The trade with Ethiopia
and Nubia ,
the region between the First Cataract and the district now known as the sudd
region, was on an entirely different basis. A good deal of trade had taken
place in predynastic times by means of market to market trading, and this
market to market trading continued during the Old Kingdom
and the Middle Kingdom. We know of two great markets, Assuan itself (meaning ‘
Market Place ’) and another at the Second Cataract called Iken. But the bulk of
the material as far as it was in large quantities must have been transported by
water in the protodynastic times. This fact requires an understanding of
navigation in the cataract region. During high water (July to October) the
cataracts are navigable by ships of moderate size. At the present time the date
harvest of Dongola is carried to Wadi Halfa by sailing boats which make two to
four trips a season. The difficulty comes in the other eight months, when the
water is low and the cataracts are filled with water swirling among the
half-exposed rocks.
The
first hint of the opening of a way through the nearest of the cataracts, that at
Assuan, is in Dynasty VI. In his autobiography, Weny, a great official of Mernera,
relates that His Majesty sent him to Wawat to dig five canals and to construct
seven boats for the transportation of granite to Memphis
