Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Indian Ocean trade in antiquity and global history / Matthew Adam Cobb -- From the Ptolemies to Augustus : Mediterranean integration into the Indian Ocean trade / Matthew Adam Cobb -- Indian Ocean trade : the role of Parthia / Leonardo Gregoratti -- Ethnographies of sailing : from the Red Sea to the Bay of Bengal in antiquity / Himanshu Prabha Ray -- Patchworking the West Coast of India : noes of the "Periplus of the Erythaean Sea" / Federico De Romanis -- Indian Ocean commerce in context : the economic and revenue significance of Red Sea trade in the ancient world economy / Raoul John McLaughlin -- Erythaean pearls in the Roman world : features and aspects if luxury consumption (late second century BCE-second century CE) / Pierre Schneider -- India abroad : evidence for ancient Indian maritime activity / Frederick M. Asher -- The universe from an egg : creation narratives in the ancient Indian and Greek texts / Fiona Mitchell -- The impact of the Indian Ocean trade on the ancient novel / Juan Pablo Sánchez Hernández -- Between Egypt and India : on the route of the ancient novel / Marco Palone.

"The period from the death of Alexander the Great to the rise of the Islam (c. late fourth century BCE to seventh century CE) saw a significant growth in economic, diplomatic and cultural exchange between various civilisations in Africa, Europe and Asia. This was in large part thanks to the Indian Ocean trade. Peoples living in the Roman Empire, Parthia, India, and Southeast Asia increasing had access to exotic foreign products, while the lands from which they derived, and the peoples inhabiting these lands, also captured the imagination, finding expression in a number of literary and poetic works. This book provides a range of chapters that explore the economic, political and cultural impact of this trade on these diverse societies, written by international experts working in the fields of Classics, Archaeology, South Asian studies, Near Eastern studies and Art History. The three major themes of the book are the development of this trade, how consumption and exchange impacted on societal developments, and how the Indian Ocean trade influenced the literary creations of Graeco-Roman and Indian authors. Academics, students, and those with a general interest in world history alike should find this book of interest. In particular, those whose research focuses on antiquity, as well as scholars working on later periods of Indian Ocean history, will find this work a valuable resource"--