Berenike

Berenike, also known as Berenice on the Red Sea, is an ancient port city of Ptolemaic Egypt located on the Red Sea coast in the eastern desert of what is now Egypt. The city was established in the late 3rd century BCE and named after Berenice II, the wife of Ptolemy III. It served as a strategic hub for the Ptolemaic regime, intended to secure and manage maritime links between the Mediterranean world and the Red Sea trade network.

It functioned as a major entrepôt for long-distance commerce, supporting voyages to India and beyond. Archaeological and textual evidence indicates exchanges of goods such as spices, incense, textiles, metals, and glass between Roman, Arabian, Indian, and East African traders. The harbor and warehouses facilitated the transfer of goods along routes that connected markets across continents.

Archaeology: The site preserves remains of harbors, a fortress, city walls, temples, and residential areas. Excavations, particularly under the Berenike Project, begun in the 1990s, have uncovered artifacts including coins, pottery, beads, and animal bones, providing insight into daily life and long-distance exchange in the Greco-Roman period.

Decline and legacy: By late antiquity the harbor silted and the Red Sea trade routes shifted, leading to the gradual abandonment of Berenike. Today the site is an important archaeological location in eastern Egypt, contributing to understanding Greco-Roman and Indian Ocean networks and the nature of ancient maritime commerce.