- Mosylon
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Ancient
Mosylon
Location Somalia City-state existed: 6000 BC - AD 500 Mosylon or Mosullon was an ancient city state located on the Somali peninsula. It was the most prominent emporia on the Red Sea coast handling with its large ships the bulk of the cinnamon trade arriving from the ports of ancient India, giving Mosylon the reputation as being the source of the best sort of cinnamon in the ancient world according to Dioscorides.[1] A specific specie of cinnamon exported from the harbour was known as Mosyllitic.[2]
According to classical writers such as Pliny, the Mosylonians imported flint glass and glass vessels from Ancient Egypt, unripe grapes from Diospolis, unmilled cloths for the Berberi markets, including tunics and cloths manufactured at Arsinoe, as well as corn, wine and tin. The main export items were gums, drugs, tortoise shells, incense, and ivory[3]
See also
- Essina
- Malao
- Sarapion
- Opone
- Cape Guardafui
- Somali maritime history
- Periplus of the Erythraean Sea
- History of Somalia
References
- ^ Byzantine trade, 4th-12th centuries: the archaeology of local, regional and International Exchange By Marlia Mundell Mango pg 278
- ^ A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature: Ibz-Zuz edited by John Kitto pg 211
- ^ A System of Geography, popular and scientific, or a Physical , Political and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various divisions Volume 6 By James Bell pg 434
Categories:- Ancient Somalia
- History of Somalia
- African civilizations
- Somali maritime history
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