Mosylon
{{Short description|Ancient proto-Somali trading center}}
{{Infobox ancient site
| name = Mosylon
| image = 300px
| location = Somalia
}}
Mosylon ({{langx|grc|Μοσυλλόν and Μόσυλον}}), also known as Mosullon, was an ancient proto-Somali trading center on or near the site that later became the city of Elaayo.{{cite web|last1=Hussein|first1=Said M-Shidad|title=The Ancient Kingdom of Punt and its Factor in Egyptian History Part IV|publisher=WardheerNews|accessdate=22 September 2014|url=http://cdn.wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kingdom-of-Punt-IV_Said.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129043738/http://cdn.wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kingdom-of-Punt-IV_Said.pdf|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead}}
History
Mosylon was the most prominent emporium on the Red Sea coast, as outlined in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. With its large ships, it handled the bulk of the cinnamon trade arriving from the ports of ancient India. Dioscorides consequently noted that the city became known as the source of the best variety of the spice in the ancient world.Byzantine trade, 4th-12th centuries: the archaeology of local, regional and International Exchange By Marlia Mundell Mango pg 278 A specific species of cinnamon exported from the harbour was known as Mosyllitic.A Cyclopaedia of Biblical Literature: Ibz-Zuz edited by John Kitto pg 211 Due to its high quality and rarity at the time in Ancient Rome, the imported cinnamon was typically deposited in the Romans' Royal Treasury.{{cite book|last1=Peter|first1=William|title=An Appeal to the British Government in behalf the British Colony and Province of Ceylon: with an appendix containing various notices of the island by authors and travellers of the early and middle ages ... The second edition with additions|publisher=1836|page=136|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zB9YAAAAcAAJ|accessdate=5 August 2014}}
According to classical writers such as Pliny and Herodutus, the inhabitants of Mosylon imported flint glass and glass vessels from Ancient Egypt, unripe grapes from Diospolis, unmilled cloths for the Berberi markets, including tunics and cloths manufactured at Arsinoe, as well as wine and tin. The main export items were gums, tortoise shells, incense and ivory.A System of Geography, popular and scientific, or a Physical , Political and Statistical Account of the World and Its Various divisions Volume 6 By James Bell pg 434 Pliny also indicated that, en route to the cinnamon hub of Mosylon, the Egyptian Pharaoh Sesostris led his forces passed the Port of Isis.{{cite web|last1=Hussein|first1=Said M-Shidad|title=The Ancient Kingdom of Punt and its Factor in Egyptian History Part IV|publisher=WardheerNews|accessdate=22 September 2014|url=http://cdn.wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kingdom-of-Punt-IV_Said.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129043738/http://cdn.wardheernews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kingdom-of-Punt-IV_Said.pdf|archive-date=29 November 2014|url-status=dead}} The latter ancient local commercial center is believed to correspond with the town of Bulhar, situated near Zeila.{{cite book|last1=Österreichische Leo-Gesellschaft, Görres-Gesellschaft, Anthropos Institute|title=Anthropos, Volumes 35-36|date=1941|publisher=Zaunrith'sche Buch-, Kunst- und Steindruckerei|page=212|url=http://ww.google.com/books?id=Ko7PAAAAMAAJ|accessdate=22 September 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140922204217/http://ww.google.com/books?id=Ko7PAAAAMAAJ|archive-date=22 September 2014|url-status=dead}}