- Barbarikon
Barbarikon was the name of a
sea port near the modern-day city ofKarachi ,Pakistan , important in theHellenistic era inIndian Ocean trade. It is mentioned briefly in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea ::"This river [the
Indus ] has seven mouths, very shallow and marshy, so that they are not navigable, except the one in the middle; at which by the shore, is the market-town, Barbaricum. Before it there lies a small island, and inland behind it is the metropolis ofScythia , Minnagara; it is subject toParthia n princes who are constantly driving each other out." Periplus, Chap. 38:"The ships lie at anchor at Barbaricum, but all their cargoes are carried up to the metropolis by the river, to the King. There are imported into this market a great deal of thin clothing, and a little spurious; figured
linen s,topaz ,coral ,storax ,frankincense , vessels of glass,silver andgold plate, and a little wine. On the other hand there are exportedcostus ,bdellium ,lycium ,nard ,turquoise ,lapis lazuli , Seric skins,cotton cloth, silk yarn, andindigo . And sailors set out thither with the Indian Etesian winds, about the, month of July, that is Epiphi: it is more dangerous then, but through these winds the voyage is more direct, and sooner completed." Periplus Chap. 39It is also a Greek version of the term
Barbaricum , designating areas outside civilization and/or theRoman Empire .
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