Rhapta

Information from the Periplus

Ancient Toponym: Rhapta
Place Type: Port of trade
Route: Western route
Next on Route: Leukē Kōmē
Ancient Area: Africa
Periplus Chapter: PME, Ch. 16

Topographic info

Longitude 39.499647
Latitude -6.656811
Location Source: Pleiades

Modern Identification: perhaps in Rufiji delta
Modern Country: Tanzania

Passage from the Periplus

Two runs beyond this island comes the very last port of trade on the coast of Azania, called Rhapta [“sewn”], a name derived from the aforementioned sewn boats, where there are great quantities of ivory and tortoise shell. Very big-bodied men, tillers of the soil, inhabit the region; these behave, each in his own place, just like chiefs. The region is under the rule of the governor of Mapharitis, since by some ancient right it is subject to the kingdom of Arabia as first constituted. The merchants of Muza hold it through a grant from the king and collect taxes from it. They send out to it merchant craft that they staff mostly with Arab skippers and agents who, through continual intercourse and intermarriage, are familiar with the area and its language. (from the Casson translation)

Bibliography

Ancient source: nan

Bibliography: Datoo 1970

Bibliography: Kirwan, L. 1986. Rhapta, metropolis of Azania. Azania 21, p. 99-104: 102.