Sailing Around Erythraean Sea: Thirty Two

The unknown sailor who is now on Bahrein (Ancient name Syagrus) is giving an account of ships returning from Damirica and Barygaza:

Immediately beyond Syagrus, the bay of Ommana cuts deep into the coastline the width of it being six hundred stadia; and beyond this there are mountains, high and rocky and steep, inhabited by cave-dwellers, for five hundred stadia more and beyond this is a port for receiving the Sachalitic frankincense; the harbour is called Moscha, and ships from Cana call there regularly; and ships returning from Damirica and Barygaza, if the season is late, winter there, and trade with the king's officers exchanging their cloth and wheat and sesame oil for frankincense which lies in heep all over the Sachalitic country, open and unguarded, as if the place were under the protection of the gods; for neither openly nor by stealth can it be loaded on board ship without king's permission; if a single grain were loaded without this, the ship could not clear from the harbour.

My Search:-

1. The ships are returning from Damirica and Barygaza, Eastern and Western coasts of Indian subcontinent.

2. Sachalitic frankincense means, frankincense stored in Sachalitic islands. About the location of Sachalitic islands, there is a difference of opinion among scholars. Some hold the view that it is Khuriya Muriya islands off Oman coast. While others hold that it is Socotra islands off Yemen coast. Most probably it is Khuriya Muriya islands off Oman coast. Socotra islands are off Yemen coast.

3. Opinions of scholars are divided on the location of Moscha. Some are of the opinion that Moscha and Mocha are identical and is situated on the eastern coast of Red Sea.
They argue that Mocha and Moscha are etymologically connected: they share a common root. Mocha is a specific Yemeni port. Moscha is an ancient Greek term possibly refering to a wider area. It was widely known as Muza among the merchant community and the Muzaris (merchants native of Muza) were dispersed widely on the Eastern coast of Indian subcontinent, and their settlements were marked by Muziri, an ethnomym; Muziri on the northern bank of Cauvery in Trichy; Musiri village in Pattukottai Taluk of Tanjavur district; Musiri village in Wallajah Taluk of Vellore district; Musiri, on the banks of Puthur Lake Tamil Nadu; Musiri village in Dumbriguda block of Visakhapatnam District of Andhra Pradesh; and finally in North Paravur of Ernakulam District, Kerala. About this the unknown sailor mentioned in Section But unfortunately the village is erazed from the toponyms/ethnomyms. But here Moscha has nothing to do with Muza; both are different: Muza in Yemen and Moscha in Oman. Khuriya Muriya islands' proximity confirms it as Muscat.

4. Bay of Omanna: Bay of Sohar, an ancient city of which Pliny the Elder called Omanah and Koine Greek sailor termed Ommana.

End of the Section 



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