The Potsherds of Berenike: What Tamil-Brahmi Graffito Reveals About Indian Ocean Sailors on the Red Sea

Archaeologists working along the dry, windswept coastline of the Red Sea have long traded the spectacular for the mundane. In the stratigraphic sequences of Berenike, an ancient Egyptian port-town active during the Roman period, the most valuable finds are often the smallest. Amidst the discarded layers of amphorae—large, two-handled clay storage jars—and organic waste, researchers recovered a broken piece of pottery that rewrites the social history of the Indian Ocean trade network.

The find is a single potsherd belonging to an amphora manufactured in Egypt. Scratched into its surface is a short, personal graffito written in Tamil-Brahmi, a regional adaptation of the ancient Brahmi script used to write the Old Tamil language. Unlike formal stone inscriptions commissioned by kings, this scratch on clay was made by an individual. It provides direct evidence of the physical presence of Tamil-speaking mariners and merchants living and working on the shores of Roman Egypt during the first century CE.

The Stratigraphy of a Roman Port

Berenike was established in the third century BCE by Ptolemy II, but it reached its commercial peak under Roman rule. Ships departed from the Indian ports of Muziris and Kodumanal, riding the monsoon winds across the Arabian Sea, to unload luxury goods like black pepper, textiles, and gemstones at Berenike. From there, the goods were transported by camels across the Eastern Desert to the Nile, eventually reaching Alexandria and Rome.

Excavations led by Steven E. Sidebotham of the University of Delaware and Willeke Wendrich of the University of California, Los Angeles, targeted the trash dumps and harbor structures of the ancient port. During these excavations, researchers recovered thousands of pottery fragments. Among the Roman and Mediterranean wares, archaeologists identified several sherds of Indian pottery, including fine wheel-made red ware and black-and-tan ware.

The most significant find, however, was the fragment of an Egyptian-made Roman amphora bearing a Tamil-Brahmi inscription. In archaeological terms, finding a local Tamil script scratched onto an Egyptian-made vessel is highly significant. It indicates that the writer did not merely ship a sealed jar from India; rather, they were present in Egypt, using local Roman storage vessels and marking them in their native language and script.

Deciphering the Script: Who Was 'Kanan'?

The inscription consists of a few clearly legible characters scratched into the dry clay after the jar was fired. Epigraphists, including Iravatham Mahadevan and subcontinental script specialists, analyzed the paleography—the study of ancient writing systems—of the text to determine its date and meaning.

The characters are written in the Tamil-Brahmi script, which differs from the Ashokan Brahmi of northern India by using specific character modifications to represent Old Tamil speech sounds. The inscription reads: Kanan.

Tradition holds that early Indian trade with Rome was conducted primarily through Western intermediaries or high-ranking Roman emissaries. However, evidence shows that individual Indian merchants were active participants who traveled alongside their cargo. The name "Kanan" is a common, distinct Tamil personal name.

A similar Tamil-Brahmi find at the nearby Red Sea port of Quseir al-Qadim features the name "Kanan" as well, while another inscription reads "Catan." The discovery of these specific personal names on everyday utilitarian vessels suggests that Tamil sailors and trade representatives were not merely passing through, but were stationed at these Red Sea ports to manage the arrival, storage, and transport of valuable Indian commodities.

⚖ Scholarly Debate: The Chronology of the Script

The dating of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions remains a subject of active debate among epigraphists and archaeologists. One school of thought, championed by scholars working with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), places the origin of Tamil-Brahmi in the third or second century BCE based on stratigraphic associations at sites like Kodumanal and Keeladi. Others argue for a slightly later chronology, suggesting the script developed in the first century BCE as trade with the Mediterranean intensified.

The Berenike potsherd helps anchor this chronological debate. Because the sherd was found within a well-defined Roman-period trash layer containing diagnostic Roman pottery, coins, and organic material, it can be securely dated to the first half of the first century CE. This provides an independent, absolute date for the use of the Tamil-Brahmi script, confirming that the writing system was fully developed, standardized, and utilized by common merchants for practical, everyday recording by the early Roman Empire.

The Logistics of the Monsoon Trade

The presence of Tamil-Brahmi graffiti at Berenike reveals the logistical realities of the ancient maritime route. Ships did not merely drop anchor, unload, and immediately return. Sailors and merchants had to wait for the monsoon winds to shift. The southwest monsoon carried ships from India to the Red Sea between June and September, while the northeast monsoon facilitated the return journey starting in November or December.

During these months of waiting, Indian merchants lived in the cosmopolitan quarters of Berenike alongside Romans, Egyptians, Nabataeans, and Axumites. They rented accommodation, purchased local supplies, and stored their goods in local amphorae. By scratching his name, Kanan was marking his personal property—perhaps a jar of wine, olive oil, or grain purchased in Egypt—within a crowded, multilingual port.

These unassuming scratches on a broken piece of Egyptian clay demonstrate that the silk and spice routes were not faceless systems of exchange. They were built on the movements of individual sailors who left their names in the stratigraphic layers of the ancient world.

Sources and Verification

• The Epigraphical Society of India / Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Reports on Berenike and Quseir al-Qadim Tamil-Brahmi discoveries
• Excavation reports from the Berenike Project led by Steven E. Sidebotham
• Iravatham Mahadevan, "Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D." (Harvard Oriental Series)
• "Antiquity" Journal, reports on Indian Ocean maritime archaeology and Red Sea port excavations
• "Puratattva" (Journal of the Indian Archaeological Society), discussions on Tamil-Brahmi paleography and trade ceramics