ABSTRACT
This chapter will trace the initial development of trade in the Indian Ocean and the resulting patterns of wealth, power, and creativity. The period from the fourth millennium to the sixth century BC will be examined, during which the Indian Ocean trading world with its spices, metals, and gems was the preserve of lands located on its periphery. It will first deal with the period down to the eighteenth century BC in which Mesopotamia was in the forefront, closely followed by the Indus Valley and Egypt. It will then examine the millennium from the sixteenth to the sixth century BC in which Egypt took the limelight, noting Egypt’s shifting trading alliances in the Mediterranean extension of the Indian Ocean trade.
