Ancient Egypt and Nubia

Ancient Egypt and Nubia

Wall
painting
from the
tomb of
Sebekhotep:
tribute
from Nubia

Ancient Diplomacy

This painting comes from the tomb of Sebekhotep, a

treasury official in the service of the Egyptian king

Thutmose IV. One of Sebekhotep’s duties was to receive

gifts sent to the king from overseas, and this painting was

part of a larger scene depicting foreign trade missions

bringing tribute. It shows three men from Nubia

(present-day Sudan) carrying luxury items: gold rings,

logs of ebony, giraffe tails, red jasper and a leopard skins

as well as a live monkey and baboon.

Multiple Choice

What is illustrated on the wall painting?

• People bringing gifts to the king.

• People working.

• People taking stuff to their homes.

Ancient Diplomacy

In the ancient world, leaders of nations communicated

by sending envoys to each other’s courts. As seen

here, etiquette required exchanges of gifts as a sign of

good faith and mutual respect. Letters were sent via

messengers carrying ‘passports’ that gave them

diplomatic protection. Since there was often no

common language, discussions and correspondence

usually required interpreters and translators.

Multiple Choice

Why did kingdoms exchange gifts with each other?

• To show they liked them.

• To show respect and good faith.

• To show they spoke the same language.

Trading Network

As early as 5000 BC, the first Egyptians were trading

tools, weapons, hunting equipment and ornaments

with the Levant to the north (the lands bordering the

eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea),

Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq) to the east and Nubia

to the south. Important ideas and technologies like

writing, glassmaking and the use of horses and

chariots were introduced to Egypt through contact with

their neighbours.

Open Ended

What ideas and technologies were introduced to the people of Egypt by trading with Levant, Mesopotamia, and Nubia?

Trading Network

The Nile provided everything the Egyptians needed for their daily

lives, but it was trade that made Egypt rich and powerful. The

river Nile, overland routes and access to the Mediterranean Sea

and the Red Sea meant that Egypt became the chief trading

route between Africa, Asia and Europe in the ancient world.

Taxation on the goods that passed through Egypt brought wealth

to the state. As well as exporting home-produced goods like

grain, linen and papyrus, the Egyptians controlled the trade in

African goods such as those in the painting, as well as incense,

ivory, feathers and ostrich eggs. These were exchanged for

commodities Egypt could not produce: silver from Syria, olive oil

from Crete and wood from Lebanon.

Open Ended

Explain how trading made Egypt rich and powerful.

Trading Network

From about 2500 BC, the Egyptian government organized

large-scale trading expeditions to distant lands. These were

carried out by the army and trading parties were often away

for years. The traders normally travelled by boat, along the

Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts and up the Nile.

Overland routes through the deserts also played an important

part in Egypt’s trading network. Caravans with goods loaded

on donkeys or carried by porters travelled south to Nubia,

west to the desert oases and Libya, east to Sinai and the Red

Sea and north to the Levant.

Multiple Choice

How did the people of Egypt trade with other countries?

• By boats

• By caravans

• By boats and caravans

Identify the
products
they are
bringing to
the
Egyptian
king.

Open Ended

List the products they are bringing the Egyptian king. (There are 6.)

Why were
these
things
valuable to
the
Egyptians?

Gold Rings

Baskets of
jasper and
incense.

Ebony logs

Live animals

tails

Open Ended

Why were Gold rings, baskets of jasper and incense, ebony logs, animal skins, giraffes’ tails and live animals valuable to Egyptians?

What might
they have
used them
for?

Gold Rings

Baskets of
jasper and
incense.

Ebony logs

Live animals

tails

Open Ended

What might they have used them for?

Wall painting
from the tomb
of
Sebekhotep:
gold, silver,
and ivory
from Syria.

Why are gold,
silver and
ivory
valuable?

What might
they have
used them
for?

Open Ended

Why are gold, silver and ivory valuable?

What might they have used them for?

Wall painting from
the tomb of
Sebekhotep: a man
brings horses, a
chariot and silver
vessels from a
country in the
Levant.

Why are horses,
chariots, and
silver vessels
valuable?

What might they
have used them
for?

Open Ended

Why are horses, chariots, and silver vessels valuable?

What might they have used them for?