Ocelis
Ocelis or Okelis (Ancient Greek: Ὄκηλις ἐμπόριον/Okêlis emporion; and Ὤκηλις) was a port on the Red Sea, on the Arabian side near or at Bab al-Mandeb, the strait separating the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden, part of the ancient reckoning of Arabia Felix. It is placed by Ptolemy a little to the north of the straits of the Red Sea.[1] It belonged to the Elisari, and was subject to Cholebus.[2] The place also sometimes appears as Acila or Akila (Ἀκίλα).[3][4][5]
Ocelis belonged to the South Arabian kingdom of Saba-Himyar and is known as a stop on the maritime route from Egypt to India in the 1st century CE. In the 1st century, Periplus Maris Erythraei describes it as "not so much a port of trade as harbour, watering station, and the first place to put in for those sailing on".[6] Pliny the Elder reports their destination and describes Ocelis as the first stop on the sea journey from Egypt to India.[7]
Ocelis was visited by traders coming over from the African side on rafts with aromatics, myrrh, ivory, and tortoise shell; this being the only report of African navigation in this work.[6]
The site of Ocelis is tentatively identified as at Khor Ghurayrah (Shaykh Sa'id) in Yemen.[8][9] During the 18th century, a port identified as Ocelis[10] was known as Ziden. It was described as a settlement of 500 houses with over a hundred ships in the anchorage.[11]
References
[edit]- ↑ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 1.7.4, 1.15.11, 6.7.7, 8.22.7.
- ↑ Hudson, Geog. Min. tom. i. p. 14; Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 6.7.7.
- ↑ Strabo. Geographica. Vol. p. 769. Page numbers refer to those of Isaac Casaubon's edition.
- ↑ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. 28, 32 Book 6.23.26, 28, 32.
- ↑ Ptolemy. The Geography. Vol. 6.7.7.
- 1 2 Casson, L. 1989. The Periplus Maris Erythraei. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
- ↑ Pliny. Naturalis Historia. Book 6.104.
- ↑ Talbert, Richard, ed. (2000). Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World. Princeton University Press. p. 4. ISBN 978-0-691-03169-9, with accompanying Map-by-Map Directory.
- ↑ Lund University. Digital Atlas of the Roman Empire.
- ↑ Alexander Macbean, "Acila", A Dictionary of Ancient Geography, London: G. Robinson and T. Cadell, 1773 OCLC 642566361.
- ↑ "An extract of a journey through part of Arabia Felix", p. 167 in A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages, London: John Ray, 1705 OCLC 219498067.
- Nobbe, C. F. A., ed. 1843–45. Claudii Ptolemaei Geographia. 3 vols. Lipsiae (Leipzig): Carolus Tauchnitus
- Rackham, H. 1997–2001. Natural history: in ten volumes / Pliny; with an English translation by H. Rackham, W. H. S. Jones, D. E. Eichholz. 10 vols. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Original edition, 1938–1963.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Acila". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1854–1857). "Ocelis". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography. London: John Murray.
12°45′59″N 43°39′03″E / 12.766503°N 43.65096°E
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