shipping: Shipping in Ancient Times

Ancient peoples famous for their shipping enterprises include the Phoenicians, the Cretans, the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans. The shipping routes of those highly civilized peoples were chiefly in the Mediterranean, but their voyages extended to India, along the Atlantic coast of Africa, and to Britain, where tin was secured. The goods shipped consisted largely of luxuries, including spices, perfumes, and such fine pottery as the famous Athenian ware; but shipments of grain became important as cities grew in size.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Shipping in the Twentieth Century
• Shipping in the Commercial Revolution
• Shipping in Ancient Times
• Bibliography

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