 The ancient city of <unk> 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 <unk> . According to the Periplus , maritime trade already connected peoples in the Mogadishu area with other communities along the Indian Ocean coast . 
