Nile River Trade

The river artery that carried Egyptian grain, granite and imported luxuries for five thousand years.

Overview

The Nile's current runs north while prevailing winds blow south, giving boats a free ride each way, an accident of geography that made Egypt one of history's easiest states to integrate. Grain surpluses fed the temples, the state and later Rome, granite from Aswan floated downstream for monuments, and expeditions to Punt brought incense, ebony and exotics. Nilometers measured the flood that set the tax year. The river remained the country's main freight system through the Arab and Ottoman periods into the age of steam. Today it still moves local cargo beneath a thick layer of tourist cruises.