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Rhapta (Ancient Greek:Ῥάπτα[1] and Ῥαπτά[2]) was anemporion said to be on the coast ofSoutheast Africa, first described in the 1st century CE. Its location has not been firmly identified, although there are a number of plausible candidate sites. The ancientPeriplus of the Erythraean Sea described Rhapta as "the last emporion ofAzania", two days' travel south of theMenouthias islands (Chapter 16). ThePeriplus also states that the city and port were ruled bySouth Arabian vassals of theHimyarite kingdom, particularly a certain "Mapharitic chieftain."[3][4]
According toClaudius Ptolemy,Diogenes, a merchant in theIndian trade, wasblown off course from his usual route from India, and after travelling 25 days south along the coast of Africa arrived at Rhapta, located where the river of the same name enters theIndian Ocean opposite the island ofMenouthias. Diogenes further describes this river as having its source near theMountains of the Moon, near the swamp whence theNile was said to also have its source. Ptolemy also mentions another Greek captain, called Theophilos, who took twenty days to travel from theHorn of Africa to Rhapta.[5]
Rhapta is also mentioned byStephanus of Byzantium[1] andCosmas Indicopleustes.
Stephanus of Byzantium and Ptolemy write that Rhapta was ametropolis ofBarbaria (Ancient Greek:Βαρβαρίας).[1][6]
According toHuntingford, it is certain that the people of Rhapta did not speak aBantu language, since the 1st century AD is too early for Bantu speakers to havereached the East African coast.[7] It is possible that the survivors of the 1st century inhabitants are theIraqw,Gorowa,Alagwa andBurungi.[8] Roland Anthony Oliver states that there is no evidence where Greco-Roman sources allude to the inhabitants of Rhapta being ofBantu origin.[9]
It was named Rhapta (meaning sewn in Greek),[5] due to the sewed boats (ῥαπτῶν πλοιαρίων) which were used there.[10]
G.W.B. Huntingford lists five proposed locations for Rhapta:
Huntingford dismisses the first two as being too close toZanzibar andPemba islands (which he identifies with Menouthis, and follows the author of thePeriplus in locating Menouthis north of Rhapta). He observes that there is no river at Msasani, and thus concludes Kisuyu or the Rufiji delta are the most likely candidates. However, J. Innes Miller points out thatRoman coins have been found on Pemba; that the Ruvu emerges near theKilimanjaro andMeru mountains—which confirm the account of Diogenes; and that an old inscription inSemitic characters has been found near thePangani estuary, which make Pemba a likely candidate for Rhapta.[citation needed] However, the first evidence of inhabitation starts solely in the seventh century at a site calledTumbe on the northern end of the island,[11] limpidly contradicting these assertions. Furthermore, John Perkins states this: "Some Roman, Byzantine, and Sasanian coins are reported from the East African coast; however, none of these come from excavations, and the surrounding evidence suggests that they probably did not reach the Swahili Coast in antiquity. Evidence for contacts and trade between this part of Africa and the Roman and Persian worlds is mainly recorded in the limited written records."[12]
In recent years, professorFelix Chami has found archaeological evidence for extensive Roman trade on Mafia Island and, not far away, on the mainland, near the mouth of the Rufiji River, which he dated to the first few centuries CE.[13]
Which goods were traded at Rhapta is disputed. ThePeriplus only states that it was a source ofivory andtortoise shell. J. Innes Miller argues that Rhapta formed an important link in the trade route between what is now modernIndonesia and consumers in the Mediterranean region. Miller notes that ancient authorities (e.g.Herodotus 3.111) state thatcinnamon andcassia bark were harvested in Africa, yet these species until recently were found only inSoutheast Asia, which would hint at some conflation. Miller points to the well-documented cultural links between Indonesia and East Africa (e.g., theMalagasy language is related toMalay, both people use doubleoutrigger canoes). He then posits that the use ofmonsoons began far earlier than previously thought, allowing traders to bring their spices westward perhaps as early as the2nd millennium BC.
It is possible that both the account of thePeriplus and at least part of Miller's theory are correct, for thePeriplus focuses on the availability of tortoise shell, and its silence about other goods should not be taken as evidence that other goods were not traded.
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