Musings: The murky goings on in the Middle East in olden times
The amazing Arabs were sailing longer distances than Columbus 1500 years before Columbus ever set sail.
For several centuries these Arab sailors provided Europe with many of their luxury goods, while managing to keep many of their sources a complete secret. These Arab sailors were the means by which inventions and thoughts were transported from the Far East to Europe, causing the Greek and Roman Empires to develop into great and sophisticated civilizations.
The Arabs were also accomplished pirates. However, they were also instrumental in shifting the balance of power in the region.
How? With elephants! Believe it or not, the murky goings on in the Middle East started with elephants.
Elephants? Yes elephants. Specifically Loxodonta africana, the African elephant.
Our story flashes back to the time of Alexander the Great. He ruled with an iron fist. Things were going well. All the generals under him behaved themselves.
Then, one day, Mr. Alexander died of acute pancreatis. One Mr. Sbarounis CN., of the Second Propedeutic Department of Surgery, University of Thessaloniki, Ippokrateion Hospital, Greece, has deeply researched the final days of Alexander and has concluded that Alexander the Great died of acute pancreatitis secondary to heavy alcohol consumption and a very rich meal.
Whatever be the reason of his death, the fact remains that the invincible Alex was no more.
Immediately after his death, before the period of mourning was over, his generals divided Greece up amongst themselves.
Soon these generals began warring with each other for greater control. In the Middle East, this translated into a struggle between the Seleucids of Damascus and the Ptolomies of Egypt.
The crux of the matter was that the Seleucid Army in Syria had elephants and the Ptolemies in Egypt had none.
This was a great imbalance of power during times of war.
Elaphants, as we know, are beasts that inspire fear and terror. Being trampled by an elephant is not what the soldiers of the Ptolemies looked forward to.
In order to counteract this tactical deficit, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Egypt decided to import African elephants into his army. In order to do this as fast as possible, he needed to move elephants from central Africa north . So he developed a series of ports on the Red Sea complete with elephant stopping stations. Elephants were then captured, trained, and eventually moved from the southern parts of Africa to Egypt via ships and ports. As this all took time.
The building of ports and ships on the Red Sea was no simple matter. First of all, there were only one or two small ports in existence. Egypt had always looked north to the Mediterranean, and south, down the Nile River. They had an impressive navy on the Nile River, but no history of sailing on the Red Sea up to this time. Added to this, the Red Sea was famous for its Arab pirates. These pirates lurked in all the bays and harbors along the sea's edge. Thus it was very difficult for Egyptians and others to do trade on the Red Sea in the face of this certain piracy.
Therefore, the construction of a series of ports along the coast and the construction of war ships was mandatory before the Ptolemies could make the seas usable for their purposes. Added to this were the physical difficulties of sailing on the Red Sea. The Red Sea is dotted with many rocky shores, coral reefs, and is also susceptible to powerful winds from the south west. Any boat venturing into strange waters, with inexperienced sailors was at risk from the elements, not just the pirates.
In those days it was common for merchants to hire archers to sail on their merchant boats to help withstand Arab pirates.
However the Arab pirates could not be ignored for long and a truce was made with them. The Arab pirates then started themselves moving the goods legally from point A to point B earning money in the process. In other words they became legit. They also started specializing in niche markets like modern marketers.
Since most of the business was in the frankincense, and since frankincense was harvested only once a year, the Arabs needed something to occupy themselves (apart from piracy) for the rest of the year. Being skillful sailors, they found a way to transport elephants on their ships for the Ptolemeic rulers. One offshoot of this is that African elephants would be used to decorate the buildings in Petra (in Jordan).
Then in 85 BC, the Arabs accomplished an amazing victory. As the Roman army was entering the Middle East, Seleucid power totally crumbled. The citizens of Damascus appealed to the Arab King Aretas III (86 - 62 BC) asking him to enter the city and protect them from the invading and marauding forces in the land. He did so, and thus totally clinched the orient trade with Europe. Now all trade had to pass through Arab hands, whether it was from the Orient via the maritime route and the South Arabia ports to Egypt, or from the Orient via the Silk Road through Mesopotamia. This made the Arabs total masters of luxury trade.
Once the Romans arrived, the Arabs began the dangerous game of guessing which rising Roman power to back. They correctly guessed that they should back Julius Caesar, but failed to back those who assassinated him. During this whole time, the Arabs endeavored to maintain friendly relations with the Romans who were quickly becoming their principle customers.
Maintaining control of the Red Sea, however, was vital to their being able to maintain a monopoly on their trade. Added to this, they tried to keep the source of their goods a secret, spreading many false tales about where their sources were, and the difficulties they had obtaining their goods.
Some years later, the Arab trade monopoly on the Red Sea was challenged when Cleopatra and Antony were defeated at the battle of Antuim. Cleopatra then had sixty warships dragged from the Nile overland to the Red Sea, where she and Antony planned to escape to the famed land of India.
The Arabs, alarmed at the size of such a naval force on the Red Sea, and at their planed destination, took it upon themselves to attack and burn the entire Egyptian fleet. (Josephus) This helped cement their relationship with the new Roman powers, as well as protected their interests on the Red Sea.
This also led to the deaths of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony.
Arab power had been consolidated.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This article copyright © Prakash Subbarao (E-mail: info@datadubai.com)
For several centuries these Arab sailors provided Europe with many of their luxury goods, while managing to keep many of their sources a complete secret. These Arab sailors were the means by which inventions and thoughts were transported from the Far East to Europe, causing the Greek and Roman Empires to develop into great and sophisticated civilizations.
The Arabs were also accomplished pirates. However, they were also instrumental in shifting the balance of power in the region.
How? With elephants! Believe it or not, the murky goings on in the Middle East started with elephants.
Elephants? Yes elephants. Specifically Loxodonta africana, the African elephant.
Our story flashes back to the time of Alexander the Great. He ruled with an iron fist. Things were going well. All the generals under him behaved themselves.
Then, one day, Mr. Alexander died of acute pancreatis. One Mr. Sbarounis CN., of the Second Propedeutic Department of Surgery, University of Thessaloniki, Ippokrateion Hospital, Greece, has deeply researched the final days of Alexander and has concluded that Alexander the Great died of acute pancreatitis secondary to heavy alcohol consumption and a very rich meal.
Whatever be the reason of his death, the fact remains that the invincible Alex was no more.
Immediately after his death, before the period of mourning was over, his generals divided Greece up amongst themselves.
Soon these generals began warring with each other for greater control. In the Middle East, this translated into a struggle between the Seleucids of Damascus and the Ptolomies of Egypt.
The crux of the matter was that the Seleucid Army in Syria had elephants and the Ptolemies in Egypt had none.
This was a great imbalance of power during times of war.
Elaphants, as we know, are beasts that inspire fear and terror. Being trampled by an elephant is not what the soldiers of the Ptolemies looked forward to.
In order to counteract this tactical deficit, Ptolemy II Philadelphus, the ruler of Egypt decided to import African elephants into his army. In order to do this as fast as possible, he needed to move elephants from central Africa north . So he developed a series of ports on the Red Sea complete with elephant stopping stations. Elephants were then captured, trained, and eventually moved from the southern parts of Africa to Egypt via ships and ports. As this all took time.
The building of ports and ships on the Red Sea was no simple matter. First of all, there were only one or two small ports in existence. Egypt had always looked north to the Mediterranean, and south, down the Nile River. They had an impressive navy on the Nile River, but no history of sailing on the Red Sea up to this time. Added to this, the Red Sea was famous for its Arab pirates. These pirates lurked in all the bays and harbors along the sea's edge. Thus it was very difficult for Egyptians and others to do trade on the Red Sea in the face of this certain piracy.
Therefore, the construction of a series of ports along the coast and the construction of war ships was mandatory before the Ptolemies could make the seas usable for their purposes. Added to this were the physical difficulties of sailing on the Red Sea. The Red Sea is dotted with many rocky shores, coral reefs, and is also susceptible to powerful winds from the south west. Any boat venturing into strange waters, with inexperienced sailors was at risk from the elements, not just the pirates.
In those days it was common for merchants to hire archers to sail on their merchant boats to help withstand Arab pirates.
However the Arab pirates could not be ignored for long and a truce was made with them. The Arab pirates then started themselves moving the goods legally from point A to point B earning money in the process. In other words they became legit. They also started specializing in niche markets like modern marketers.
Since most of the business was in the frankincense, and since frankincense was harvested only once a year, the Arabs needed something to occupy themselves (apart from piracy) for the rest of the year. Being skillful sailors, they found a way to transport elephants on their ships for the Ptolemeic rulers. One offshoot of this is that African elephants would be used to decorate the buildings in Petra (in Jordan).
Then in 85 BC, the Arabs accomplished an amazing victory. As the Roman army was entering the Middle East, Seleucid power totally crumbled. The citizens of Damascus appealed to the Arab King Aretas III (86 - 62 BC) asking him to enter the city and protect them from the invading and marauding forces in the land. He did so, and thus totally clinched the orient trade with Europe. Now all trade had to pass through Arab hands, whether it was from the Orient via the maritime route and the South Arabia ports to Egypt, or from the Orient via the Silk Road through Mesopotamia. This made the Arabs total masters of luxury trade.
Once the Romans arrived, the Arabs began the dangerous game of guessing which rising Roman power to back. They correctly guessed that they should back Julius Caesar, but failed to back those who assassinated him. During this whole time, the Arabs endeavored to maintain friendly relations with the Romans who were quickly becoming their principle customers.
Maintaining control of the Red Sea, however, was vital to their being able to maintain a monopoly on their trade. Added to this, they tried to keep the source of their goods a secret, spreading many false tales about where their sources were, and the difficulties they had obtaining their goods.
Some years later, the Arab trade monopoly on the Red Sea was challenged when Cleopatra and Antony were defeated at the battle of Antuim. Cleopatra then had sixty warships dragged from the Nile overland to the Red Sea, where she and Antony planned to escape to the famed land of India.
The Arabs, alarmed at the size of such a naval force on the Red Sea, and at their planed destination, took it upon themselves to attack and burn the entire Egyptian fleet. (Josephus) This helped cement their relationship with the new Roman powers, as well as protected their interests on the Red Sea.
This also led to the deaths of Cleopatra and Marc Anthony.
Arab power had been consolidated.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This article copyright © Prakash Subbarao (E-mail: info@datadubai.com)
posted by Prakash Subbarao's Blog at
9:48 PM
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