Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c23.s23.t4.23

c23.s23.t4.23

A recently published papyrus, purchased in Egypt in 1980, sheds light on the importation into Roman Egypt of Indian products. The incomplete papyrus, dated on palaeographic grounds to the mid-second century A.D., was written on both sides. One side (obverse) records a business loan drawn up in Muziris. The other side (reverse), written in Alexandria, mentions the shipment of crates of Gangetic nard, ivory, and bales of cloth from Muziris. The text recounts the arrival of the merchandise into one of the Egyptian Red Sea ports whose name is lost, its conveyance by camel across the Eastern Desert to Coptos, and its loading onto a Nile ship for transport to Alexandria. The business contract recorded on the papyrus covers the period of shipment from Muziris until the arrival of the cargo at Alexandria and mentions the specific type of merchandise, the quantity, and value as well as the 25 percent tax rate levied by Roman customs officials.