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  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade

Sea of Treasures: A Cultural History of Ancient Indian Ocean Trade

Simmons, Jeremy A.

Hardcover

EconomicsAncient Rome

ISBN10: 0691280142
ISBN13: 9780691280141
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: Jul 21 2026
Pages: 392
Weight: 1.46
Height: 1.50 Width: 6.20 Depth: 9.30
Language: English

How goods and people in motion across the ancient world were entangled through consumption

The ancient world was a far more interconnected place than is often assumed. Maritime routes across the Indian Ocean, by no means peripheral, made these connections possible. In Sea of Treasures, Jeremy Simmons puts forth an entirely new perspective on Indian Ocean commerce, starting with commodities of trade and the patterns of consumption that resulted from their importation. Looking beyond the mechanics of long-distance travel or the economics of Indo-Roman exchange, Simmons considers the consequences of objects in motion: how Indian Ocean imports shaped the lives of humans throughout the wider ancient world. In his exploration of textual and archaeological sources from both the Mediterranean basin and the Indian subcontinent, he traces a series of sensuous and intellectual engagements that entangled people and things both tangible and intangible, from spices, coins, and gemstones to information and artistic style.

Each chapter addresses a different encounter and its experiential effects, including Roman outrage at Indian Ocean products; ingestion of consumables such as spices and alcohol; adornment and its sociocultural value; indirect exposure to luxury goods and the proliferation of imitations; and elite access to knowledge about treasured commodities. Drawing on theoretical discussions relating to objects, their material composition, and their roles in human activity, Simmons offers a cultural history of Indian Ocean trade through a holistic understanding of consumption. By interrogating long-held assumptions about Mediterranean dominance in Indian Ocean trade, Simmons expands our understanding of a global Afro-Eurasian world--one that afforded relationships with an ever-widening array of things.

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