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TRADE AND
TRIBUTE
Ships
sailed up and down the Nile loaded with goods for trade. The Mayor exchanged
cereals, textiles, paper and dried fish, beads and luxury items for copper,
spices, ebony, ivory and incense from foreign lands. Despite the wealth of the
city of Gesy, some things were unattainable here. Trees did not grow
plentifully beside the Nile, and building timber came from the cedars of Byblos
(Lebanon) in the north. The Mayor has access to all the produce of the African
interior through trade links with the princes of Nubia, who supplied gold,
semi-precious stones and exotic animals. Gesy merchants crossed the Red Sea and
travelled through the desert as far as the lands of Kush and Punt in the south.
Countries that had been defeated in war or wanted to be friendly to the Pharaoh
paid tribute in the form of expensive goods such as horses and wheeled chariots,
and these gifts were often channelled through the the city of Gesy.
FOUR-FOOTED
SUBJECTS
The Mayor of Gesy liked wild and
exotic animals from other countries to have on show in the Gesy Zoo for his
citizens to look at.
DID YOU KNOW ?
That after sunset, Nile
sailing ships stayed moored, because the sailors could not see the shifting
sandbanks in the darkness.
FAIR EXCHANGE :
The value of trade goods for exchange by barter was carefully worked out. In the
marketplace, a clay pot might pay for some linen cloth.
SAILORS' PAY : Sailors who worked on the large wooden trading vessels
were paid with grain. When their ships docked, they were able to visit the
quayside stalls and swap their grain for clothing, fresh fruit and
vegetables.
COUNTING THE CARGO : All foreign trade goods belonged to the Pharaoh. Scribes
kept careful records of the cargoes as they were unloaded.
CARVED IVORY
STICKS
These sticks were used for
playing games.
Elephant tusks were imported from African lands to the south.
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