 Along with the neighboring "Habash" (Habesha or Abyssinians) of Al-Habash to the west, the Barbaroi or Berber (ancestral Somalis) who inhabited the area are recorded in the 1st century CE Greek document the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea" as engaging in extensive commercial exchanges with Egypt and pre-Islamic Arabia.The travelogue mentions the Barbaroi trading frankincense, among various other commodities, through their port cities such as Avalites (modern Zeila).Competent seamen, the Periplus' author also indicates that they sailed throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden for trade.