Berenike is the name of an ancient Egyptian port on the coast of the Red Sea, some 260 km east of Aswan. The port dates from the time of Ptolemy II (285-246 BC) and was particularly active from the first century BC until the second centuries AD, when it was one of the main shipping centres in the trade between the Mediterranean, Arabia and India. By the seventh century AD, Berenike had been abandoned because of poor economic conditions.