Coptos

• Coptos, known as Qift today, was an ancient city located on the Nile, 27 miles (43km) north of Luxor in Egypt.
• Under the Romans, Coptos seems to have been the main Nile Port for reaching the Red Sea, according to Strabo and Pliny the Elder.

History

• Coptos was where the Merchants dealing with the Red Sea Trade, had their headquarters and large warehouses.
• It was connected by the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road to Myos Hormos, which was the great Red Sea Port where ships arrived from Africa, India and the Far East.
• Another road also connected to Berenice, the other great Red Sea Port.

The Annual Caravan to the Red Sea

• Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE) wrote that an annual caravan left Alexandria and sailed the 600 miles up the Nile to Coptos.
• Here, Goods were transferred to a camel caravan for the 257 mile Desert crossing to Berenice using fortified Oases called Hydreumata. They also travelled along the shorter road to Myos Hormos.

Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road

• The Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road was a 111 mile (180 km) Roman Road connecting Coptos on the Nile with Myos Hormos on the Red Sea.
• The journey took 6-7 days. The journey to Berenice took 12 days.
• The Road was not paved, but consisted of a cleared path, that passed through the mountains of the Eastern Desert.

Coptos to Berenice Roman Road

• Goods were transferred to Camels for the 257 mile Desert crossing to Berenice using fortified oases called Hydreumata

Wadi Hammamat

• The Coptos to Myos Hormos Road went through a dried up river bed, known as the Wadi Hammamat, which was a huge mining region in the Desert Mountains.

The Coptos Tariff

• The Coptos Tariff (90 CE) was a list of all the Tolls to be paid for using the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road.

Alexandrian Tariff

• The Alexandrian Tariff (c. 180 CE) is a list 54 items imported from the East that were subject to Duty.
• The Government levied the ‘Tetarte’, a 25% Tax on Goods travelling between Alexandria and the Red Sea.
• The List of Goods was compiled at Coptos, but Duty was not paid until they arrived in Alexandria, to ensure no Goods were sold in transit to bypass this tax.

Muziris Papyrus

• This document describes the transfer of cargo from the Red Sea Ports to Coptos by Camel Caravans.
• The Muziris Papyrus also shows that Goods from the Red Sea were recorded when they arrived in the warehouses at Coptos, but the 25% Government Tax was paid in Alexandria.

Camel Caravans

• It would appear from the Ostraca inscriptions that Roman Companies ran the Trade between Coptos and Myos Hormos. They organised the caravans, which may have been escorted by a Roman Camel Corps based in Egypt.
• Imperial Freedmen appear in inscriptions on Ostraca in this Trade, indicating direct involvement by the Roman Emperors in the Red Sea Trade.

Roman Legions

• Legio III Cyrenaica
  • In c. 90 CE they built a bridge in Coptos.
  • They may have had a small fortress here, as they are known to have also been based in the Red Sea port of Berenice between 30 BCE – 35 CE.

• Palmyrene Sagittarii
  • In 215 CE an Auxilia unit of Mounted Palmyrene Archers from Syria was based at Coptos.
  • They were probably part of the Roman Camel Corps and may have been used to escort the Camel Caravans with their valuable cargoes, along the Coptos to Myos Hormos Roman Road through the Eastern Desert.

Coptos (Qift)