5 Roman Trade with the Far East: Evidence for Nabataean Middlemen in Puteoli

Behind gold for pepper: The players and the game of Indo-Mediterranean trade

“…117 As Taco Terpstra has argued, the presence of these safe spaces marked the 'collective separateness' of foreign residents from their host community and could serve to reinforce critical multiplex relationships. 118 In some cases, such religious spaces fostered a direct dialogue between traders of different backgrounds, as we find on Socotra. The Hoq cave, with its spectacular rock formations, provided what has been called a 'neutral religious space' for the multicultural inhabitants; we find the presence of incense burners throughout the cave complex, as well as inscribed religious symbols, ranging from those of broader significance (e.g.…”

“…112 Many diaspora communities also had shared religious spaces, which served not only as places to ensure divine sanction for commercial activities and agreements, but also as nodal points for socialization. These include the Nabatean temple of Dushara in Puteoli (of which inscriptional evidence survives) 113 and the so-called 'shrine of the Palmyrenes' excavated at Berenike, which accommodated the worship of the Roman imperial cult, the Palmyrene god Yarhibol, and the Egyptian god Harpokrates; 114 in fact, continued excavations at the port have yielded even more tantalizing evidence of foreign religious activity there, including material finds of south Asian character (e.g. images of the Buddha and a Sanskrit dedicatory inscription).…”