Trade in Egypt

In Egypt, trade was and still is a key element in the economy of the country. Egypt has supplies that other countries wanted, and those countries had materials that Egypt needed and wanted. Due to this, the idea of trade came about. When the country was first established, the Nile River was not just a source of water, but a means of transportation for trade for Egypt and other countries in Africa. The Nile River allowed for Egyptians to travel to trade as well as other African and European countries to come to Egypt for trading.
In ancient times, Egypt traded with surrounding countries. Egypt exported papyrus, fish, and rope to others. Egypt imported copper, ivory, and livestock. [1] One crop that Egypt exported was flax. Egyptian farmers worked most of the year to grow crops to trade. Flax was a main trading good. Egyptians often traded flax for gold. [2]
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Trades between two parties were usually oral agreements. In earlier times, many could not write or read.[3] While items that could be used to build or create something were traded, eventually trade also developed into the exchange of people. While the slave trade was not as prominent in Egypt when compared to other African countries, slavery was still an occurrence. Slaves were traded in order to have that slave perform a certain task. Slaves were often traded for silver and other valuable goods. [4]

While flax and papyrus was among the main trading goods in ancient times, that has now changed. Today, items that Egypt trade are food and household items. Egypt receives food items, like pepper, from Indonesia. In the past several years, Egypt has strengthened its trade ties with Indonesia and Russia. [5] Egypt today trades with countries worldwide. They continue to trade through land, rivers and now the seas.


[1] http://www.eternalegypt.org/EternalEgyptWebsiteWeb/HomeServlet?ee_website_action_key=action.display.module&story_id=&language_id=1&module_id=193&ee_messages=0001.flashrequired.text
[2] http://egyptiandiamond.com/ancient-egyptian-trade.php
[3] http://www.ancientegyptianfacts.com/ancient-egyptian-trade.html
[4] http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/slavery.htm
[5] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6346.2015.06601.x/epdf
[6] http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8GkH44q2ZuA/T8T4QkqwmvI/AAAAAAAAD_g/yLAMPSj6w9Q/s1600/Trade+in+Ancient+Egypt3.jpeg