Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:
On 15 Dec 2005 11:33:23 -0800, "Andrew Dalby"
wrote:

I'd be glad of other opinions on this. On this page

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/dalby/extra/SalammboFeast.html

What isTamrapanni wood?

According to the following web page, "Tamrapanni" can refer either to
Sri Lanka or to the area around the Tamrapanni River in South India.
http://www.buddhanet.net/bodh_gaya/bodh_gaya02.htm
If that's true, then a clearer translation might be "wood from
Tamrapanni" There are many possibilities: teak, ebony, rosewood...

Just speculation, but it may be a starting place for you.



Robin Carroll-Mann

Thank you very much for that. Yes, I thought it sounded south-Indian
rather than African. So now I start exploring why Flaubert thought his
Cathaginians would have had it ...

Andrew