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Amr b. al-'As refurbishment of Trajan’s canal: Red Sea contacts in the Aphrodito and Apollōnonas Anō Papyri

Trombley, Frank Richard 2009. Amr b. al-'As refurbishment of Trajan’s canal: Red Sea contacts in the Aphrodito and Apollōnonas Anō Papyri. Blue, Lucy, Cooper, John, Thomas, Ross and Whitewright, Julian, eds. Connected Hinterlands: Proceedings of Red Sea Project IV, Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 8, Oxford: Archaeopress, pp. 99-110.

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Abstract

The re-opening of Trajan’s canal was the first important public works project of the Arab governors of Egypt. Its importance lay in linking the maritime traffic of the Nile and eastern Mediterranean with the Red Sea at al-Qulzum (ancient Klysma) and al-Judda, the seaport of Makka. The initial aim was to provide the holy cities Makka and al-Madina with urgently needed food supplies in the aftermath of a severe famine. It subsequently became a means of supplying the annual pilgrim traffic to Makka. In what follows, I propose to look at the textual evidence for ‘Amr b. al-‘Ās’s initial decision to re-open the canal, and then go on to examine some key Greek papyri from Aphrodito that document the use of the canal during the early 8th century, with particular emphasis on the agricultural and manufactured goods that were being shipped to al-Qulzum. The wider purposes served by this waterway will then be reviewed in terms of Red Sea maritime contacts.

Item Type: Book Section
Date Type: Publication
Status: Published
Schools: History, Archaeology and Religion
Subjects: D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D051 Ancient History
Publisher: Archaeopress
ISBN: 9781407306315
Last Modified: 25 Oct 2016 02:36
URI: https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/31287

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