Roman Foodprints at Berenike: Archaeobotanical Evidence of Subsistence and Trade in the Eastern Desert of EgyptDuring the Graeco-Roman period, Berenike served as a gateway to the outside world together with Myos Hormos. Commodities were imported from Africa south of the Sahara, Arabia, and India into the Greek and Roman Empire, the importance of both harbors evidenced by several contemporary sources. Between 1994 and 2002, eight excavation seasons were conducted at Berenike by the University of Delaware and Leiden University, the Netherlands. This book presents the results of the archaeobotanical research of the Roman deposits. It is shown that the study of a transit port such as Berenike, located at the southeastern fringe of the Roman Empire, is highly effective in producing new information on the import of all kinds of luxury items. In addition to the huge quantities of black pepper, plant remains of more than 60 cultivated plant species could be evidenced, several of them for the first time in an archaeobotanical context. For each plant species detailed information on its (possible) origin, its use, its preservation qualities, and the Egyptian subfossil record is provided. The interpretation of the cultivated plants, including the possibilities of cultivation in Berenike proper, is supported by ethnoarchaeobotanical research that has been conducted over the years. The reconstruction of the former environment is based on the many wild plant species that were found in Berenike and the study of the present desert vegetation. |
Contents
| 1 | |
Romes Eastern Trade | 9 |
Natural Vegetation | 21 |
Living in the Desert | 38 |
Archaeobotanical Research | 49 |
Peaches in the Desert | 139 |
Interpretative Summary and Conclusion | 152 |
Catalogue of Taxa | 169 |
| 181 | |
Index | 194 |
Back Cover | 201 |
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Common terms and phrases
Ababda Ababda nomads Acacia tortilis Africa Arabic archaeobotanical record Balanites aegyptiaca barley bean Berenike Berenike and Shenshef black pepper botanical camel centuries AD desiccated cereals Citrullus colocynthis coastal plain coconut colocynthis Color Plates section Commiphora Cordia date palm doam doam palm Drar dried Eastern Desert edible Egypt Egyptian Elba emblic endocarp excavations flowers found at Berenike Gebel Elba area grapes harvested imported Indian Kalalat kitchen gardens located long pepper Mediterranean area mentioned mesocarp Myos Hormos Nile Valley nilotica nucifera olive origin Pauptit Figure peppercorns Periplus Photograph by R. T. J. Piper nigrum plant remains plant species Pliny NH plum present Preservation Prunus Quseir rachis Red Sea Red Sea coast rice samples sativum Schweinfurth seed coat sixth centuries sorghum specimens spice spikelets spinosa subfossil sugar date Täckholm Theophrastus Theophrastus EIP trade tree trench Trench/midden vegetation ventral vulgaris wadi branches wheat wild καὶ