Bargysoi 108
barter 3, 60, 111, 137
Barygaza 94–95, 105–7, 128
bdellium 93, 106
beadsseejewelry and personal decoration
beer 43, 119
Belgium 69
Bengal, Bay and region 85, 94, 107–8,
113, 118, 123
benzoin 115, 118
Berber merchants 138– 39
Berenice Trogodytica 99, 104
bird feathers 111, 116– 17 see alsoostrich
products
Black Death 139
Black Sea 75, 84, 111; grain export 72, 77;
Greek settlement 71, 126; Roman
Empire 76, 81; Troy 59– 62
border markets 125, 128
Borneo 112, 118
Bosporus 61– 62
Britain 16, 75; amber 21–23; Himilco’s
expedition 66; maritime route 69;
Roman Empire 81
bronze 7, 17, 21; Dongson culture 112;
Harappans 34; Phoenician-Assyrian 64;
Roman Empire 78, 81; Troy 59– 60
Bronze Age 6, 17–19, 57–58, 60, 79;
amber trade 21, 23; end of 58–59,
62 – 63; palaces 21; ships 62
bulk and mass-produced or consumed goods
72, 77, 84, 94, 137, 140
Burma 92, 110, 113, 123
Burushanda 28
Buhen 43
Byblos 46–47, 63
Byzantine Empire 118, 138Caesar, Julius 80– 82
Cambodia 113–15, 120
camphor 110, 115–16, 118
camels 41, 140; China import 122, 134;
Incense Road 101; on Nile to Red Sea
track 99; Sahara 138
Canaanites 46–48, 54, 63;see also
Phoenicians; Levant
Canary Islands 66
Canton (Guangzhou) 118
capitalism 5, 141– 42
cardamom 110, 116
carnelian 34, 37, 116; Egypt export 57;
Egypt import 40; India source 95, 106,
115; Nubia source 42; Sumer import 39
carpets and rugs 47; Carthage export 66;
China import 134; nomadic pastoralists
125; Roman Empire 78
Carpathian Mountains 20, 61
Carthage 53; decline and destruction of
73 – 74; founding and rise of 65–67;
rebuilt 76
Caspian Sea 111
cassiaseecinnamon and cassia
caste system 85
Catal Huyuk 15
cattle and oxen 15, 43, 60, 78, 100, 122
Caucasus Mountains 25, 61
Central Asia 6, 28, 32, 75, 85,125,
128 – 29; China 123, 125, 128–29, 131,
133, 138; decline 139; goods pass
through 94, 134–35; medicines and
drugs 90; Serica 111
central place trade 38
Ceylon (Sri Lanka) 75, 85–86, 92–94,
107 – 8
Chad, Lake 138
Champa and the Chams 113, 116–17, 120
cheese 47, 77
Chelonophagi 99
China 6, 75, 84, 90, 111, 119–20; cassia
production 92; government attitude
toward trade 124; India 116–17; image
of merchants 51, 123–24; isolation 121;
Ming and Qing periods 141–42;
nomadic pastoralists 125, 127; openingIndex 151