Economy,+Trade+&+Transportation+(1)

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Ancient Egypt had a great civilization due to their excellent systems of economy, trade, and transportation. These systems started becoming more and more important in Ancient Egypt and then the world once Egypt gained power. The Egyptians brought in new concepts to the world but also modernized many old concepts. It shows what having a good economy, trade, and transportation can do to a country. These concepts made Egypt a ruling empire in the east and the world.

Egypt was in a perfect place to trade. They had ways to get anywhere whenever they wanted. Cities like Punt made Egypt a main source of trading luxury goods. //**Punt imported and sold many necessities to a person’s daily life.**// It wasn’t easy to get to though; traders would brave the Indian Ocean to get to Punt on the east coast of Africa. Punt also had traders come from other countries in Africa by land to see the great city and to get the many luxury goods that were sold there. Punt wasn’t just a city with good trade but actually a trade icon across the world.

The Market Place was another location that made Egypt a trade icon. In most countries they used gold or silver and in Egypt they had no money only deben. Deben was the weight of copper. Egyptian stallholders would weigh the produce in deben and give it a price accordingly. **The produce that was traded were grains, vegetables, fruit, cattle, goats, and fish.** Citizens would go to the marketplace about two to three times a week making it a social but tough place. The stallholders could get tough in there prices and easily people could get in fights. Egypt was not a normal place as you can see from how they traded and sold items.

The Egyptians had many different ways of traveling from different spots in the big country. You could take many of the different types of boats that the Ancient Egyptian had to offer. The Cargo ship is one of these many boats Egypt had. It wasn’t us ed for traveling but used more for importing and carrying large loads. It was made around 1300B.C. but sadly was very shallow making it unable for travel through the rough oceans and seas. Another boat that is used more for trade is the Transport Ship. It was slow, but roomy making it easy to carry large loads. It was made in about 2200B.C. and also has a flat bottom for sliding on the Nile’s sandbanks.

Egypt didn’t only have boats for trade but actually they had leisure boats like the Pleasure Boat. It was made in about 2000B.C. and has a mast for sailing upstream when the wind was behind it. They called it the Pleasure boat because of the large canopy that was used for shade. Another boat for traveling was the Pilgrimage Barge. It was made in about 2500B.C., it was made of wood and papyrus, and had a small canopy for shade. It was a river boat though only for carrying people along the Nile. A boat that was used for travel and fishing was the **Fishing Boat.** It was made before 3100B.C.; **it was made from bundles of papyrus reed,** and was steered with two large oars. Most boats were open to everyone except for two of the pharaoh’s boats. The first of the private boats was the Royal Barge. It was made in 3000B.C. and was used for the pharaohs when they would visit the different cities on the Nile. The second private boat was the Pharaoh’s Barge. It was made in around 2500B.C.: had twelve oarsmen, and was longer and wider than most boats.The Ancient Egyptians may have had good trade, and transportation but they also had an astonishing economy. 

The Ancient Egyptians excelled in many things but one of the main ones is their economy. Part of their economy was their payments and credit entries. Their payments were transferred from account to account same as the modern day giro system. Their credit entries were mostly the same with the owners name in the genitive or possessive case and their debit entries in the dative case. Another part was the different minerals you could pay with like gold, silver, and copper. These were used mostly dealing with foreigners like merchants and mercenaries. This way of life had been going on since the second half of the first millennium BCE.

The last part of the Ancient Egyptians economy was their interest rates. In Ancient Egypt the Egyptians were at a disadvantage with interest rates. The high rates did not encourage commerce in the first millennium BCE and were at a disadvantage versus the foreign merchants. The high interest rates could reach up to 10% a month making it hard to get any money.

The Ancient Egyptians ruled long until Greece and Rome gained control. They set new standards to economy, trade, and the transportation. The Ancient Egyptians set a high mark in the world and some of their principles from thousands of years ago are still being taught and used in daily life. They really were the starting of a new modernization of the world with their new boats, their new trade system, and of course their astonishing economy. They created something that was bigger than ever thought possible and they had created a new way to do things. The Ancient Egyptians had paved a path to let the world follow it for thousands a years to come.

Bibliography: Books: Hart, George. Ancient Egypt. San Fransico: Time Life Books, 1995 Steedman, Scott, and David Antram. Egyptian Town. Brighton, UK: The Salayria Book Co., 1977 Online: Birch, S. "The Ancient Egyptian Economy." Pharaonic Egypt. 1994. 9 Jan. 2012. []