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 , three cargo boats and four towing
boats (manned by rowers). Wawat lies in the granite and sandstone region between
the First and the Second Cataract, and there can be little doubt that the five canals
were made in the First Cataract itself to permit the passage of these boats
loaded with granite for the king’s pyramid. The operation would have consisted
in shifting aside a number of boulders at five different places, probably along
the western side, to secure quiet passage around the most dangerous places, no
great matter for the experienced stone workers who built the pyramids. But we
have no knowledge of the size of the canals or as to how long they continued in
use. Weny states that he accomplished
the whole business, including the building of the necessary boats, the making
of the canals, and the removal of the stones, in one year.