As you learned in Chapter 7 of History Alive! The Ancient World, Egypt was separated from other civilizations by deserts to the east, south, and west, and by the Mediterranean Sea to the north. These barriers sometimes kept Egypt apart from the rest of the ancient world. At other times, there was contact between Egypt and its neighbors. What would make people attempt to cross the barriers that surrounded Egypt? It was trade, or the exchange of goods, that made people want to travel between Egypt and other lands. As a result of this travel and exchange, Egypt made contact with civilizations in Asia, Africa, and Europe.

There were two main routes of travel from ancient Egypt to other regions. One was north, across the Mediterranean Sea, to southeastern Europe and western Asia. The Mediterranean sometimes acted as a barrier, but it also encouraged travel for people who could build and sail ships. The other route of travel was south, up the Nile River into Nubia (modern-day Sudan). The Nile was not navigable (able to be traveled) in Nubia, but Nubians had routes over land that allowed them to trade. Another route to the south was to sail on the Red Sea along the eastern edge of Africa. This route could be reached by crossing the desert east of the Nile.

Even with routes up the Nile River and across the Mediterranean and Red Seas, travel was not easy. Thieves, hostile strangers, rough waters, and other dangers awaited those who made such journeys. One voyager, a priest named Wenamon, described the challenges he encountered on a trading trip he made across the Mediterranean. Wenamon tells of being robbed of all of the gold he had for trading, pursued by raiders, and blown off course to the island of Cyprus where the local people tried to kill him. His trip was so difficult that at one point he “sat down and wept.”

What were the goods that inspired people to run such risks? Egyptians traded for wood and other forest products from Lebanon that Egypt did not have. Copper and bronze came from Cyprus, and pottery came from Minoa. Cyprus and Minoa are islands in the eastern Mediterranean. Copper also came from Sinai, across the Red Sea from Egypt. Turquoise came from Sinai too. From the south, Egypt traded for incense, timber, and live trees from Punt (modern Somalia). Gold, copper, ivory, precious stones, leopard skins, ostrich feathers, and slaves came from Nubia. Many of Nubia’s trade goods came from areas farther south. This gave Egypt access to products from much of Africa. In return, Egypt traded gold, silver, animal hides, linen cloth, and papyrus, which was used to make paper.

Egypt stood at the center of much of the ancient world, in between civilizations in Africa, Europe, and Asia. Although Egypt was separated from these civilizations by seas and desert, the trading of goods opened up and encouraged contact among them all.


Enrichment Activity

Take on the role of a trader in ancient Egypt. Make an entry in your travel journal that tells what you have experienced in your travels that day. Your entry should include the following details:

•	where you are going
•	how you plan to get there
•	what you are hoping to trade for
•	dangers you may have faced that day
•	an illustration of the trade good that you would most like to bring home to Egypt