《厄立特里亚海周航记》版本及年代作者研究叙要

A Study of the Edition,Age and Author of The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea

厄立特里亚(Erythrean)海是古希腊人对印度洋及其支域红海与波斯湾等广大海域的称谓,不仅包括今日的红海、阿曼湾和直到印度河等地区,而且包括了从孟加拉湾顶直到桑给巴尔(Zanzibar)的印度洋。^(①)Erythrean在希腊语中意为“红色”,古代作家对该词红色意义的起源有着不同理解。公元前2世纪古希腊史学家和地理学家阿伽萨勒奇德斯(Agatharkhidēs)认为该词并不是指“红色的海”,而是来自一个神秘的波斯语Erythras:Erythras为上古时期一位神秘的波斯国王,相传其首次跨过红海,故这片海域便以其名命名,古代希腊语称其为Ἐρυθρὰ θάλασσα(Erythra thalassa)。^(②)

The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea as one of the Periplus series of ancient Greek-Roman,was written by the anonymous Greek from Egypt in the middle of the 1st century based on his navigation and trade experience in the Indian Ocean.Its two manuscripts respectively collected in Heidelberg University and British Museum.As the only surviving work about the direct knowledge of the Indian Ocean in the early Greek-Roman world,it provides the most complete and authoritative record of the navigation and trade in the Ancient Indian Ocean.It is of great value to study the early Indian Ocean trade,the history of the maritime Silk Road and the formation of knowledge system about the Indian Ocean in the ancient Greek-Roman.