When the power of the Romans was extinguished in Egypt, and the Mahomedans had gained possession of that country, Aden, which had been destroyed by the former in the reign of Claudius, resumed its rank as the centre of the trade between India and the Red Sea.  In this situation it was found by Marco Polo.  The ships which came from the East, did not pass the straits, but landed their cargoes at Aden; here the trankies of the Arabs, which brought the produce of Europe, Syria, and Egypt, received them, and conveyed them to Assab, Cosir, or Jidda:  ultimately they reached Alexandria.  Marco Polo gives a magnificent picture of the wealth, power, and influence of Aden in the thirteenth century.

When the Christians were expelled from Syria, in the beginning of the fourteenth century, and, in order to procure the merchandize of the east, were obliged to submit to the exactions of the sultan of Egypt; Sanuto, a Venetian, addressed a work to the Pope, in which he proposed to suppress the Egyptian trade by force.  In this work are many curious particulars of the Indian trade at this time; and it is highly interesting both on this account, and from the clear-sighted speculations of the author.  It appears to have produced a strong sensation; and though his mode of suppressing the Egyptian trade was not followed, yet, in consequence of it, much more attention was paid to Oriental commerce.  According to him, the productions of the East came to the Venetians in two different ways.  Cloves, nutmegs, pearls, gems, and other articles of great value, and small bulk, were conveyed up the Persian Gulf and the Tigris to Bassora, and thence to Bagdat; from which they were carried to some port in the Mediterranean.  The more bulky and less valuable articles were conveyed by Arabian merchants to the Red Sea, and thence across the desert and down the Nile to Alexandria.  He adds, that ginger and cinnamon, being apt to spoil on shipboard, were from ten to twenty per cent. better in quality, when brought by land carriage, though this conveyance was more expensive.

From the works of Sanuto, it appears that sugar and silk were the two articles from their trade in which the Saracens derived the greatest portion of their wealth.  Cyprus, Rhodes, Amorea, and Marta (probably Malta), produced sugar; silk was the produce of Apulia, Romania, Crete, and Cyprus.  Egypt was celebrated, as in old times, for the fineness of its flax; European flax was far inferior.  The Egyptian manufactures of linen, silk, and linen and silk mixed, and also the dates and cassia of that country were exported to Turkey, Africa, the Black Sea, and the western ports of Europe, either in Saracen or Christian vessels.  In return for these articles, the Egyptians received from Europe, gold, silver, brass, tin, lead, quicksilver, coral, and amber:  of these, several were again exported from Egypt to Ethiopia and India, particularly brass and tin.  Sanuto further observes, that Egypt was dependent on Europe for timber, iron, pitch, and other materials for ship building.