In a discovery that has sent ripples through the archaeological world, researchers have unearthed approximately 30 inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi and other Indian scripts\u00a0inside rock-cut tombs in Egypt\u2019s Valley of the Kings, providing definitive proof that Tamil merchants travelled deep into the Egyptian interior nearly two millennia ago. The findings, presented at the four-day International Conference on Tamil Epigraphy in Chennai earlier this month by\u00a0Professor Ingo Strauch of the University of Lausanne\u00a0and\u00a0Professor Charlotte Schmid of the French School of Asian Studies (EFEO)\u00a0, document inscriptions dating between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD across six tombs, including that of Pharaoh Ramesses VI. Of these,\u00a020 inscriptions are in Tamil-Brahmi script, with the remaining 10 in Sanskrit and Prakrit, indicating visitors from various regions of the Indian subcontinent made the journey to Thebes, the ancient Egyptian capital.<\/p>\n
The Tamil Merchant Who Left His Mark<\/strong><\/p>\n The most significant discovery is the name\u00a0\u2018Cikai Korran\u2019, which appears eight times across five different pyramids. One inscription specifically reads\u00a0\u201cCikai Korran \u2013 vara kanta,\u201d\u00a0translating to \u201cCikai Korran came and saw\u201d \u2013 remarkably mirroring the style of Greek tourist graffiti found throughout the same complex. The name suggests a person of considerable status within merchant guilds, with \u2018Cikai\u2019 meaning tuft or crown and \u2018Korran\u2019 signifying leader.<\/p>\n Professor Strauch noted that while earlier evidence of Tamil presence in Egypt was confined to port cities like Berenike on the Red Sea coast, these inscriptions prove that Indian merchants were not merely transient sailors. \u201cThey stayed for extended periods and possessed the curiosity to visit inland heritage sites far from the coast,\u201d he told delegates.<\/p>\n Two-Way Trade Confirmed<\/strong><\/p>\n The discovery resolves a long-standing historical question about the nature of ancient Indo-Roman trade. Senior epigraphist\u00a0Y. Subbarayalu\u00a0explained, \u201cThrough the writings of Ptolemy and Pliny, we know that the Romans came to India for trade. But it was not clear whether it was one-way or two-way. This new evidence gives proof of two-way trade that happened during the Roman period.\u201d<\/p>\n The inscriptions correlate with recent excavations at Berenike, where archaeologists from Tamil Nadu joined Polish researchers last year and found similar Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions on pottery. Professor Schmid observed that among more than 2,000 Greek graffiti marks left by visitors from across the Mediterranean world at the Valley of Kings, \u201cnone of them came as far as Indian traders.\u201dTamil Nadu Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who inaugurated the conference, expressed pride in the findings on his X platform. \u201cThis discovery once again tells the world that the Tamil nation is a proud nation that has crossed the seas and left its mark on world civilizations. The name of a Tamil merchant named \u2018Sikai Kottan\u2019 found 8 times in 5 different pyramids reminds us of how deeply the footprint of the Tamils was imprinted on the world trade map. These are another testament to the fact that the Tamil civilization was a progressive civilization that crossed the seas to Egypt during the Roman period and implemented the globalization we speak of today thousands of years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n