Editing Mogadishu (section)

====Sarapion====
The ancient city of [[Sarapion]] is believed to have been the predecessor state of Mogadishu. It is mentioned in the ''[[Periplus of the Erythraean Sea]]'', a Greek travel document dating from the first century AD, as one of a series of commercial ports on the Somali littoral.{{sfn|Jama|1962|p=19}} According to the ''Periplus'', maritime trade already connected peoples in the Mogadishu area with other communities along the Indian Ocean.{{sfn|Huntingford|1980|p=94}}<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Joseph |first1=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5aBxDwAAQBAJ&q=sarapion&pg=PA7 |title=Inside Al-Shabaab: The Secret History of Al-Qaeda's Most Powerful Ally |last2=Maruf |first2=Harun |date=2018-10-01 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-253-03751-0 |pages=7 |language=en}}</ref>

During ancient times Mogadishu was part of the [[Somali maritime history|Somali city-states]] that engaged in a lucrative trade network connecting [[Somali people|Somali]] merchants with [[Phoenicia]], [[Ptolemaic Kingdom|Ptolemic Egypt]], Greece, [[Parthia|Parthian Persia]], [[Sabaeans]], [[Nabataea]] and the [[Roman Empire]]. Somali sailors used the ancient Somali maritime vessel known as the ''[[beden]]'' to transport their cargo.<ref name="ReferenceA">Journal of African History p.50 by John Donnelly Fage and Roland Anthony Oliver</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bellini |first1=Oscar Eugenio |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfycEAAAQBAJ&q=sarapion&pg=PA55 |title=Innovative Approach for the Development of Sustainable Settlements in East Africa: Affordable Housing for Mogadishu |last2=Campioli |first2=Andrea |last3=Pero |first3=Claudio Del |last4=Talamo |first4=Cinzia M. L. |last5=Chiaroni |first5=Davide |last6=Guidarini |first6=Stefano |last7=Magni |first7=Camillo |date=2022-11-19 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-031-00284-7 |pages=55 |language=en |access-date=26 April 2024 |archive-date=22 May 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240522134644/https://books.google.com/books?id=CfycEAAAQBAJ&q=sarapion&pg=PA55#v=snippet&q=sarapion&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>