handbooks known as periploi described landmarks to guide
one along a coast. Th e periploi also gave information about the
lands, peoples, and resources the sailors might encounter.
Th e Phoenicians are credited with circumnavigating Af-
rica on an expedition funded by the Eg y ptian pharaoh Necho
II (r. 610–595 b.c.e.), a feat that took three years. Having no
ports, the crews had to plant and harvest wheat twice to pro-
vide provisions. Th e report describes the sun changing sides
of the ship, confi rming that the crew had entered the south-
ern hemisphere. Based on the account of the Carthaginian
navigator Hanno (fi ft h century b.c.e.), some scholars hold
that the Carthaginians may have explored the Atlantic coast
of Africa as far south as Mount Cameroon, though a majority
assume they never ventured south of Senegal.
During the period of Greek colonization from the eighth
to the sixth centuries b.c.e. the region known as Libya to the
Greeks (northern Africa outside of Egypt) was an ideal place
for establishing new centers. Th e hinterland of the coast in
this region possessed a plain useful for agriculture. In addi-
tion, the southern Mediterranean shipping route passed close
by as ships looking for the African coast aft er passing Crete
would typically sight landfall in this region. Likewise, east-
bound ships would head north from this landmark.
Trade on the Indian Ocean is dictated by the monsoons.
Th e northeastern monsoons occur during winter in the north-
ern hemisphere. Th ese winds abate in March and reverse (be-
come southwesterly) in April. Th e period from mid-May to
mid-August is typically too rough for sailing. Th e equatorial
current fl ows southward aft er striking the Somali coast, facili-
tating vessels heading west from the Arabian Peninsula. With
the coming of the southwest monsoon, the current strikes far-
ther south, near Cape Delgado in Mozambique. Th is produces a
strong northern current, facilitating the return from the east.
Th e kingdom of Axum was located in northern Ethio-
pia and Eritrea. Its port at Adulis, founded in the mid-second
century b.c.e. by the Egyptian king Ptolemy III (r. 246–221
b.c.e.), became a major center for exchange of goods between
the Roman, Red Sea, South Asian, and sub-Saharan African
worlds. Few of its coins are found in the homeland, while
most appear in Yemen and in India.
Th e kings of the Ptolemaic Dynasty sought to circumvent
the Seleucid stranglehold on overland trade by exploiting wa-
ter routes to India. By the end of the era, Ptolemaic weakness
and political anarchy had reduced the trips to some 20 a year.
Under the Roman emperor Augustus (r. 27 b.c.e.–14 c.e.) that
number was elevated to 120 a year. Aft er destroying Carthage
in 146 b.c.e. the Romans had assumed control of shipping
throughout the entirety of the Mediterranean, including all
African ports.EGYPT
BY AMR KAMEL
Although ancient Egypt was considered a riverine civiliza-
tion, where everything was associated with the Nile, it wasthought also to be a nation of sailors, navigators, and explor-
ers, who were able to navigate and sail up and down the Medi-
terranean and the Red Sea as early as the Old Kingdom (ca.
2575–ca. 2134 b.c.e.) and perhaps even before. Although no
seagoing ship has survived, numerous pieces of textual and
pictorial evidence have fortunately been preserved from most
of Egyptian history and particularly from the New Kingdom
(ca. 1550–ca. 1070 b.c.e.) onward, referring to the activation
of an Egyptian maritime network on both seas.
Th e earliest evidence for Mediterranean seafaring is a
short text from the reign of Snefru (r. ca. 2613–2589 b.c.e.),
which mentions 40 ships that sailed to the land now known
as Lebanon to obtain cedar and other woods. An Egyptian
crew on such a voyage almost 50 years later left its name on
an inscribed ax head at Byblos (modern Jubayl). However, the
earliest detailed portraits of seagoing ships come from dec-
orated blocks in the mortuary temple of the Fift h Dynasty
ruler Sahure (r. ca. 2487–2475 b.c.e.) at Abusir, which illus-
trates 12 ships, with careful attention to construction, rigging,
and passengers, including a mixture of Egyptian and Syrian
crewmen. In a relief from the time of Unas (r. ?–2345 b.c.e.),
two slightly later ships are shown returning from Syria. Such
scenes could help modern archaeologists to estimate the ac-
tual sizes of these ships; for instance, a cedar ship built in the
Fourth Dynasty (ca. 2575–ca. 2465 b.c.e.) was 100 cubits, or
50 yards, long.
As early as the reign of Sahure ships sailed on the Red
Sea for Punt, famed for its incense, precious woods, gold, and
other raw materials. Punt is most likely located on the Somali
coast of East Africa. In the Sixth Dynasty (ca. 2323–ca. 2150
b.c.e.) a helmsman named Khnumhotep left an inscription
describing his 11 round-trips to that land. Although no tex-
tual or representational evidence exists for seagoing ships in
the Middle Kingdom (ca. 2040–ca.1640 b.c.e.), recent excava-
tions have revealed a Red Sea harbor used by Middle King-
dom ships that sailed to Punt and to the turquoise mines of
the Sinai Peninsula, at Marsa Gawasis, about 15 miles south
of modern-day Safaga and 31 miles north of Quseir. At this
site archaeologists have unearthed 12 large stone anchors,
fragments of cedar wood imported from Lebanon, and a
man-made cave in which ancient Egyptian sailors stored
their gear.
In the New Kingdom seafaring seems to have been more
common, with refi nements in rigging and steering gear
traceable through images and models of ships. No physical
remains of New Kingdom hulls have been found as yet. Th e
most remarkable report is preserved in both text and images
on the walls of the mortuary temple of Hatshepsut (r. 1503–
1482 b.c.e.) at Deir el-Bahri. Th ese scenes show fi ve ships with
upright bows and curved papyriform sterns, hogging trusses
(thick ropes to keep the bow and stern from sagging), and
single masts with broad sails, entering and leaving the an-
chorage at Punt. Only one includes an illustration of beam
ends; otherwise, artistic attention was lavished on the rig-
ging. Fift een oarsmen shown as well on the side facing theseafaring and navigation: Egypt 9530895-1194_Soc&Culturev4(s-z).i953 953 10/10/07 2:30:33 PM