Isle of Birds

Information from the Periplus

Ancient Toponym: Isle of Birds
Place Type: Unspecified
Route: Eastern route
Next on Route: Troullas
Ancient Area: Arabia
Periplus Chapter: PME, Ch. 27

Topographic info

Longitude 48.38722
Latitude 13.9325
Location Source: nan

Modern Identification: Sikha
Modern Country: Yemen

Passage from the Periplus

Immediately after Eudaimon Arabia come a long coast and bay, populated by the villages of Nomads and Ichthyophagoi, that stretch for 2000 stades or more, at which point, beyond the projecting headland, is another port of trade on the coast, Kane, belonging to the kingdom of Eleazos, the frankincense-bearing land; near it are two barren islands, one called Orneon [“of the birds”] and the other Trullas, 120 stades offshore from Kane. Above it inland lies the metropolis of Saubatha, which is also the residence of the king. All the frankincense grown in the land is brought into Kane, as if to a warehouse, by camel as well as by rafts of a local type made of leathern bags, and by boats. It also carries on trade with the ports across the water—Barygaza, Skythia, Omana—and with its neighbor, Persis. (from the Casson translation)

Bibliography

Ancient source: nan

Bibliography: nan