Loci and the legio III Cyrenaica in new inscriptions from the Roman emerald mines of Wadi Sikait (Eastern Desert of Egypt)
Oller Guzmán, Joan, 1984- (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

Date:	2022
Abstract:	This article presents epigraphic fi ndings from three seasons (2020-2022) of the Sikait Project1 in the Roman emerald mines of ancient Senskis,2 located within the area known in ancient times as the Smaragdos region and corresponding, grosso modo, to the current Wadi el Gemal National Park, in a portion of the Eastern Desert northwest of the port of Berenike and immediately southwest of Marsa Alam. This zone was famous in the Roman and late antique periods for being the only available source of emeralds. Several ancient authors refer to it, such as Strabo (17. 1. 45), Pliny the Elder (HN 37. 17. 65), Claudius Ptolemy (Geog. 4. 5. 15), Olympiodorus (FHN 3. 309), the fourth-century monk and bishop Epiphanius of Salamis (FHN 3. 305) and the sixth-century monk Cosmas Indicopleustes (Top. 11. 21). Archeological surveys carried out in this area have allowed us to document an extensive network of settlements dedicated in antiquity to the extraction of emeralds.
Rights:	Aquest material està protegit per drets d'autor i/o drets afins. Podeu utilitzar aquest material en funció del que permet la legislació de drets d'autor i drets afins d'aplicació al vostre cas. Per a d'altres usos heu d'obtenir permís del(s) titular(s) de drets.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Published in:	Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik, Vol 223 (2022) , p. 109-119, ISSN 2747-6448, ISBN 2039-7895

13 p, 4.5 MB

The record appears in these collections:
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles