Even whom should be considered the earliest known king is contested: although C. Conti Rossini proposed that Zoskales of Axum, mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, should be identified with one Za Haqle mentioned in the Ethiopian King Lists ( a view embraced by later historians of Ethiopia such as Yuri M. Kobishchanov and Sergew Hable Sellasie ), G. W. B.

The first historical mention of the region is from the Massaliote Periplus, a sailing manual for merchants thought to date to the 6th century BCE, and Pytheas of Massilia wrote of his exploratory voyage to the island around 325 BC.

The region lay at the southernmost end of a traditional trading world that encompassed the Red Sea, the Hadhramaut coast of Arabia and the Indian coast, described in the 1st-century coasting guide that is called the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

The Massaliote Periplus is a more extensive fragment preserved in paraphrase in the Ora Maritima, a poem of the 4th century AD written by the Roman, Avienus.

A Greco-Roman text between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD, the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, mentioned the island of Menuthias, which is probably Unguja or Pemba.

Ghee is mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as a typical trade article around the first century CE Arabian Sea, and Roman geographer Strabo describes it as a commodity of Arabia and Sudan.

The other book, on Asia, is arranged similarly to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea of which a version of the 1st century AD survives.

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea or Periplus of the Red Sea (, ) is a Greco-Roman periplus, written in Greek, describing navigation and trading opportunities from Roman Egyptian ports like Berenice along the coast of the Red Sea, and others along Northeast Africa and the Indian subcontinent.

In the 10th-century manuscript, the text is attributed to Arrian, probably for no deeper reason than that the manuscript was adjacent to the Periplus Ponti Euxini written by him.

Opone is in the thirteenth entry of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, which in part states:

The ancient port city of Malao, situated in present-day Berbera in northwestern Somalia, is also mentioned in the Periplus:

Aksum is mentioned in the Periplus as an important market place for ivory, which was exported throughout the ancient world:

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes the trading empire of Himyar and Saba, regrouped under a single ruler Charibael ( Karab Il Watar Yuhan ' em II ), who is said to have been on friendly terms with Rome:

Charibaêl is stated in the Periplus to be “ a friend of the ( Roman ) emperors, thanks to continuous embassies and gifts ” and, therefore, Azania could fairly be described as a vassal or dependency of Rome, just as Zesan is described in the 3rd century Chinese history, the Weilüe.

Trade with the Indian harbour of Barygaza is described extensively in the Periplus.

The Greek city of Alexandria Bucephalous on the Jhelum River is mentioned in the Periplus, as well as in the Roman Peutinger Table:

He is today remembered for two substantial monographs, which both included many facsimiles, on early printed atlases and geographical mapping and medieval marine charts, respectively the Facsimile-Atlas to the Early History of Cartography ( 1889 ) and Periplus ( 1897 ).

Periplus is the Latinization of an ancient Greek word, περίπλους ( periplous, contracted from periploos ), literally " a sailing-around.

* The Periplus of Scymnus of Chios is dated to around 110 BCE.

An experienced performer and teacher of gamelan, Tenzer is the author of two books on the subject: Balinese Music ( Periplus: 1991 ; 2nd ed.

Meroe is mentioned succinctly in the 1st century AD Periplus of the Erythraean Sea:

The site is thought to be on the sothern boundary of a native Illyrian settlement, being mentioned in Periplus, a sailor's account of the Adriatic written in the middle of the 4th century BC by a Greek writer.

It is suggested that Chembur is the same place referred to as Saimur by the Arab writers ( 915 – 1137 ), Sibor in Kosmas Indikopleustes ( 535 ), Chemula in the Kanheri cave inscriptions ( 300 – 500 ), Symulla by the author of the Periplus of the Erythraean sea ( 247 ), Symulla or Timulla by Ptolemy ( 150 ), and perhaps even Perimula by Pliny ( A. D. 77 ).

A mention of the region in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, by an anonymous author, is one of the earliest references.

The lost port city of Muziris ( Near present day Cochin ) in the Chera kingdom, as well as the Early Pandyan Kingdom are mentioned in the Periplus as major centers of trade, pepper and other spices, metal work and semiprecious stones, between Damirica and the Roman Empire.

Kannur also finds mention as Naura in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek work of great antiquity.

Meticulous descriptions of the ports and items of trade around the Indian Ocean can be found in the Greek work Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ( see article on Indo-Roman trade ).

* The 1st century CE Greek work The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions several seaports on the west coast of India, from Barbarikon at the mouth of the Indus to Bharakuccha, Sopara, Kalyan and Muziris.

Roman trade with India according to the Periplus Maris Erythraei, 1st century CE.

The unknown author of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea describes this route and the ports and trade goods along the coasts of Africa and India around AD 70.

Indo-Roman trade and relations | Roman trade with ancient Coastal South West India according to the Periplus Maris Erythraei 1st century CE.

Many trade goods are mentioned in the Periplus, but some of the words naming trade goods are seen nowhere else in ancient literature, and so we can only guess as to what they might be.

According to the Periplus, numerous Greek seamen managed an intense trade with Muziris:

* The Massaliote Periplus, a description of trade routes along the coasts of Atlantic Europe, possibly dating to the 6th century BCE

* The Periplus Ponti Euxini, a description of trade routes along the coasts of the Black Sea, written by Arrian in the early 2nd century CE.

Indo-Roman trade and relations | Roman trade with India started from Egypt according to the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ( 1st century ).

Roman trade with India according to the Periplus Maris Erythraei, ( Periplus of the Erythraean Sea ) 1st century CE.

This is also suggested by the Periplus, a 1st century CE document on trade in the Indian Ocean, which describes the remnants of Greek presence ( shrines, barracks, wells, coinage ) in the strategic port of Barygaza ( Bharuch ) in Gujarat.

Meticulous descriptions of the ports and items of trade around the Indian Ocean can be found in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

The writer of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea credited Hippalus with discovering the direct route from the Red Sea to India over the Indian Ocean by plotting the scheme of the sea and the correct location of the trade ports along the Indian coast.

Opone is mentioned in the anonymous Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, written in the first century CE, as a port strategically located on the trade route that spanned the length of the Indian Ocean's rim.

The coastal trade from Berenice along the coast of the Indian Ocean is described in the anonymous 1st century AD handbook Periplus of the Erythraean Sea.

The trade relations between Rome and the East, including China, according to the 1st century navigation guide Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

While it is known from classical literature, especially the Periplus Maris Erythraei that there had been trade between the Roman Empire and India from the first century BC onwards, Cosmas's report is one of the few from individuals who had actually made the journey.