kerala - the egyptian connection

of 8

KERALA - THE EGYPTIAN CONNECTION

Jee Francis Therattil

Numismatic evidences for the overseas contacts prior to the hey-days are not reported from

anywhere in Kerala. The find of a coin from Trivandrum, which narrowly escaped the

melting pot of a goldsmith turned to be much relevant in this context. Coin is

made up of fine gold weighing 27.570g and has a diameter of 30mm.

This unusually big coin had been identified as an issue of Ptolemy II

[Philadelphos], who ruled Egypt from 285BC to 246BC.1 Obverse displays diademed and

draped bust of Ptolemy II, conjoined with diademed and veiled bust of Arsinoe II and a

Gallic shield behind in addition to the Greek script Α∆ΕΛΦΩΝ [adelfwn meaning

siblings] aligned horizontally at the top.

Obverse of the coin

of 8

Reverse displays diademed and draped bust of Ptolemy I [Soter], conjoined with

diademed and veiled bust of Berenike I in addition to the Greek script ΘΕΩΝ [qewn

meaning Gods] aligned horizontally at the top. All the busts are facing to the right side of

the coin. Busts, as well as the script, on both sides are enclosed in a circle of dots for

which the blank is much larger, leaving ample space all around. This Oktadrahm

[Octadrahm - value of eight Drahms] is believed to have originated from the mint at

Alexandria [capital of Egypt] after 265 BC.

Reverse of the coin.

Ptolemy II, born in Cos on January 29, 309 BC2 as the son of Ptolemy I and

Berenike I, married Arsinoe I and later Arsinoe II, his full-sister, by an Egyptian custom

abhorrent to Greek morality.3 The Ptolemaic empire reached its greatest extent during his

reign. Building activity was concentrated on Alexandria; the lighthouse, one of the Seven

Wonders of the World was finished during his reign, and he, rather than Ptolemy I, may

have been the patron behind the establishment of the Mouseion and its library. The king

founded a chain of harbour towns along the Red Sea coast, supporting trade with India

and Arabia.4

The port at Berenike was founded by Ptolemy II, who named it after his mother.5

Ptolemy II tried to bring trade through the canal of Sesostris connecting the Gulf of Suez

with the Nile and founded the port of Arsinoe [Suez] at its outlet to the sea. But this had

to be abandoned owing to the difficult navigation through the Heropoolite Gulf6, which

caused merchants to prefer Leuke Kome or Aelana, both linked with Petra and not with

the Nile valley. Then he founded Berenike, which is linked with Coptos on the Nile. In

of 8

247BC he founded Myos Hormos, 180 miles north of Berenike, with safer harbour and a

shorter journey to Coptos. But the Red Sea also had its difficulties as it was infested with

pirates until Ptolemy III [Euergetes] [246 - 221 BC] stationed a fleet there to put down

piracy.7

Ptolemy II is referred to in the 13th Rock Edict of Asoka as Thuramaya.

Black peppercorns were found lodged in the nostrils of Ramesses II, placed there

as part of his mummification rituals shortly after his death in 1213 BC. Little else is

known about the use of pepper in ancient Egypt, nor how it reached the Nile. Pepper

(both long and black) was known in Greece at least as early as the 4th century BC, though

it was probably an uncommon and expensive item that only the very rich could afford.8

Nearchus knew that he had to wait for the northeast monsoon to make the voyage

from India homewards several centuries before Hippalus.9 Eudoxus had sailed to India

sometime in the third quarter of the second century BC, the route being shown him by a

shipwrecked Indian seaman found near the entrance to the Red Sea.10

Several copper coins belonging to Mesopotamia, Phoenicia, Macedonia, Crete,

Rhodes and Thrace dating back to 3rd century BC had been reported from Karur11, but not

any silver or gold ones. As these coins are in a highly worn-out condition, these may be a

part of later imports for the sake of copper as metal. Dio wrote that following the death of

Caligula, the Senate demonetized his coinage, and ordered that they be melted.

The philosopher Epictetus wrote: “Whose image does this Sestertius carry?

Trajan’s? Give it to me. Nero’s? Throw it away, it is unacceptable, it is rotten.” These

statements justify that even in those times, coins became obsolete after some period and

then it will be just as good as a piece of metal even if the condition of the coin is fine.

Despite many stray finds, head-loads12 of Roman gold [Aureus13a] and silver

[Denarius13b] coins have surfaced as hoards. In 1983, a hoard6 of about a thousand Aurei

[plural of Aureus] was discovered at Valluvally [Paravoor Taluk, Ernakulam Dist.]. It is

noteworthy that the coins, which were of “a great quantity” is “in the first place” among

the imported items of merchandise cited in Periplus Maris Erythraei. This confirms the

payment in large volume of coins for the value of the merchandise bought in excess of the

merchandise sold. No wonder Pliny grieved that India absorbed no less than fifty million

Sesterces14 of the Roman Empire’s wealth every year.15 The find from Vaaniyankadavu

[near Kannur], in 1847, of Roman mint-fresh Aurei consisted of not less than five cooly-

loads, estimated to be about 8,000 pieces!16

This inclusion of coins amongst the imported items of merchandise in Periplus

Maris Erythraei truly reflects the classic outlook on the consideration of coin itself as a

‘commodity’, in tally with the view expressed by the great philosopher Aristotle: “As the

benefits of commerce were more widely extended by importing commodities of which

of 8

there was a deficiency and exporting those of which there was an excess, the use of a

currency was an indispensable device. As the necessaries of Nature were not all easily

portable, people agreed, for purposes of barter, mutually to give and receive some article,

which, while it was itself a commodity, was practically easy to handle in the business of

life; some such article as iron or silver, which was at first defined simply by size and

weight, although, finally, they went further, and set a stamp upon every coin to relieve

them from the trouble of weighing it, as the stamp impressed upon the coin was an

indication of quantity”.17

The hoarded coins must have been treated just as a commodity, having stamps on

them as an indication of their quantity, for purposes of barter - in full agreement with the

philosophy of Aristotle. The coins however carried the bust of emperors, Gods and

scripts. The native authorities, in the initial stage, slashed the bust of the emperor - the

icon of authority - with a chisel, cancelling the sting of authority, symbolically declaring

that the embedded slogan which indirectly boasts volumes, was of no relevance, and the

only thing natives were bothered is it’s intrinsic value.

Akananooru imparts us a clear idea on what trade was from the view point of

common folks:

yavanar thantha vinaima nal kalam

[Yavanas of whom good merchandise ships]

ponnodu vanthu kariyodu peyarum18

[Comes with gold and goes with pepper19]

The inflow of huge amount of wealth had its impact directly in the country’s

economy. Rulers donated profusely to poets who praised them, resulting in the

composition of profuse literary works, what later got compiled and came to be known as

Samgham works.

Construction of new offices, houses, emporiums, places of worship etc. made

people right from the masons and head-loaders to architects and sculptors prosper. The

Peutinger Table shows even a Temple of Augustus at Muziris. State was in need of more

employees - from administrators to soldiers; and a part of the royal revenue passed on to

the public directly this way. It must be due to the impetus which got induced during this

period [the beginning of the Christian era], made Keralites carry on through generations,

an unusual affinity for gold.

Augustus [27 BC – 14 AD] controlled Rome militarily and politically, he put the

provinces in the hands of intelligent, less ambitious, and virtuous men; for the first time

since Rome began to build its empire, the provinces settled down into peace and

prosperity - this peace and prosperity would be the hallmark of the Age of Augustus.20

Romans now could spend a lot on luxury; developed many habits and in Pliny’s [77 AD]

words, “...the use of pepper has come so much into fashion ...its only desirable quality

being certain pungency; and yet it is for this that we import it all the way from India”! 21

of 8

Besides the prosperity of the Roman Empire and the huge demand for pepper

there, one discovery changed the fate of maritime trade - Hippalus! “Hippalus was the

pilot who by observing the location of the ports and the conditions of the sea first

discovered how to lay his course straight across the ocean. For at the same time when

with us the Etesian winds are blowing, on the shores of India the wind sets in from the

ocean, and this southwest wind is called Hippalus, from the name of him who first

discovered the passage across”.22

It should be noted that the previous voyages were not directly destined to Muziris.

Periplus Maris Erythraei tells us that the ships start sailing form Mussel Harbour

or from Berenike, 1,800 Stadia [283.5 Km] distant from the former. The harbours of both

are at the boundary of Egypt, and are bays opening from the Erythraean Sea.23 Romans

took over Ptolemaic [Hellenistic] Egypt in 30 BC and it provided them direct access to

India through the ports in the west coast of the Red Sea.

“Travelling by sea begins at midsummer before the Dog Star [Sirius] rises or

immediately after it’s rising, and it takes about thirty days to reach the Arabian port of

Cella. The most advantageous way of sailing to India is to set out from Cella; from that

port it is a 40 days’ voyage. The first trading station in India is Muziris” .24

Now onwards voyages became more fruitful, first by avoiding Arabian middlemen

for getting Indian goods, secondly, the route was shortest to the land of origin of pepper,

the most preferred commodity, and thirdly, as the procurement was direct, they could get

it in the best possible prices. Muziris, as observed by the unknown author of the Periplus

Maris Erythraei, was then abundant with ships sent by the Greeks. Samgham work

Akanaanooru testifies this scenario and provides us the name of the river also - Periyaar

[Periyar].25

“Travelers set sail from India on the return voyage at the beginning of the

Egyptian month Tybis, which is our December, or at all events before the sixth day of the

Egyptian Mechir, which works out at before January 13 in our calendar - so making it

possible to return home in the same year. They set sail from India with a southwest wind

and after entering the Red Sea; continue the voyage with a southwest or a south wind”.26

We know how the merchandise from the Damirica reached Roman Empire. The

port at Alexandria, the erstwhile capital of Ptolemaic Egypt was the hub. A detailed

sketch of the travel between Alexandria and Berenike is provided by Pliny: “Two miles

from Alexandria is the town of Juliopolis. The voyage up the Nile from there to Keft

[Coptos] 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 first, 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

of 8

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.”

“There is also another old Hydreuma known by the name of Trogodyticum, where

a guard is stationed on outpost duty at a caravanserai accommodating two thousand

travellers; it is seven miles from New Hydreuma. Then comes the town of Berenice where

there is a harbour 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”.27

Even though the port at Mussel Harbour - Myos Hormos - is nearer, neglecting

the advantage of gaining six or seven days from the port of Berenike overland, was of a

better option when considering the loss of about one month for covering the 230 nautical

miles between them because of the adverse winds. The Hydreumas provided in the

Egyptian desert region by the Roman authorities was a boon to the merchants who had to

travel between Coptos and Berenike.

At the south-east corner of the Berenike site a deep trench [no. 5], excavated over

three seasons, conducted by University of Delaware - Leiden University showed that this

part of the site was used over a long period. It was here that clear indications of trade

with India were found, such as large quantities of peppercorns and Indian ceramics.28 The

trench no.10 yielded a storage vessel with the largest amount of pepper found in an

archaeological context anywhere in the ancient world.

An amphora shred found in a trench [BE95-4] bore in it a Tamil-Brahmi graffito

Korapuman among a locus dated c.60-70AD.29 Red Sea coast [Quseir al-Qadim] earlier

provided two shreds having names Kanan and Catan recorded in them using Tamil-

Brahmi script, which is now dated to as of first century AD.30

The archaeologists from UCLA and the University of Delaware uncovered from

Berenike, the largest array of ancient Indian goods ever found along the Red Sea,

including the largest single cache of black pepper from antiquity - 16 pounds - ever

excavated in the former Roman Empire. The team dates these peppercorns to the first

century AD.31

The observation in Periplus Maris Erythraei32 is that the place [worth mentioning]

between Bacare and Comari is Balita with a fine harbor and a village by the shore. Balita

is identified as Vizhinjam.33 This coin in excellent condition must have reached

Vizhinjam during the third century BC itself.

Kapelois is the word for traders in Greek. Parallels in Dravidian etymology

represent ship [kappal - Malayalam and Tamil; kappali - Telugu]. Imagine a person

somewhere in the Damirican coast shouting “kappal... kappal...” on seeing a ship in the

of 8

vicinity, some 2000 years back. What might have he meant for kappal in those times - the

ship or the kapelois in it? Is the transformation of the thing denoted by kappal seems too

unjustifiable? When tapioca arrived in ship, much later, it came to be known among the

natives by the name kappa [derived from kappal kizhangu] [kizhangu = tuber]!

References and Notes:

1. Kraay / Hirmer 801; Svoronos 603; BMC Ptolemies page 40, 2;

SNG Copenhagen 132; Dewing 2752.

2. E. J. Bickermann, Chronology of the Ancient World, 2nd edition 1980.

3. Wikipedia.

4. Digital Egypt for Universities, University College, London.

5. Excavations at Berenike, Egypt; by Peter Francis, Jr.

6. Strabo, 16, 4, 6.

7. Diod., 2, 43, 4.

8. Black Pepper, Wikipedia (html).

9. Arrian, Indica, 21, 1.

10. Strabo, 2, 8, 4.

11. Page 19, vol.III, and page 29, vol. V, Studies in South Indian Coins.

12. Paula J. Turner, Roman Coins from India, London, 1989, page 28.

13. 1 Aureus = 25 Denarius.

14. 4 Sesterces (Sestertius in Greek) = 1 Denarius.

15. Pliny: Natural History 6.101. Teubner, 1933 reprint of the 1905 edition.

16. Coins Catalogue - 2, Madras Government Museum, Edgar Thurston, 1894, page12.

17. Politics. i. 6, 14-16. Translated by Welldon.

18. Lines 9-11, Akam 149, Akananooru, vol. II,

tr. & ed. Nenmara P. Viswanathan Nair, Kerala Sahitya Akademi, 1983.

19. Translation by the author.

20. Rome - The Age of Augustus, Richard Hooker, 1966.

21. Book XII, The Natural History of Trees. The Natural History. Pliny the Elder.

Ed. John Bostock, Taylor and Francis, London, 1855.

22. 57, Periplus Maris Erythraei - The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea: Travel and

Trade in the Indian Ocean by a Merchant of the First Century, translation of

William H. Schoff, Longmans, Green and Co., New York, 1912.

23. 1, Periplus Maris Erythraei.

24. Pliny: Natural History, 6.105. Teubner, 1933 reprint of the 1905 edition.

25. Chulliyaam periyaattu... Line 8, Akam 149.

26. Pliny; Natural History, 6.106. Teubner, 1933 reprint of the 1905 edition.

27. Pliny: Natural History, 6.102 & 103.

28. Berenike1994-1999, Archbase.

29. Berenike 1995, Preliminary Report, page 205.

of 8

30. Whitcomb and Johnson 1979: pl.27j; 1982: pl. 61.O; Salomon 1991: 738-736;

Berenike 1995, Preliminary Report, page 207.

31. Popular Science, April 1, 2004.

32. 58, Periplus Maris Erythraei.

33. Page 60, Pracheena Keralam, K. Sivasankaran Nair, India Books,

Thiruvananthapuram, August 2006.

Presented and got certified at the National Seminar on Recent Advances in Indian

Archaeological Studies organized jointly by Department of Archaeology, University of

Kerala and Archaeological Survey of India [on 20th February 2008 at

Thiruvananthapuram], discussing the coin of Ptolemy II [Philadelphos], the ruler of

Egypt [285 - 246 BC], found from Thiruvananthapuram.

Paper got published as the 4th one in the journal titled ‘Archaeology in Kerala:

Emerging Trends’ released during the joint annual conferences of The Indian

Archaeological Society [45th]; Indian Society for Prehistoric and Quaternary Studies [39th];

and The Indian History and Culture Society [35th], held by the Department of

Archaeology, University of Kerala, in collaboration with the Archaeological Survey of

India, Thrissur Circle, at Thiruvananthapuram on November 11, 2011.

[email protected]

kerala - the egyptian connection

Documents