Trade and Travel: Ancient Egypt
How the Nile, desert routes, and sea lanes moved goods and people across ancient Egypt and beyond.
Chapters
- 0:07 River and Sea: The Nile as Highway
- 1:34 Desert Caravans: Overland Trade
- 3:01 Exotic Goods: From Punt to the Levant
- 4:46 Why Trade Thrived: Economy and State Power
On-screen text
- 0:07 River and Sea: The Nile as Highway
- 0:14 River and Sea: The Nile as Highway
- 0:31 Nile barges moved grain and stone. Historical record · Tomb of Khnumhotep II, Beni Hasan, wall relief
- 0:49 Nile fish markets fed city dwellers. The Institute's interpretation · Pliny the Elder, Natural History 6.30
- 1:07 Red Sea shipwreck carried copper and cedar. Historical record · Papyrus of the Shipwreck (12th Dynasty, Louvre 2260)
- 1:25 Lebanese cedar used for royal ships. Historical record · The Tale of Sinuhe (Middle Kingdom, Papyrus Leiden I 344)
- 1:34 Desert Caravans: Overland Trade
- 1:41 Desert Caravans: Overland Trade
- 1:58 Desert caravans moved gold and lapis from Nubia. Historical record · Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), Theban wall scene
- 2:16 Caravans used ten‑camel units with foremen. Historical record · Tomb of Amenemopet (TT73), Theban wall scene
- 2:34 Nubian gold traded for Egyptian pottery. Historical record · Middle Kingdom inscription of Amenemhat III at Wadi Hammamat
- 2:52 Basalt and diorite shipped from Wadi Hammamat. Historical record · Wadi Hammamat inscriptions, Middle Kingdom
- 3:01 Exotic Goods: From Punt to the Levant
- 3:08 Exotic Goods: From Punt to the Levant
- 3:25 Hatshepsut’s Punt expedition brought incense and myrrh. Historical record · Reliefs of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, Deir el‑Bahri
- 3:43 Cedar from Byblos supplied Egyptian temples. Historical record · Amarna Letter EA 15, correspondence with Byblos
- 4:01 Ivory imported from Horn of Africa. Historical record · Herodotus, Histories 4.152
- 4:19 Hatshepsut’s Punt expedition brought incense and myrrh. Historical record · Reliefs of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, Deir el‑Bahri
- 4:37 Myos Hormos and Berenice linked to India. Historical record · Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st c. AD), chapter 2
- 4:46 Why Trade Thrived: Economy and State Power
- 4:53 Why Trade Thrived: Economy and State Power
- 5:10 Canaanite tribute included barley, oil, wine. Historical record · Papyrus Anastasi I (12th Dynasty, British Museum 10500)
- 5:28 Surplus grain exported to Levant. Historical record · Papyrus of the Harvest (Papyrus Leiden I 344, Middle Kingdom)
- 5:46 Nubian gold traded for Egyptian pottery. Historical record · Middle Kingdom inscription of Amenemhat III at Wadi Hammamat
- 6:04 Hatshepsut’s Punt expedition brought incense and myrrh. Historical record · Reliefs of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, Deir el‑Bahri
Sources
Historical record: Tomb of Khnumhotep II, Beni Hasan, wall relief · Papyrus of the Shipwreck (12th Dynasty, Louvre 2260) · The Tale of Sinuhe (Middle Kingdom, Papyrus Leiden I 344) · Tomb of Rekhmire (TT100), Theban wall scene · Tomb of Amenemopet (TT73), Theban wall scene · Middle Kingdom inscription of Amenemhat III at Wadi Hammamat · Wadi Hammamat inscriptions, Middle Kingdom · Reliefs of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple, Deir el‑Bahri · Amarna Letter EA 15, correspondence with Byblos · Herodotus, Histories 4.152 · Periplus of the Erythraean Sea (1st c. AD), chapter 2 · Papyrus Anastasi I (12th Dynasty, British Museum 10500) · Papyrus of the Harvest (Papyrus Leiden I 344, Middle Kingdom)
The Institute's interpretation: Pliny the Elder, Natural History 6.30
Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 110 s of CPU.