Hellenistic Sudan and Eritrea

[PMBardunias]

I'm looking for sources on the peoples of hellenistic Sudan and Eritrea. Any suggestions on ancient and modern sources are welcome.

[oudysseos]

Hellenism in the East Amelie Kuhrt, Susan Sherwin-White ed.
A compilation, I read the article The Arab-Persian Gulf under the Seleucids by Jean-Francois Salles- a lot more was going on there than you might think. I don't remember if there was anything specifically about the Sudan, but it's worth a look.

You also might look into the Ptolemies, such as The House of Ptolemy by Edwyn Bevan. The link is to a full online text at LacusCurtius. The Ptolies did move fairly far south, but I don't know if they reached the Sudan as such.

Hope that helps!

-Padraic

[Jona Lendering]

The excavations at Berenike are highly relevant, and fortunately published online: here.

[oudysseos]

I guess for the Hellenistic period you're basically talking Meroe, Kush, Aksum etc. The wikipedia articles (yes, I know) have links to some interesting material such as Nubian Queens in the Nile Valley and Afro-Asiatic Cultural History by Carolyn Fluehr-Lobban, downloadable as a pdf.

[PMBardunias]

Thank you all for the references.

[Peter Raftos]

Hellenistic Kuwait perhaps
[url:1ccv91x8]http://www.ana-mpa.gr/anaweb/user/showplain?maindoc=6119012&maindocimg=5576654&service=102[/url]

[keravnos]

I'm looking for sources on the peoples of hellenistic Sudan and Eritrea. Any suggestions on ancient and modern sources are welcome.

The Hellenistic kingdom of the time, nearer to those, aka Ptolemaic Epypt, called the shores of the Red Sea, Troglodutike. It founded colonies there to hunt for Elephants which it used to counter the vast Indian Elephant armies of the Seleukids. In the time of Octavian a vast trade was established between India and Egypt, which brought much wealth to all the coastal cities of the region, which would be used as bases for the ships to and fro India.

This is from the deffinition of "Hoplitai Troglodutikes" unit, I had the priviledge of helping create, that talks of those colonies, founded by the Ptolemies in that region...

{
Ptolemaioi were very interested in the southern regions of their domain. Akte Troglodutike or the coast of the Troglodutes was perhaps the "wild, unexplored" frontier of the time. The rising elephant hunts as well as the trade with Sabaioi and Indoi, led to the founding of a series of Colonies, with Filotera, "founded by Satyr [a Ptolemaioi general] when he was sent hunting elephants in Troglodytiki" (Strabo,16,4-5) being the first. Soon enough, Arsinoe Troglodytiki, Berenike Troglodytiki, Ptolemais of the Elephantotheron (Elephant hunters) were founded.
}

other sources...
http://www.attalus.org/bc3/year246.html
From there, check n. 23 aka
Ptolemaeus sends out elephant-hunters, who found the cities of Philotera and Ptolemais in the country of the Troglodytes.

also check n. 21
Ergamenes the king of Ethiopia suppresses the priests in his kingdom.
@ Diodorus 3.6'3-4.

The name of the king of Ethiopia seems to suggest "hellenization" of the King and his court to a degree (at least so far as names are concerned), which was the case in many other lands. This is something worth looking into.

http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_histo ... nice_(port )

This would be a good start,
http://books.google.gr/books?id=a5U-8b- ... t&resnum=6

This too would be a beginning for sources...
http://books.google.gr/books?id=yjbQnqI ... t&resnum=3

[Peter Raftos]

An interesting study of Hellenistic Crimea.
[url:zx4g7pcf]http://worldarchaeology.net/publications/downloads/GreekCrimea.pdf[/url]

[MeinPanzer]

An interesting study of Hellenistic Crimea.
[url:1f39118i]http://worldarchaeology.net/publications/downloads/GreekCrimea.pdf[/url]

What does this have to do with Sudan or Eritrea?

[Peter Raftos]

Ruben you are correct ...very little. Only one of the references in the bibliography is really of any value as an overview of the period. The Randsborg referenceCentre and Periphery in the Hellenistic World. Aaarhus University Press. (1993).

It would perhaps be best to look at the variety of works by Dr Stanley M. Burstein, California State University, who has been a leader in this field for decades. See [url:1fo1kdpm]http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/history/burstein.htm[/url]