palm trees, olive trees, and laurels, not only within, but
in a great part also without the straits. Th ere is also an
island called the island of Philip; opposite to it inland
is situated the hunting-ground for elephants, called
the chase of Pythangelus; then follows Arsinoë, a city
with a harbor; after these places is Deire, and beyond
them is a hunting-ground for elephants. From Deire, the
next country is that which bears aromatic plants. Th e
fi rst produces myrrh, and belongs to the Icthyophagi
and the Creophagi. It bears also the persea, peach or
Egyptian almond, and the Egyptian fi g. Beyond is Licha,
a hunting-ground for elephants. Th ere are also in many
places standing pools of rain-water. When these are
dried up, the elephants, with their trunks and tusks, dig
holes and fi nd water....
Th e mode of life of the Ethiopians is wretched; they
are for the most part naked, and wander from place
to place with their fl ocks. Th eir fl ocks and herds are
small in size, whether sheep, goats, or oxen; the dogs
also, though fi erce and quarrelsome, are small....
Th ey live on millet and barley, from which also a drink
is prepared. Th ey have no oil, but use butter and fatinstead. Th ere are no fruits, except the produce of trees
in the royal gardens. Some feed even upon grass, the
tender twigs of trees, the lotus, or the roots of reeds.
Th ey live also upon the fl esh and blood of animals, milk,
and cheese. Th ey reverence their kings as gods, who are
for the most part shut up in their palaces.
Th eir largest royal seat is the city of Meroë, of the same
name as the island. Th e shape of the island is said to
be that of a shield. Its size is perhaps exaggerated. Its
length is about 3000 stadia, and its breadth 1000 stadia.
It is very mountainous, and contains great forests. Th e
inhabitants are nomads, who are partly hunters and
partly farmers. Th ere are also mines of copper, iron, gold,
and various kinds of precious stones. It is surrounded
on the side of Libya by great hills of sand, and on that of
Arabia by continuous precipices. In the higher parts on
the south, it is bounded by the confl uence of the rivers
Astaboras [modern Atbara], Astapa [the White Nile], and
Astasobas [the Blue Nile]. On the north is the continuous
course of the Nile to Egypt, with its windings, of which
we have spoken before.From Strabo, Th e Geography of Strabo
trans. H. C. Hamilton and W. Falconer
(London: H. G. Bohn, 1854–1857).(cont inues)And it will not be amiss to set out the whole of the
voyage from Egypt, now that reliable knowledge of
it is for the fi rst time accessible. It is an important
subject, in view of the fact that in no year does India
absorb less than fi fty million sesterces of our empire’s
wealth, sending back merchandise to be sold with us
at a hundred times its prime cost. Two miles from
Alexandria is the town of Juliopolis. Th e voyage up the
Nile from there to Keft is 309 miles and takes 12 days
when the midsummer trade winds are blowing. From
Keft the journey is made with camels, stations being
placed at intervals for the purpose of watering; the fi rst,
a stage of 22 miles, is called Hydreuma; the second is in
the mountains, a day’s journey on; the third at a second
place named Hydreuma, 85 miles from Keft; the next is
in the mountains; next we come to Apollo’s Hydreuma,
184 miles from Keft; again a station in the mountains;
then we get to New Hydreuma, 230 miles from Keft.
Th ere is also another old Hydreuma known by the
name of Trogodyticum, where a guard is stationedon outpost duty at a caravanserai accommodating
two thousand travelers; it is seven miles from New
Hydreuma. Th en comes the town of Berenice where
there is a harbor on the Red Sea, 257 miles from Keft.
But as the greater part of the journey is done by night
because of the heat and the days are spent at stations,
the whole journey from Keft to Berenice takes twelve
days. Traveling by sea begins at midsummer before
the dogstar rises or immediately after its rising, and
it takes about thirty days to reach the Arabian port of
Cella or Caned in the frankincense-producing district.
Th ere is also a third port named Mokha, which is
not called at on the voyage to India and is only used
by merchants trading in frankincense and Arabian
perfumes. Inland there is a town, the residence of the
king of the district, called Sapphar, and another called
Save. But the most advantageous way of sailing to India
is to set out from Cella; from that port it is a 40 days’
voyage, if the Hippalus is blowing, to the fi rst trading
station in India, Cranganore not a desirable port of call, Pliny: Natural History, excerpt
on India, ca. 77 c.e. Asia and the Pacifi c270 climate and geography: primary source documents