The Periplus Maris Erythraei, translated today as voyage around the Erythrean Sea, is a manuscript compiled by an unknown author, thought to have been a Greek trader or sailor, during the first century A.D. The Erythrean Sea is an area that included the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Arden, and the Indian Ocean. The document contains descriptions of port towns and bustling city centers of particular trade cities of noticeable importance. Traders would come from all over the known world ranging all the way from Arabia through China. The author also included details of commodities traded within these cities, and at which point during the year should trade be conducted. For example, the luxury of ivory, commonly found in the African continent, is commonly
