The Ancient Egyptian civilization was able to create works of incredible complexity and size in terrestrial engineering but for some unknown reason never built an open water navy or engaged in overseas trade directly. In spite of relience on river trade and having access to the design of Phoenician ships since at least as early as the 3rd millennium BCE naval architecture was never mastered by them in 3 thousand years. Why might that have been?
First-off, I agree with Leonid ... the Egyptians most-definitely had an ancient and extensive sea-faring tradition ... so the question might more-appropriately be re-phrased "Why didn't Egyptians develop ocean-going navigation at an earlier date?" Or, "Why didn't the Egyptians discover America ... before Columbus ... or the Norsemen?"
But, IMO their development of sea-faring ability might have come earlier if they had not been retarded by such a firm belief in their own peculiar (bizarre) cosmology, which IMO tended to suppress any motivation for exploring the seas, because: (1) The land of Egypt was thought to lie at the center of the cosmos, both from a horizontal standpoint and from a vertical one. Each temple was held to occupy the precise center of the cosmos, the axis mundi, by those who worshiped there ... so being already at the center of life and the whole cosmos ... where is the motivation to go anywhere else? (2) There was no single creation myth, rather many, but one common theme that tended to run through them all was that the ocean was a fearful and chaotic empty place. Originally, nothing existed save for the "waters of chaos." Out of this churning ocean of formlessness, the first form arose. This was a pyramid-shaped hillock (called a benben or tatenen) of deposited silt, the kind of hillock one might find along the Nile after a great flood. Out of the hillock the first god emerged ... etc. etc. (3) the ocean was conceptually perceived as the top of the underworld, or the place of the dead, the place the Sun "died" into each night, and was freed or "re-born" from each morning ... not much motivation in messing-around in the world of the dead before-ones-appointed-time and taking anymore risk of getting dead than one must (like always keeping land in sight so you could scuttle safely ashore).
Anyway, these are gross over-simplifications of a few of the many reasons I believe that the Egyptian cosmology may have suppressed growth of an ocean-going culture.
The Egyptian cosmology is very succinctly (but elegantly) explained on the web-page linked below. I think reviewing that page would give you insights into the ancient Egyptian mindset and why it was likely very adverse to ocean exploration.
It certainly was not because the Egyptians lacked technological skills and ability ... similar to the way industry/technology in much of the southern U.S. (and Amish country in the North) was inhibited by religion (I have some evangelical relatives who still believe the moon-landing must have been staged on a TV set), IMO the ancient Egyptians believed it was best not to trespass into the private realm of their god(s).
http://egyptianmythology.org/concepts/ancient-egyptian-cosmology/
Did Ancient Egyptians Conquer the Seas? - They did . Thus the question is: Why not earlier than 1477BC ?
Posted on August 19, 2011 by David Meyer
"""Around 1477 BC, Queen Hatshepsut funded a mysterious overseas expedition to the Land of Punt, or “the Land of God.” For over a century, archaeologists have questioned the ability of Egypt to conduct such an oceanic voyage, with many believing that the Land of Punt was inland or even fictional. Now, new evidence indicates that the ancient Egyptians weren’t just masters of the land…they were masters of the seas as well.
The Mysterious Land of Punt?
The famous expedition is depicted in relief at Deir el-Bahri. It consisted of five ships. Each ship measured about seventy feet long and carried 210 men. After reaching Punt, the expedition returned with plants, animals, incense, ebony, and even people native to the Land of Punt.
Interestingly enough, this is not the first nor the last recorded visit to Punt. Pharaoh Sahure led a similar expedition almost one thousand years earlier. And after Hatshepsut’s expedition, trade flourished between Egypt and Punt for another four hundred years until Egypt’s New Kingdom came to an end. Then trade ceased and Punt became known as a mythical, lost land............""""
http://www.davidmeyercreations.com/mysteries-of-history/did-ancient-egyptians-conquer-the-seas/
Useful?
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=ancient+egypth+and+ship&qpvt=ancient+egypth+and+ship&qpvt=ancient+egypth+and+ship&qpvt=ancient+egypth+and+ship&FORM=IGRE
The importance of wind directions for sailing?
http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/means_of_transportation.htm
Leonid
I have seen the relief at Deir el Bahri in the wonderful Temple of Hatshepsut. The boats depicted in it are variants of Nile boats and this is one of the reasons why historians question the actual location of Punt.
These boast would not have been capable of sailing far from land and might have travelled by hugging the coast and only sailing during daylight. These voyages did not, as far as experimental archeology has been able to determine involve sailing in open sea. Even the Red Sea is too rough at times for flat bottomed boats and Hatshepsut's fleet would certainly not have been able to sail in the waters of the Mediteranean.
The voyages of Sahure and Hatshepsut's fleets were as you say 1000 years apart. Why, if the Ancient Egyptians had mastered the seas did they so infrequently sail them?
Incidentally Hatshepsut was King and ruler of Egypt rather than queen. King in Ancient Egyptian is genderless and a queen is consort to the king rather than ruler.
What about the importance of (thick) clothes or food stocks to resist for longer periods cold on sea? Did the ancient Egypthians had the necessary physiology/biology to resist cold on sea?
Marcel
I last visited Hatshepsut's Temple in early January at dawn and it graphically illustrated that the Ancient Egyptians must have had warm thick clothes for that time of the year. Even giving allowance for climate variations over the last 3,000 years the temperature at that time of the morning was not conducive to linen kilts and no shirt.
That could perhaps lead to anothr question. Why does Ancient Egyptian art not show people in winter clothing?
Perhaps, due to threats from Nubians in the south until 15th century BC, from Hyksos and after that from southwestern Asia states in the north.
Philadelphia, PA
Dear Turner et al.,
I am not at all sure that I can answer this question or that I know enough about the ancient Egyptians to undertake any detailed discussion.
However, what stands out to me about the civilization of ancient Egypt is its monumental stability over thousands of years. Its not that it did not have its ups and down, wars and even foreign invasions--as I recall. The remarkable point is that it was able to put itself back together again with such remarkable cultural continuity.
On general grounds, this suggests to me that it was a very inward looking culture. The geography is suggestive of the kind of point I have in mind. Surely the deserts on either side of the river had the effect of isolating the civilization of the Nile from outside influences; and given the agricultural bounty of the annual flooding of their fields, they were substantially independent of the outside world for their basic needs. I do not know that they ever reached or explored the upper reaches of the Nile in any substantial way. They had no great need to reach out to the rest of the world, and we might infer that they had, correspondingly, little inclination to interact or borrow from foreign sources. The geography is suggestive of a very inward-looking culture. It seems indeed to have been chiefly a development from internal sources.
Not having developed extensive overseas trading relations suggest an inability: lack of appropriate sea-going ships; but such inability also suggests a lack of interest or desire. These two sorts of conditions tend to be mutually supporting in any more inward-looking culture. Physical or cultural incapacity for intensive relations to the foreign goes hand in hand with lack of interest or desire to interact with the foreign. One might think of the ancient Romans as a paradigmatic outward-looking contrast.
H.G. Callaway
First-off, I agree with Leonid ... the Egyptians most-definitely had an ancient and extensive sea-faring tradition ... so the question might more-appropriately be re-phrased "Why didn't Egyptians develop ocean-going navigation at an earlier date?" Or, "Why didn't the Egyptians discover America ... before Columbus ... or the Norsemen?"
But, IMO their development of sea-faring ability might have come earlier if they had not been retarded by such a firm belief in their own peculiar (bizarre) cosmology, which IMO tended to suppress any motivation for exploring the seas, because: (1) The land of Egypt was thought to lie at the center of the cosmos, both from a horizontal standpoint and from a vertical one. Each temple was held to occupy the precise center of the cosmos, the axis mundi, by those who worshiped there ... so being already at the center of life and the whole cosmos ... where is the motivation to go anywhere else? (2) There was no single creation myth, rather many, but one common theme that tended to run through them all was that the ocean was a fearful and chaotic empty place. Originally, nothing existed save for the "waters of chaos." Out of this churning ocean of formlessness, the first form arose. This was a pyramid-shaped hillock (called a benben or tatenen) of deposited silt, the kind of hillock one might find along the Nile after a great flood. Out of the hillock the first god emerged ... etc. etc. (3) the ocean was conceptually perceived as the top of the underworld, or the place of the dead, the place the Sun "died" into each night, and was freed or "re-born" from each morning ... not much motivation in messing-around in the world of the dead before-ones-appointed-time and taking anymore risk of getting dead than one must (like always keeping land in sight so you could scuttle safely ashore).
Anyway, these are gross over-simplifications of a few of the many reasons I believe that the Egyptian cosmology may have suppressed growth of an ocean-going culture.
The Egyptian cosmology is very succinctly (but elegantly) explained on the web-page linked below. I think reviewing that page would give you insights into the ancient Egyptian mindset and why it was likely very adverse to ocean exploration.
It certainly was not because the Egyptians lacked technological skills and ability ... similar to the way industry/technology in much of the southern U.S. (and Amish country in the North) was inhibited by religion (I have some evangelical relatives who still believe the moon-landing must have been staged on a TV set), IMO the ancient Egyptians believed it was best not to trespass into the private realm of their god(s).
http://egyptianmythology.org/concepts/ancient-egyptian-cosmology/
It is also important to consider the kingdom of Aksum (contemporary Ethiopia) in the neighborhood which minted golden coins for trades, as one of the strong trading partners that controlled the trading rout between the Roman empire and ancient India, extending its conquest as far as the Himiyarite kingdom. I have attached a link to see the history in glimpse.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Aksum
Thanks for that Bob. The fear of the open sea might also be the reason they were so afraid of those who became known as The Sea People, who raided Egypt frequently.
What is your take on why we never see cold weather clothing in Egyptian art. I have been in Egypt in winter and it is certainly too cold for linen kilts and going bare chested.
They did not need to go further away, they had all they needed: abundant water from the Nile and food from the nutrients carried by the river.
They called the Minoans the "sea peoples" because they did the trade for them.
Barry,
I am not an Egyptologist, but I will try to answer your question about Egyptian ships.
Edgerton (1923) specifically notes that there were seagoing ships built during the reigns of Sahure (ca. 2470 BC) and Hatshepsut (1478-1458 BC). He says that sometime between the 18th dynasty and early Greek civilization Egyptian shipping disappeared and never came back. There is documentation that Egyptian ships sailed the Red Sea as far as Punt to trade.
According to Edgerton (1923), none of the Egyptian ships had ribs, but were instead woven together with planks, dowels, and ropes. They were sealed with papyrus. The early ships flexed a lot, but the later ones were built more rigid. Smaller ships were built using local thornwood, but timber was imported for larger ships.
Egypt was a linear civilization. It primarily was concerned with the narrow strip of fertile land flanking the Nile and strategic natural resources (stone, metal, gems) away from the river. In fact, its empire along the Nile stretched over 2,000 kilometers south from Cairo, 3,000 kilometer following the river. The key to Egypt's success was the fertility of the banks of the Nile and its transportation network on the Nile to tie its far-flung civilization together and insure steady trade. As it rose in power, other civilizations with maritime traditions came calling to develop trade, thereby not necessitating Egypt to invest resources outward.
Since their ships did not have ribs, they were less sturdy for "blue water" sailing. The Red Sea and the far eastern end of the Mediterranean between the mouth of the Nile and Syria during the calm season was about all they could handle. In blue water environments heavy seas and storms would pound and rip these types of ships to pieces in no time. Later European ships that were built to survive ocean voyages had sturdy ribs spaced around a meter apart. The lack of these ribs in Egyptian ships might be related to the lack of sufficient timber for shipbuilding, thus any costly imported wood would have been rationed.
Additionally, it is interesting that Ra rides a boat across the sky on his daily journey. Since the sun goes from east to west, but the Nile runs south to north, this would possibly suggest that part of the Ra myth came from the early seafaring days of the Egyptians.
William F. Edgerton. 1923. Ancient Egyptian Ships and Shipping. The American Journal of Semitic Languages and Literatures Vol. 39 No. 2.
Barry,
according to Wiki no tick clothes in ancient Egypth
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clothing_in_ancient_Egypt
Thus how did they handle the cold during the desert nights and in the cold seasons also given that there was not much wood to produce a heat source at night (and not much wood the build strong boats that could handle dynamic seas)
https://www.reference.com/history/climate-ancient-egypt-5062eefc3d106de8
I think reason that there are no representations of ancient Egyptians wearing cold weather clothes is two-fold. First, depictions show activities during the day or in structures at night, thus while it is warmer. Second, the Egyptians likely wore layered clothing late at night and early morning like the Bedouins, who wore layers as a shield against the blazing sun and the nighttime chill.
@ Barry
The ancient Egyptians did indeed have "cold weather" clothing (at least those above the lowest classes; the lowest classes and slaves certainly could not afford such 'luxury' only for the few days each year when it might have been desired or needed ... cloth was quite expensive).
The two most common types of cold-weather clothing can be described as "shawls" and "heavy robes" [see illustration below, which depicts the two types, which I believe are drawings copied from 12th-dynasty tomb paintings]. The rarity of their depiction is likely proportional to the rarity of the need for their use ... that is, there were very few days where the daytime temperature fell below 50-degrees-Fahrenheit ... which has always been comfortable kilt-weather for me, if I'm working or walking briskly ... but also, artistic conventions (and those were biased toward showing the "happy" pursuits of life ... and shivering-in-the-cold was not a happy-time) likely also made their depictions in the "special context" paintings that do survive (tombs mainly) even rarer than would have been seen "on-the-street" in everyday life.
IMO economics cannot be the most important reason for the dearth of depictions of winter clothing. Although poor folks could not afford it for the few days it might have been useful, it was the well-to-do and royalty (who could afford it) who are disproportionately represented as subjects of surviving depictions. It's been probably almost four decades since I reviewed it (so my memory may be defective), but I seem to remember there were a couple of cloak-like garments on the inventory of items recovered in Tut's tomb (which is likely the best and most representative sample of the variety of clothing and furnishings a royal or very wealthy personage of ancient Egypt would have possessed).
Bob
That depiction is very rare, especially fig.21. Cold weather however is far from rare in Egypt even as far south as Luxor and Karnak. I have superb book by Geoffrey Bibby called Four Thousand Years Ago in which it describes a man at the dawn of the 2nd millenium BCE getting up as the sunrises. It is one of the best books I have read on the Ancient World, written in a real time narrative and published as long ago as 1961.
It is possible that people retired indoors at sundown and did not emerge again until the sun was up since that would accord with their religious spiritual beliefs too. When the sun rises in winter the radiant heat feels great but right up until that moment is can be bitterly cold.
'Beach wear' would not be a good idea after dark.
@ Barry
Yes, the poorest and slaves probably remained mostly indoors after sundown and until sunrise, especially on cold winter days, and their hearths made even their mud-houses quite "comfy" (albeit with un-glazed, un-shuttered windows, kept open at day to catch breezes; these openings were necessarily sealed with several layers of crude-cloth or matting at night ... since winter nights were often much chillier than the days).
Yes, Bibby's book is still fondly remembered, and one of my all-time-favorites, too [and apparently to a lot of other folks, too, the cheapest used copy available today on Amazon is $80 US]! The ability of his writing to "transport" you as an on-the-scene-observer was next-best-thing to a time-machine!
Hello dear Alimjan Abla ,
I feel you have brought up a most important point! Thank you for this reminder - truly it seems as though our " history of the decline of sacredness & increase of the power of capital "
Warm regards - Tina
Can art be used to identify clothing traditions used during daily life? Why painting 'normal' cloths when it takes a lot of time to produce a painting?
https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=images+of+wall+paintings+in+Pompei&qpvt=images+of+wall+paintings+in+Pompei&qpvt=images+of+wall+paintings+in+Pompei&qpvt=images+of+wall+paintings+in+Pompei&FORM=IGRE
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