The Beginning of Trade

Abstract

Trade is perhaps one of the most noticeable steps of an evolving civilization. For ancient Egypt, there was a wide range of potential traders, both on the African continent, especially Nubia, and over the Syrian-Palestinian corridor. However, as soon as circa 3000 BCE, Old Kingdom Egyptians were a sea-fearing civilization and an important part of the search for goods was made via the Red Sea and even via the Mediterranean. The ability to travel on the Great Green allowed the creation of trade routes with several other cultures as far as Byblos, Canaan, or Arad. With time, Egypt used the Mediterranean to import and export a myriad of products that would directly influence its own development as a civilization and eventually would also leave its mark other cultures. With this paper one proposes to present an overview of the trade routes and products exchanged since the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom between ancient Egypt and its counterparts on the Mediterranean World, in search of an understanding of the relations established between so different cultures, focusing on the products that were actively procured and what they were exchanged for.