Egyptian Trade in the New Kingdom

Foreword:

The Egyptians maintained a massive trade network across the Bronze Age world, which extended to far-off places such as the Indus Valley, to Punt, a kingdom located on the Horn of Africa.

This trade financed massive building projects and military campaigns.

E1: We were inserted into Myos Hormos, a port on the Red Sea, during the reign of Hatshepsut. We encountered a portside market on our way to document the trade expedition to Punt. There were several merchants haggling with one another over a variety of goods. Ships were stocked with Arabian spices, Nubian gold, and ebony, lapis lazuli, as well as native Egyptian wheat, papyrus, and linen.

A relief depicting Tia, Queen of Punt

We moved through the ports to witness Hatshepsut’s fleet of five trade ships returning from Punt. Several dock workers and merchants expressed their surprise and awe, exclaiming that they had not expected a successful trip to such a distant destination. As they approached the shore, Hatshepsut’s envoys began declaring their accomplishments done in her name. They brought forth 31 live myrrh trees and boxes of frankincense. Several observers exclaimed that they were able to smell the fragrance of the incense. We returned to normal reality at approximately 0800 hours.

E2: We were inserted into the port city of Tanis in the 5th Year of Rameses XI, at 1060 BCE. We were tasked with locating and journeying on a trade ship. Several ships of varying origins were docked at the port, some loaded with urns, others with crates. I approached a man who appeared to be a captain and offered to exchange a small bag of silver in exchange for passage on his ship. He accepted, and we set sail the next morning.

The captain’s name was Semet, and he was seeking to stock up on Phoenician and Cypriot goods. We sailed for a week before we reached the city of Tyre. Semet disembarked and haggled with a Phoenician supplier of cedar. They settled on a deal of 50 shekels, and workers began to load the logs onto the ship.

We left port after restocking on supplies for Cyprus, which was another week away. There were a few stormy nights which tested our faith in the vessel, which made it to port largely undamaged, much to our collective relief.

A fresco of an Egyptian trade ship

Semet filled his remaining cargo space with ingots of copper, relatively scarce in Egypt. We returned the same way we came from, which took 2 weeks. As we sailed back into Tanis, we hastily disembarked and returned to normal reality at approximately 1300 hours.