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Palmyra's maritime trade

Abstract

Palmyra, often referred to as the Pearl of the Desert, has embodied par excellence the caravan city. The city's splendid remains have long been considered as the reflection of the local merchant class' wealth and overall involvement in the long-distance overland trade to the Persian Gulf and as far as China. This paper explores Palmyra's merchant long-term economic strategies and choices. Through the careful examination of reliefs and inscriptions both in Palmyra and in Egypt, it can challenge a vision of Palmyra as a city engaged in solely overland trade and argue for much wider maritime commercial interests. Technical relief details point to the importance of maritime shipping, which can be specifically related to ship ownership and commerce with the Mediterranean as well as the Indian Ocean, with the development of a presence on the Nile and in Egypt in order to control or at least secure access to major transshipment areas. With the rise of competition, mainly due to the development of maritime routes via the Red Sea, Palmyra had to increasingly consider the effective use of different transport means to beat competition by timely delivery of luxury goods to competitive Mediterranean markets. It also had to bypass intermediary markets in order to obtain goods at their production origin. As a result, the city chose to invest in maritime ventures.
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Thursday, August 1, 2024
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Thursday, August 1, 2024
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Dates and versions

hal-03508506 , version 1 (01-08-2022)

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  • HAL Id : hal-03508506 , version 1

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Katia Schörle. Palmyra's maritime trade. Raja, R.; Lapatin, K. Palmyra and the East, Brepols, pp.23-28, 2022, 978-2-503-59825-3. ⟨hal-03508506⟩
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