Jump to content

Ancient Egyptian trade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ancient Egyptian tradedeveloped with the gradual creation of land and seatrade routesconnecting theancient Egyptiancivilization withancient India,theFertile Crescent,ArabiaandSub-Saharan Africa.

Prehistoric transport and trade[edit]

EpipaleolithicNatufianscarriedparthenocarpicfigsfromAfricato the southeastern corner of theFertile Crescent,c. 10,000 BCE.[1]Latermigrationsout of theFertile Crescentwould carry earlyagriculturalpractices to neighboring regions—westward toEuropeandNorth Africa,northward toCrimea,and eastward toMongolia.[2][3][4][5][6]

The ancient people of theSaharaimported domesticated animals fromAsiabetween 6000 and 4000 BCE. InNabta Playaby the end of the7th millennium BCE,prehistoric Egyptianshad importedgoatsandsheepfromSouthwest Asia.[7]

Foreignartifactsdating to the5th millennium BCEin theBadarianculture inEgyptindicate contact with distantSyria.Inpredynastic Egypt,by the beginning of the4th millennium BCE,ancient EgyptiansinMaadiwere importingpottery[8]as well asconstructionideas fromCanaan.

By the4th millennium BCEshippingwas well established, and thedonkeyand possibly thedromedaryhad been domesticated. Domestication of theBactrian cameland use of thehorsefortransportthen followed. Charcoal samples found in the tombs ofNekhen,which were dated to theNaqadaI and II periods, have been identified ascedarfromLebanon.[9]Predynastic Egyptiansof theNaqada Iperiod also importedobsidianfromEthiopia,used to shapebladesand other objects fromflakes.[10]The Naqadans traded withNubiato the south, the oases of thewestern desertto the west, and the cultures of theeastern Mediterraneanto the east.[11]

Potteryand otherartifactsfrom theLevantthat date to theNaqadanera have been found inancient Egypt.[12]Egyptianartifactsdating to this era have been found inCanaan[13]and other regions of theNear East,includingTell Brak[14]andUrukandSusa[15]inMesopotamia.

By the second half of the 4th millennium BCE, the gemstonelapis lazuliwas being traded from its only known source in the ancient world—Badakhshan,in what is now northeasternAfghanistan—as far asMesopotamiaandEgypt.[16]

Trans-Saharan trade[edit]

Main article:Trans-Saharan trade

The overland route through theWadi Hammamatfrom theNileto theRed Seawas known as early aspredynastictimes;[17]drawings depicting Egyptianreed boatshave been found along the path dating to 4000 BCE.[18]Ancientcitiesdating to theFirst Dynasty of Egyptarose along both its Nile andRed Seajunctions,[17]testifying to the route's ancient popularity. It became a major route fromThebesto the Red Sea port ofElim,where travelers then moved on to either Asia, Arabia or theHorn of Africa.[17]Records exist documenting knowledge of the route amongSenusret I,Seti,Ramesses IVand also, later, theRoman Empire,especially for mining.[19]

TheDarb el-Arbaintrade route, passing throughKhargain the south andAsyutin the north, was used from as early as theOld Kingdom of Egyptfor the transport and trade of gold,ivory,spices, wheat, animals and plants.[20]Later,Ancient Romanswould protect the route by lining it with varied forts and small outposts, some guarding large settlements complete with cultivation.[21]Described byHerodotusas a road "traversed... in forty days," it became by his time an important land route facilitating trade betweenNubiaand Egypt.[22]Its maximum extent was northward fromKobbei,25 miles north ofal-Fashir,passing through the desert, through Bir Natrum andWadi Howar,and ending in Egypt.[23]

Maritime trade[edit]

Egyptianalabasteramphora found in Katsambas-Poros,Cretein the context of 1400-1375 BC. It carries incised hieroglyphic inscriptions bearing the name of PharaohTuthmosis III(1479 - 1425 BC) in two cartouches."The virtuous god Men-Heper-Re, Son of the Sun, Tuthmosis, the fair one in the transformations, Endowed with eternal life".Heraklion Archaeological Museum

Shipbuildingwas known to the Ancient Egyptians as early as 3000 BCE,[24][25]and perhaps earlier.[25]Ancient Egyptians knew how to assemble planks of wood into aship hull,with woven straps used to lash the planks together,[24]andreedsor grass stuffed between the planks helped to seal the seams.[24]TheArchaeological Institute of Americareports[24]that the earliest dated ship—75 feet long, dating to 3000 BCE[25]—may have possibly belonged toPharaoh Aha.[25]

An Egyptian colony stationed in southernCanaandates to slightly before the First Dynasty.[26]Narmerhad Egyptian pottery produced in Canaan—with his name stamped on vessels—and exported back to Egypt,[27]from regions such asArad,En Besor,Rafiah,andTel Erani.[27]In 1994, excavators discovered an incised ceramicshardwith theserekhsign of Narmer, dating to c. 3000 BCE. Mineralogical studies reveal the shard to be a fragment of a wine jar exported from the Nile valley toPalestine. Due to Egypt's climate, wine was very rare and nearly impossible to produce within the limits of Egypt. In order to obtain wine, Egyptians had to import it from Greece, Phoenicia, and Palestine. These early friendships played a key role in Egypt's ability to conduct trade and acquire goods that were needed.[28]

Model of a paddling funerary boat from the tomb ofMeketre.From the time of theTwelfth dynasty of Egypt,early in the reign ofAmenemhat I,circa 1931–1975 BCE.

ThePalermo stonementions KingSneferuof theFourth Dynastysending ships to import high-qualitycedarfromLebanon.In one scene in the pyramid of PharaohSahureof theFifth Dynasty,Egyptians are returning with huge cedar trees. Sahure's name is found stamped on a thin piece of gold on aLebanonchair, and 5th dynastycartoucheswere found in Lebanon stone vessels. Other scenes in his temple depictSyrianbears. ThePalermo stonealso mentions expeditions toSinaias well as to thedioritequarries northwest ofAbu Simbel.[citation needed]

The oldest known expedition to theLand of Puntwas organized by Sahure, which apparently yielded a quantity ofmyrrh,along withmalachiteandelectrum.Around 1950 BCE, in the reign ofMentuhotep III,an officer namedHennumade one or more voyages to Punt. In the 15th century BCE,Nehsiconducted a very famous expedition for QueenHatshepsutto obtainmyrrh;a report of that voyage survives on a relief in Hatshepsut's funerary temple atDeir el-Bahri.Several of her successors, includingThutmoses III,also organized expeditions to Punt.[citation needed]

Canal construction[edit]

Main article:Canal of the Pharaohs

The legendarySesostris(likely either PharaohSenusret IIorSenusret IIIof theTwelfth Dynasty of Egypt[29][30]) is said to have started work on an ancient"Suez" Canaljoining theRiver Nilewith theRed Sea.This ancient account is corroborated byAristotle,Pliny the Elder,andStrabo.[31]

None of their kings tried to make a canal to it (for it would have been of no little advantage to them for the whole region to have become navigable; Sesostris is said to have been the first of the ancient kings to try), but he found that the sea was higher than the land. So he first, and Darius afterwards, stopped making the canal, lest the sea should mix with the river water and spoil it.[32]

165. Next comes the Tyro tribe and, on the Red Sea, the harbour of the Daneoi, from which Sesostris, king of Egypt, intended to carry a ship-canal to where the Nile flows into what is known as the Delta; this is a distance of over 60 miles. Later the Persian king Darius had the same idea, and yet again Ptolemy II, who made a trench 100 feet wide, 30 feet deep and about 35 miles long, as far as the Bitter Lakes.[33]

Remnants of an ancient west–east canal, running through the ancient Egyptian cities ofBubastis,Pi-Ramesses,andPithomwere discovered byNapoleon Bonaparteand his cadre of engineers and cartographers in 1799.[34][35][36][37][38]Other evidence seems to indicate the existence of an ancient canal around the 13th century BC, during the time of Ramesses II.[39][40][41][42][43]Later construction efforts continued during the reigns ofNecho II,Darius I of PersiaandPtolemy II Philadelphus.

Psammetichus left a son called Necos, who succeeded him upon the throne. This prince was the first to attempt the construction of the canal to the Red Sea—a work completed afterwards by Darius the Persian—the length of which is four days' journey, and the width is such as to admit of two triremes being rowed along it abreast. The water is derived from the Nile, which the canal leaves a little above the city of Bubastis, near Patumus, the Arabian town, being continued thence until it joins the Red Sea.[44]

This [the canal from the Nile to the Red Sea] was begun by Necho II [610 BCE – 595 BCE], and completed by Darius I, who set up stelae c. 490 [BCE],... and later restored by Ptolemy II Philadelphus, Trajan and Hadrian, and Amr ibn el-'Asi, the Muslim conqueror of Egypt. Its length fromTell el-Maskhutato Suez was about 85 km (52.82 mi).[45]

Shipping over the Nile River and fromOld Cairoand throughSuezcontinued further through the efforts of either'Amr ibn al-'As,[39]Omar the Great,[35]orTrajan.[35][39]TheAbbasidCaliphal-Mansuris said to have ordered this ancient canal closed so as to prevent supplies from reaching Arabian detractors.[35][39]

References[edit]

  1. ^Kislev, ME; Hartmann, A; Bar-Yosef, O (2006). "Early domesticated fig in the Jordan Valley".Science.312(5778): 1372–1374.Bibcode:2006Sci...312.1372K.doi:10.1126/science.1125910.PMID16741119.S2CID42150441.
  2. ^Chicki, L; Nichols, RA; Barbujani, G; Beaumont, MA (2002)."Y genetic data support the Neolithic demic diffusion model".Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA.99(17): 11008–11013.Bibcode:2002PNAS...9911008C.doi:10.1073/pnas.162158799.PMC123201.PMID12167671.
  3. ^Dupanloup, I; Bertorelle, G; Chikhi, L; Barbujani, G (July 2004)."Estimating the Impact of Prehistoric Admixture on the Genome of Europeans".Mol Biol Evol.21(7): 1361–1372.doi:10.1093/molbev/msh135.PMID15044595.
  4. ^Semino, O; Magri, C; Benuzzi, G; et al. (May 2004)."Origin, Diffusion, and Differentiation of Y-Chromosome Haplogroups E and J: Inferences on the Neolithization of Europe and Later Migratory Events in the Mediterranean Area, 2004".Am. J. Hum. Genet.74(5): 1023–34.doi:10.1086/386295.PMC1181965.PMID15069642.
  5. ^Cavalli-Sforza, LL; Minch, E (1997)."Paleolithic and Neolithic lineages in the European mitochondrial gene pool".Am J Hum Genet.61(1): 247–54.doi:10.1016/S0002-9297(07)64303-1.PMC1715849.PMID9246011.
  6. ^Ricaut, F. X.; Waelkens, M. (2008). "Cranial Discrete Traits in a Byzantine Population and Eastern Mediterranean Population Movements".Human Biology.80(5): 535–564.doi:10.3378/1534-6617-80.5.535.PMID19341322.S2CID25142338.
  7. ^Fred Wendorf and Romuald Schild, 2000.Late Neolithic megalithic structures at Nabta Playa (Sahara), southwestern EgyptArchived2008-02-13 at theWayback Machine.
  8. ^"Maadi Culture".Digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk.Archivedfrom the original on 29 June 2011.Retrieved2011-07-13.
  9. ^ Parsons, Marie."Egypt: Hierakonpolis, A Feature Tour Egypt Story".touregypt.net.Archivedfrom the original on 29 June 2008.Retrieved2008-07-09.
  10. ^Barbara G. Aston, James A. Harrell, Ian Shaw (2000). Paul T. Nicholson and Ian Shaw editors. "Stone," inAncient Egyptian Materials and Technology,Cambridge, 5-77, pp. 46–47. Also note: Barbara G. Aston (1994). "Ancient Egyptian Stone Vessels,"Studien zur Archäologie und Geschichte Altägyptens5, Heidelberg, pp. 23–26. (See on-line posts:[1]and[2].)
  11. ^Shaw, Ian (2002).The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt.Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p.61.ISBN978-0-500-05074-3.
  12. ^Branislav Andelkovic, 1995.The Relations between Early Bronze Age I Canaanites and Upper Egyptians,Belgrade, p. 58, map 2.Branislav Andelkovic, 2002. Southern Canaan as an Egyptian Protodynastic Colony.Cahiers Caribéens d'Egyptologie3-4: 75-92.
  13. ^Branislav Andelkovic, 1995, pp. 68–69, map 1;Branislav Andelkovic 2002.
  14. ^Places where cylinder seals similar to that from Naqada tomb 1863 have been found.
  15. ^Dominique Collon, 1987.First Impressions, Cylinder Seals in the Ancient Near East,London, pp. 13–14.
  16. ^Ian Shaw and Paul T. Nicholson, ed. (2000).Ancient Egyptian Materials and Technology.Cambridge University Press. p. 39.ISBN9780521452571.
  17. ^abcPlease refer toWadi Hammamat#Trade route.
  18. ^Please refer toWadi Hammamat#Carvings.
  19. ^Please refer toWadi Hammamat#QuarriesandWadi Hammamat#Common era.
  20. ^Jobbins, Jenny. "The 40 days' nightmare," inAl-Ahram,13–19 November 2003, Issue No. 664. Published in Cairo, Egypt.
  21. ^Please refer toKharga Oasis.
  22. ^Smith, Dr. Stuart Tyson.Nubia: History,University of California Santa Barbara, Department of Anthropology, <[3].Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  23. ^Burr, J. Millard and Robert O. Collins,Darfur: The Long Road to Disaster,Markus Wiener Publishers: Princeton, 2006,ISBN1-55876-405-4,pp. 6–7.
  24. ^abcdWard, Cheryl. "World's Oldest Planked Boats",inArchaeology(Volume 54, Number 3, May/June 2001).Archaeological Institute of America.
  25. ^abcdSchuster, Angela M.H. "This Old Boat",Dec. 11, 2000.Archaeological Institute of America.
  26. ^Naomi Porat and Edwin van den Brink (editor), "An Egyptian Colony in Southern Palestine During the Late Predynastic to Early Dynastic," inThe Nile Delta in Transition: 4th to 3rd Millennium BC(1992), pp. 433–440.
  27. ^abNaomi Porat, "Local Industry of Egyptian Pottery in Southern Palestine During the Early Bronze I Period," inBulletin of the Egyptological, Seminar 8(1986/1987), pp. 109–129. See alsoUniversity College London web post, 2000.
  28. ^Homan, Michael (2004). "Beer and Its Drinkers: An Ancient near Eastern Love Story".Near Eastern Archaeology.67(2): 87.doi:10.2307/4132364.JSTOR4132364.S2CID162357890.
  29. ^Please refer toSesostris#Modern research.
  30. ^J. H. Breastedattributes the ancient canal's early construction toSenusret III,up through the first cataract. Please refer to J. H. Breasted,Ancient Records of Egypt,Part One, Chicago 1906, §§642-648
  31. ^Please refer toSuez Canal#Second millennium BC.
  32. ^Aristotle,Meteorology(1.15)[4]
  33. ^The Elder Plinyand John HealeyNatural History(6.33.165) Penguin Classics; Reprint edition (5 February 2004)ISBN978-0-14-044413-1p.70[5]
  34. ^Descriptions de l'Égypte,Volume 11 (État Moderne),containingMémoire sur la communication de la mer des Indes à la Méditerranée par la mer Rouge et l'Isthme de Sueys,par M. J.M. Le Père, ingénieur en chef, inspecteur divisionnaire au corps impérial des ponts et chaussées, membre de l'Institut d'Égypte, p. 21–186
  35. ^abcdRappoport, S. (Doctor of Philosophy, Basel).History of Egypt(undated, early 20th century), Volume 12, Part B, Chapter V: "The Waterways of Egypt," pages 248–257. London: The Grolier Society.
  36. ^Their reports were published inDescription de l'Égypte
  37. ^Montet, Pierre.Everyday Life In The Days Of Ramesses The Great(1981), page 184. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  38. ^Silver, Morris.Ancient Economies II(Apr. 6, 1998), "5c. Evidence for Earlier Canals."ANCIENT ECONOMIES II,retrieved Aug. 8, 2008. Economics Department, City College of New York.
  39. ^abcdChisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Suez Canal".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 22–25.
  40. ^Hess, Richard S. Rev. ofIsrael in Egypt: The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus TraditionArchived2005-04-29 at theWayback Machine,byJames K. Hoffmeier.The Denver Journal1 (1 January 1998). Accessed 14 May 2008.
  41. ^Encyclopaedia of the Orient,"Suez Canal"Archived2018-09-25 at theWayback Machine.Accessed 14 May 2008.
  42. ^Hassan, Fekri A.Kafr Hassan Dawood On-lineArchived2010-01-15 at theWayback Machine,17 August 2003. Accessed 14 May 2008.
  43. ^(in Spanish)Martínez Babon, Javier."Consideraciones sobre la Marinay la Guerra durante el Egipto Faraónico"ArchivedFebruary 1, 2012, at theWayback Machine.Accessed 14 May 2008.
  44. ^Herodotus (1996 edition), p. 185.
  45. ^Baines and Málek (1984), p. 48.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_Egyptian_trade&oldid=1231287490"