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Trade of Goods
Domestic merchandising never became a major
feature of Egyptian society. The geographical conditions of the
country and the royal monopoly on the main export trade limited the
development of extensive private commercial enterprise. Markets, as
depicted in tomb scenes, were probably the main area of trade when
food, clothes, and ornaments changed hands. As there was no coinage
system until the Persian Period (c.525 BC), although by the New
Kingdom metals (gold, silver, and copper) were used as the standards
for valuations, barter was the means of exchange. It is probable
that some merchants or middlemen (including officials) did exist,
but there are few references to them. Trade only played a small part
in the movement of goods within Egypt since royal gifts provided
income for the nobles and private persons were paid salaries and
wages in kind.
The king and the administration decided which commodities should be traded with foreign lands, and they also controlled the mines, quarries, and vineyards. The customs barrier was positioned at the frontier, and there are references to tithes being levied at Elephantine on goods being imported from the south and also to taxes on goods coming from the Mediterranean. Greek traders who were engaged in business in Egypt from Dynasty 26 onward were obliged to enter Egypt only by the Canopic branch of the Nile. Some foreign merchants were apparently allowed to ply their trade in Egypt. The Greeks first came to Egypt as mercenaries and enabled the Saite rulers (Dynasty 26) to gain freedom from Persian domination; during this dynasty they were allowed to found their first great commercial city at Naucratis in the reign of Psammetichus I. Egyptian protests against these Greek merchants, however, caused the king’s son and successor, Necho II, to confine their commercial activity strictly to Naucratis, which functioned as a Greek city-state under Egyptian administrative control. Foreign merchants may also have operated at other sites, however, since weights and measures found at Kahun (c.1895 BC) include a number of foreign weights and measuring rods that combined the systems of measurement in use in both Egypt and Asia. They may have been brought there by foreign merchants and developed to enable them to trade with the local residents. . Foreign Commerce Although knowledge of domestic trade is very limited, it is certain that commerce with foreign lands was always actively pursued, and the Egyptians traveled by land and sea to Nubia, Byblos, and Punt to obtain their special commodities. Egypt’s political position and the lack of some basic resources constantly pushed the Egyptians to overcome the natural barriers that surrounded the country so that trade could be conducted with foreign countries. . NUBIA Nubia was the country most readily accessible to Egypt, and from earliest times the Egyptians sent trading expeditions there. Elephantine, the island at the First Cataract (modern Aswan), became a trading center where the Nubians brought their own wares and those obtained from tribes further south to exchange for Egyptian goods. These exotic products included ivory, ebony, monkeys, and panther skins. Expeditions sent in the Old Kingdom were manned by Egyptian soldiers to ensure the safety of the venture, but during the Middle Kingdom Nubia was brought under Egyptian control and expeditions, therefore, no longer needed significant army accompaniment. Gold and hard stone were now brought from there, and although trade fell away during the Second Intermediate Period the kings of the New Kingdom completely colonized the area. From this time onward, Nubia paid annual tribute to the Egyptian king. This is represented in the tombs of various officials, including that of Huy, viceroy of Nubia under Tutankhamun, where scenes show the tribute from the area, which included gold rings, bars, gold dust in sacks, jewels, and ebony products as well as panther skins, ostrich feathers, ostrich eggs, monkeys, panthers, giraffes, dogs, and cattle. . PUNT Another important commercial enterprise took the Egyptians to Punt on the Red Sea coast (possibly the area of modern Somalia). The products of Punt were either obtained by sending representatives to the Red Sea ports to arrange an exchange with merchants from Punt or the Egyptians sailed their own expeditions to Punt. The Egyptians had a constant demand for incense and myrrh—Punt’s prime products— for their temple services and had known of the existence of this land since Dynasty 5. Expeditions had been sent there since the late Old Kingdom, but the main sources of our knowledge of trade with Punt date to the Middle and New Kingdoms. The most famous expedition is recorded in the reign of Queen Hatshepsut on the walls of her funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri. These show Egyptian envoys trading with the people of Punt through barter, exchanging beer, wine, meat, and fruit for myrrh trees packed in baskets for planting in Egyptian temple groves, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, baboons, and cattle. The Deir el-Bahri scenes provide interesting information about this particular instance of barter and exchange, but in the accompanying inscriptions the transaction is described as payment of tribute to Egypt by the people of Punt. The illustration shows that the incense has been piled up in front of the Egyptian ambassador and his soldiers while monkeys and panthers are led forward; the Egyptian “exchanges”—daggers, axes, and necklaces—are set out on a table, and when the deal is agreed the Puntite officials are taken to the tent of the Egyptian envoy and presented with gifts of bread, beer, wine, fruit, and meat. The accompanying inscriptions attempt to explain, however, that these weapons used in barter by the Egyptians were actually an “offering” for Hathor, the goddess of Punt. Next the goods were weighed and measured and loaded onto the ships for the return journey. In this instance these included heaps of incense, myrrh trees, ebony and ivory, gold, scented woods, incense, eye pigments, monkeys, baboons, dogs, and panther skins. They were eventually presented to Queen Hatshepsut at Thebes, and great delight was expressed particularly with the trees that were subsequently planted in the temple gardens. . SYRIA/PALESTINE Egypt’s relations with her northern neighbors were quite different. The lack of good quality timber for constructing tombs, coffins, ships, and doors had from earliest times prompted the Egyptians to trade with Byblos on the Syrian coast to obtain the cedarwood that was brought to the port from the hinterland. Expeditions already went there in the earliest dynasties, and the Byblites were obviously willing to barter and receive Egyptian goods and jewelry in payment. Other commodities that the Egyptians needed were copper, silver, semiprecious stones, and, later, iron. Asia, on the other hand, wanted access to the African products (especially gold) on which Egypt had a monopoly and also the luxury goods that Egypt itself produced. Thus, Egypt stood at the crossroads for the exchange of these commodities from Asia and Africa. In the New Kingdom Egypt’s military power enabled her leaders to seize some of these requirements as booty or to levy them as foreign tribute, but otherwise officials were still sent by the king or by the temples to conduct trade with the appropriate country. Already in Dynasty 12 the Story of Sinuhe, which relates an official’s period of exile from Egypt, demonstrates that there were close links between Egypt and Palestine and that Egyptians traveled to this area. It was only during the New Kingdom, however, that the military success of the Egyptians in Asia substantially opened up the area for trade and diplomacy, and new towns were built in the Delta as the focus of interest moved to the north. In New Kingdom tomb scenes it is evident that gold and silver vessels, precious stones, and horses now reached Egypt. The literature indicates that many other goods, including horse carriages and accessories, musical instruments, types of drink and bread, cows, bulls, horses, and weapons also entered Egypt from Syria at this time. . THE AEGEAN ISLANDS During the New Kingdom there were also close connections between Egypt and the inhabitants of the Aegean Islands. Courtiers’ tombs of Dynasty 18 have wall scenes depicting Aegean people bringing tribute to Egypt that includes gold, silver, precious stones, copper, bronze, ivory, and distinctive metal vases of various shapes. The envoys are described as “Men of Keftiu” and “Peoples of the Islands in the midst of the Sea.” The identity of the Keftians remains uncertain. Their leader is shown with the princes of the Hittites, of Tunip in Syria, and of Kadesh in a scene in the tomb of Menkheperre, high priest of Amun under Tuthmosis III (Dynasty 18). In this scene they kneel and offer tribute to Egypt; but the Keftians were not ruled by Egypt, and they visited the country as envoys and ambassadors, bringing gifts for the court and treasury and receiving goods in exchange. It is widely held that the Keftians were actually envoys sent to Egypt from Minoan Crete while the “Peoples of the Islands in the midst of the Sea” were representatives of other Aegean islands ruled by Crete. Aegean influence is evident in Egyptian art during Dynasty 18 in vase shapes, decorative motifs, techniques of dyeing material and embroidering, and the composition of some scenes showing hunting and battle scenes. Mural decorations in the royal palaces at Malkata and Amarna may also have been carried out by Aegean craftsmen. Contact between Egypt and the Aegean peoples possibly first developed when their paths crossed in Syrian and Near Eastern ports, and there is evidence of crosscultural exchanges as early as the Middle Kingdom. Polychrome decorated pottery of Cretan manufacture (Kamares ware) has been found at several Dynasty 12 sites in Egypt; these are mainly domestic sites, and the pottery may have entered the country either through an intermediary or through trading routes or possibly it was taken there directly by Keftian merchants. .
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Trade of Goods
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