In the
Periplus of the Erythraean Sea the name Troglodytica refers to the native people in the region of
Berenice Troglodytica, as "Troglodytai" or "cave dwellers". Although the name is attested by several ancient writers, the more ancient Ptolemaic inscriptions read Trogodytai, which Huntingford (1980)[6] speculated could be derived from the same root as Tuareg. It is possible that later copyists confused this name with the more common term Troglodytai.
In Herodotus Herodotus referred to the Troglodytae in his
Histories as being a people hunted by the
Garamantes in
Libya. He said that the Troglodytae were the swiftest runners of all humans known and that they ate snakes, lizards, and other reptiles. He also stated that their language was unlike any known to him, and sounded like the screeching of bats.
Alice Werner (1913) believed (in passing) that this was a clear allusion to the early
Khoisan, indigenous inhabitants of
Southern Africa, because their languages contain distinctive
click sounds.
In Aristotle According to Aristotle (
Hist. An. viii. 12) a dwarfish race of Troglodytes dwelt on the upper course of the
Nile, who possessed horses and were in his opinion the
Pygmies of fable.
In Diodorus In ancient writing, apparently the best known of the African cave-dwellers were the inhabitants of the "Troglodyte country" () on the coast of the Red Sea, as far north as the Greek port of
Berenice, of whom an account was preserved by
Diodorus Siculus from
Agatharchides of Cnidus, and by
Artemidorus Ephesius in Strabo. They were a pastoral people, living entirely on the flesh of their herds, or, in the season of fresh pasture, on mingled milk and blood. He also mentions tribes living in various parts of Africa from
Libya to the
Red Sea.
In Athenaeus In his work
Deipnosophists,
Athenaeus wrote that Pythagoras who wrote about the Red Sea mentioned that they make their
pandura out of the white mangrove which grows in the sea and that Euphorion in his book on the Isthmian Games mentioned that they played
sambucas with four strings like the
Parthians.
In Claudius Aelianus In his work
On the Characteristics of Animals,
Claudius Aelianus mentions that the tribe of Troglodytae are famous and derive their name from their manner of living. He also adds that they eat snakes.
In Josephus Flavius Josephus alludes to a place he calls
Troglodytis while discussing the account in
Genesis, that after the death of Sarah,
Abraham married
Keturah and fathered six sons who in turn fathered many more. "Now, for all these sons and grandsons, Abraham contrived to settle them in colonies; and they took possession of Troglodytis, and the country of
Arabia Felix..." The
Troglodytis Josephus refers to here is generally taken to mean both coasts of the Red Sea. However, Josephus goes on to state that the descendants of one of these grandsons,
Epher, invaded
Libya, and that the name of
Africa was thus derived from that of Epher.
In Clement of Alexandria Clement of Alexandria (
The Stromata, Book I, chapter xvi) mentions them as inventors of the
sambuca.
In Eusebius Eusebius, citing Clement of Alexandria, also credits them with the invention of the
sambuca. ==See also==