Muza (emporion) explained

Muza and Musa and Mousa (Greek, Ancient (to 1453);: Μύζα and Μοῦσα and Μοῦζα and Μούζα) was an important emporion on the Arabian coast of the Red Sea in Arabia Felix near the Strait of Bab-el-Mandeb in modern Yemen.^{[1] [2] [3]} Now it is inland from the modern port city of Mokha due to the recession of the coast.^[1]

The city was mentioned in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea,^[4] Pliny the Elder's Natural History^[5] and Ptolemy's Geography.^{[1] [4]}

Pliny describe the Musa as the third port of Arabia Felix.^{[5] [1]} The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea has a detailed description of its trade.^[1]

Further reading

• The Coastal Arabia and the adjacent Sea-Basins in the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (Trade, Geography and Navigation), Michael Bukharin, pp. 177-236
• Patterns of trade in the Red Sea during the Age of the Periplus Maris Erythraei

Notes and References

1. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=muza-geo Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), MUZA
2. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0062:entry=musa2-harpers Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898), Musa
3. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0064:entry=arabia-geo&highlight=muza Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854), Arabia
4. https://el.wikisource.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%AF%CF%80%CE%BB%CE%BF%CF%85%CF%82_%CF%84%CE%B7%CF%82_%CE%95%CF%81%CF%85%CE%B8%CF%81%CE%AC%CF%82_%CE%98%CE%B1%CE%BB%CE%AC%CF%83%CF%83%CE%B7%CF%82#7 Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, 7, 16, 17, 21, 24, 28
5. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0137:book=6:chapter=26 Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, 6.26