Egypt’s Foreign Relations
Who were Egypt’s main neighbours.
1
Drag the following shapes to the correct places on the map below.
Libya
Nubia
Ancient Egypt’s foreign relations (or how Egypt relates with other countries) falls primarily into two
categories:
1. Trade with other countries
2. War with other countries
Trade
Every country produces more than they need of some items and a shortage of others. Trade is
important as it allows countries to swap what they have too much of with what they have a shortage
of. What a country sells are called “exports”, what a country buys are called “imports”.
Good were traded in and out of Egypt along trade routes by merchants. There were three main types
of trade routes
 On barges up and down the Nile River route
 By ship up and down the Red Sea route
 By camel, donkey, carts and by foot along tracks back and forth across the Sahara Desert or
up and down to Palestine along overland routes
2
Using the maps and diagrams above, complete the following table.
Country of orgin
Libya (tropical Africa)
Nubia (Kush)
Punt
Palestine (Lebanon)
Goods bought
Trade route used
War
Most of what we know about Egyptian Wars during the Old Kingom is from Bas Reliefs (inscriptions).
Egyptian kings would show their “greatness” by putting up bas reliefs depticting him as a giant holding
or killing smaller men representing enemies of Egypt. Words would be added to boast of the king’s
military achievements.
3
What problem can you foresee in using the King’s represenation of military victories to
understand what really happened?
4
Read the text below (or read the original at: www.touregypt.net/featurestories/enemies.htm)
and answer the questions which follow.
Libyans
The Libyans may have been composed of more than one race of people. They were depicted by the
Egyptians mostly as dark skinned and bearded, though occasionally with fair hair and blue eyes.
Temple bas reliefs frequently show them as a defeated enemy, and there are records from the
reigns of the Old Kingdom pharaohs Snefru and Sahure of specific attacks made against them.
Defeated Libyans were a symbol of the King's military prowess. The reliefs in the Old Kingdom
temples include common scenes of a Libyan chief being killed by the pharaoh, while the victim's wife
and children beg for mercy.
However, the personal names for the Libyans in all these scenes are repetitious and suggest that
these reliefs did not actually record historical events.
Nubians
The Nubians were considered by the Egyptians to be "vile" and "wretched". Pharaoh Senusret III
said (in an inscription):
"They are not people one respects; they are wretches, craven hearted. My majesty has seen it, it is
not an untruth. I have captured their women, I have carried off their dependents..."
Military campaigns and trading expeditions were sent to Nubia at regular intervals in order to sustain
a regular supply of prisoners, herds of cattle and exotic products from the south such as ivory,
ostrich feathers and ebony. There were also the mining operations in Nubia, where the Egyptian's
obtained much of their gold.
Palestine
Palestine contained a number of small kingdoms and was a strategic location for three main reasons;
 Important trades routes passed through the region
 It linked Egypt with Asia and indirectly with Europe
 It was a fertile area in a region dominated by desert
Egypt tried to exercise control over this area for three main reasons
 To block the powerful empires in the North from getting too close to Egypt and invading
 To control and tax trades routes

To acquire timber, oil and other resources
Often the small kingdoms of Palestine formed alliances to fight off both Egypt and other threats. At
other times, the kingdoms may call on Egypt to assist them against others. Sometimes the kingdoms
even asked powerful countries to their north to come and kick the Egyptians out.
Powerful Empires to the North
Very large and powerful Empires emerged in what is now modern day Turkey and Iraq. As these
empires spread and grew, their armies spread along trade routes and along the rivers and fertile
lands of the region north of Egypt.
These empires were likewise attracted to Palestine and often found themselves fighting Egypt for
control of this territory.
5
6
7
8
Who was the greatest military threat to Egypt? Why?
Who was the least military threat to Egypt? Why?
Where was Egypt most likely to gain benefits from military force? Why?
What region provided the most problems for Egypt? Why?