Ancient Egyptian Trade Routes

Trade routes are defined as the series of network that are used mainly for the transportation of cargo. This facilitated the easy movement of goods and they can easily reach places that are distant. From the early times, the lapis lazuli that originated in Afghanistan was actually placed in the Egyptian tombs.

The people who lived near the Nile were both hostile and peaceful with the African and Asian neighbours. The ancient Egyptians imported and exported a number of goods from the neighbouring countries. Some of the goods that were exported by them included pottery vases, papyrus, linen, gold vessels, dried fish, lentils, etc.

Ancient Egyptian Trade Routes

It was not only export but also the import of an equal number of things. The things that they imported were mainly raw materials. This included cattle, horses, wood, silver, small livestock, copper and other valuable metals of that time. Most of the import was done from Syria and Palestine. Most of the oil related products were obtained from Aegean.

It was the southern region that was richer in gold and other minerals. The country which was famous for this at that time was Nubian. The trade route then included a number of caravan routes. These caravan routes were widely used for transporting goods. The transport included both the import and the export. There were two northern routes.

The first one was the one that went through Palestine. This route further travelled along the Mediterranean coast. Then there was the second route. The second route ran through places like Megiddo and Hazor and this then went along the Litani River. It then further went downstairs to river Orontes.

The southern route further extended and ran through the oases of Kharga and Dungul. The Sinai then reached to the very famous caravan route. Along with the caravan route was also the sea route. The sea route existed because of the huge water body Nile. The sea route was such that the it extended to the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

This is how the Egyptian trade was extended even overseas. This is how new kind of trade started with the new countries because mobility across water bodies was no longer a problem. It was the Orontes River which the Egyptians’ crossed generally. One of the most famous of the routes was the silk route. It was a network that was used to reach to the Asian countries. It started in China and it ended somewhere in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.

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