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Foreign Contacts Historical and
Literary Evidence
The Egyptians regarded their own country as the
center of the world, and although they entered into commercial and
trading activities with other lands to obtain commodities that were
scarce or unavailable in Egypt, they apparently had no great desire
to explore or travel abroad in the spirit of adventure. All their
hopes and aspirations were firmly fixed within Egypt. Their three
main areas of commercial and trading activity were centered on the
port of Byblos on the Syrian coast through which they obtained good
quality timber; Nubia, to the south of Egypt, the source of granite,
semiprecious stones, various exotic products brought up from the
south, and gold; and Punt, the mysterious and as yet unidentified
land to which they sailed along the west coast of the Red Sea that
provided incense and myrrh for their temples.
There was also less significant trade with some northern neighbors, particularly the inhabitants of Crete and other Aegean islands. Apart from Nubia, which was reached by river, the other locations had to be approached by sea; therefore, although the Egyptians were not explorers, they had to develop skills to build and sail a seagoing merchant fleet. At various times they received assistance in this from foreign mercenaries, particularly the Greeks and Phoenicians who were employed in the Egyptian navy. In the Greco-Roman Period the whole picture of trade and commerce with Egypt was substantially changed by the requirements and expectations of the country’s new rulers, the Ptolemies and Romans, and also by the considerable presence in Egypt of Greek immigrants who brought with them their own commercial enterprise and expertise. It was also the Greeks who, as tourists, first became interested in visiting the ancient monuments along the Nile Valley. Before that, few expeditions occurred purely for sightseeing, although in Dynasty 26 there was an interest in earlier buildings and inscriptions, which brought an increased awareness of the ancient monuments. Nevertheless, until the Greco-Roman Period most expeditions to tombs or temples were undertaken as tours of inspection or pilgrimages, and most traveling within Egypt was carried out for business rather than for recreational reasons. .
FOREIGN CONTACTS:
HISTORICAL AND LITERARY EVIDENCE Even if the Egyptians’ own travels and contact with foreign peoples and places was limited, in some of the Egyptian stories and literature events and characters are set in exotic or distant locations. Some autobiographies describe foreign expeditions; perhaps the most famous is that of the Old Kingdom governor of Upper Egypt, Harkhuf, who led four expeditions to Nubia. His autobiographical inscription carved on his tomb wall at Aswan describes these journeys and includes a copy of the letter sent to him by his ruler, the boy-king Pepy II, who expresses his excitement and eagerness to see the pygmy whom Harkhuf is bringing back for him from Nubia: “Come north to the Residence at once! Hurry and bring with you this pygmy whom you brought from the land of the horizon-dwellers, alive, fit and healthy, for the dances of the god, to please the heart of King Neferkare (Pepy II) who lives forever . . . My majesty wishes to see this pygmy more than the gifts of Sinai and Punt!” Harkhuf’s account of his expeditions is a major source for knowledge of Egypt’s trading relationship with Nubia during the Old Kingdom. Several stories also provide information about voyages, expeditions, and encounters with other peoples and places. Some of these are tales of miraculous events when humans encounter supernatural powers, but others may be partly based on accounts of real events. The Story of the Shipwrecked Sailor (Middle Kingdom), preserved on a papyrus now in Moscow, describes a personal journey that an attendant relates to his master in an attempt to lift the master’s spirits after he has returned from a failed expedition. The man recalls that he set out to the king’s mines, sailing with a brave crew of 120 men, but a storm overwhelmed the ship and he alone survived and was swept onto an island. There he met a talking snake who told him that after passing four months on the island a ship would appear to take him home. This prophecy subsequently came true, and the man returned to Egypt where he was welcomed and honored by the king.
Another Middle Kingdom tale, the Story of Sinuhe,
preserved in two papyri in Berlin and on an ostracon in Oxford,
takes the form of an autobiographical text and relates the events in
the life of the court official Sinuhe. He fled from Egypt at the
death of King Amenemhet I for political reasons and escaped across
the Delta and the Isthmus of Suez to the desert regions where the
Bedouin lived. They rescued him, and he eventually became chieftain
of a tribe before traveling as far as Byblos on the Syrian coast
where he acquired wealth and prosperity and married the ruler’s
daughter. As he grew older, however, he became anxious to return to
Egypt to ensure that he was buried with the correct traditions.
Finally, with a decree of pardon from the new king Senusret I, he
went home where he was welcomed and honored by the Egyptian ruler.
This story provides real insight into the political conditions of
Dynasty 12 and the relationship between Egypt and her neighbors. It
is a tale with a strong factual element and may describe a true
adventure. In this respect it is similar to the Story of Wenamun
(Dynasty 20) which recounts the adventures of a royal envoy sent
abroad to obtain timber for the great god’s sacred bark. Whereas
Sinuhe was well received because of Egypt’s international prestige
in the Middle Kingdom, Wenamun encountered only frustrations and
humiliations from foreign officials because Egypt’s power had
declined. Literary sources therefore provide both “factual” and
fantastic descriptions of the foreign locations to which the
Egyptians traveled. In some of the stories and poems Punt in
particular appears as an exotic and even romantic setting. Even in
hymns there are references to Punt; in one the god Amun tells the
king: “I made the lands of Punt come here to you, with all the
fragrant flowers of their lands.”.
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Foreign Contacts Historical and Literary Evidence
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