Editing Rhapta (section)

==Goods==
[[File:Cinnamomum verum.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Cinnamon sticks.]]
Which goods were traded at Rhapta is disputed. The ''Periplus'' only states that it was a source of [[ivory]] and [[tortoise]] shell. J. Innes Miller argues that Rhapta formed an important link in the trade route between what is now modern [[Indonesia]] and consumers in the Mediterranean region. Miller notes that ancient authorities, e.g. [[Herodotus]] ([https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Herodotus/3D*.html#111 3.111]) state that [[cinnamon]] and [[Cinnamomum aromaticum|cassia]] bark were harvested in Africa, yet these species until recently were found only in [[Southeast Asia]], which would hint at some conflation. Miller points to the well-documented cultural links between Indonesia and East Africa (e.g., the [[Malagasy language]] is related to [[Malay language|Malay]], both people use double [[outrigger canoe]]s). He then posits that the use of [[monsoon]]s began far earlier than previously thought, allowing traders to bring their spices westward perhaps as early as the [[2nd millennium BC]].

It is possible that both the account of the ''Periplus'' and at least part of Miller's theory are correct, for the ''Periplus'' focuses on the availability of tortoise shell, and its silence about other goods should not be taken as evidence that other goods were not traded.