Egypt: The Yam of Egypt's Old Kingdom

The Yam of Egypt's Old Kingdom by Jimmy Dunn

Because, of course, ancient place names do not always, if even often, make it through the ages to our modern era, they frequently become problematic to our study of ancient times. Even within Egypt, we often have problems identifying from ancient texts various cities and sites. More difficult even then this is perhaps the places outside of Egypt to which the Egyptians refer to in their texts. The and of !unt, for example, has never been positively identified, though various Egyptologists seem to have strong opinions about its location. "nother region, featured in Egypt#s oldest narrative of foreign travel dating to the $%rd century B&, is that of 'am. "pparently, 'am was a transfer point for trade with the (udan and other african regions and a source of tropical precious wood and ivory. This account was recorded on the tomb facade of )arkhuf, the governor of Elephantine, who recorded his adventures during the *th +ynasty. )e traveled, not once, but four times to yam, leading an expedition apparently into ,ubiasouth of Egypt. These visits were made for trade, using donkey caravans in which Egyptian goods were exported and traded for those of 'am. -n one .ourney, we are told that some %// asses brought back 0incense, ebony...leopard skins, elephant tusks and boomerangs0.

These expeditions were not always routine. -n his third trip to the land, )arkhuf tells us that 0...1 found the chief of 'am going to the land of Temeh to smite Temeh 2probably a ibyan group3 as far as the western corner of heaven. 1 went forth after him to the land of Temeh and 1 pacified him, until he praised all the gods for the king#s sake.0 +uring his return to Egypt, he also seem to have encountered some potentially hostile forces, but due to the si4e of his expedition and the soldiers who accompanied him, he was instead given bulls and small cattle and was escorted to the 0roads of the highlands of 1rthet 21rt.et3.0 )is most famous trip to 'am, and the one which appears to have pleased his young master, 5ing !epi 11, the most, was his fourth. This time, he obtained a pygmy 2deng3, which caused the boy6king of Egypt to write a feverishly excited letter to the returning governor, ordering him to bring the pygmy immediately and safely to Memphis, the royal capital at that time. )is instructions were to7 "Come northward to the court immediately; [...] thou shalt bring this dwarf with thee, which thou bringest living, prosperous and healthy from the land of spirits, for the dances of the god, to rejoice and [gladden] the heart of the king of pper and !ower "gypt, #eferkare, who lives forever. $hen he goes down with thee into the vessel, appoint e%cellent people, who shall be beside him on each side of the vessel; take care lest he fall into the water. $hen he sleeps at night appoint e%cellent people, who shall sleep beside him in his tent, inspect ten times a night. &y majesty desires to see this dwarf more than the gifts of 'inai and of (unt. )f thou arrivest at court this dwarf being with thee alive, prosperous and healthy, my majesty will do for thee a greater thing than that which was done for the treasurer of the god *urded in the time of )sesi, according to the heart+s desire of my majesty to see the dwarf." (o )arkhuf was apparently richly rewarded for his efforts by the young !haraoh, but this passage also points out that )arkhuf was perhaps not the first Egyptian to visit 'am, but other sources also appear to show the importance of 'am during Egypt#s -ld 5ingdom. 1n fact, 'am was not always considered to be on such friendly terms as )arkhuf#s account might imply. 1t was included among other ,ubian lands in the 0Execration Texts0, inscribed on figures of bound enemies deposited in cemeteries and elsewhere to abort or prevent, through

magic, any attack upon or resistance to Egypt. "nd even though it was remote enough that its ruler did not have to formally submit to the Egyptian 5ing as did other ,ubian rulers, at times 'am sent men for Egyptian ordered labor and military levies.

The location of 'am is important to scholars because it helps to determine how far into "frica Egyptian penetrated and also to asses the relative si4e and strength of various ,ubian territories during the -ld 5ingdom. )arkhuf#s first and second .ourneys are particularly relevant in locating this ancient land. )e tells us that they took, respectively, seven and eight months to travel to 'am and back. 8e also are told that on one .ourney he returned by way of (et.u and 1rthet, and another time via the frontier between the land of (et.u and its southern neighbor, 1rthet. The name, 8awat also is mentioned. -bviously, all of these territories were to the north of 'am, since they were on the return route. These references have led to considerable scholarly debate about 'am#s location. (ome scholars believe that )arkhuf#s donkey caravans began their .ourney at Memphis, to which they also returned. 9iven the length of the .ourney, these scholars therefore belive that 8awat, (et.u and 1rthet were located in lower, or northern ,ubia and that 'am was therefore in upper, or southern ,ubia. -ther scholars see Elephantine as the starting and end point for each caravan, with the trade goods then being shipped between this southern city and the more northerly capital. They believe that 'am lay further south, perhaps on or near the (hendi :each of the ,ile 2above the fifth cataract, near where it divides into the 8hite and Blue ,ile3. This would permit 8awat to comprise all of ower ,ubia, as it in fact did in later times, and (et.u and 1rthet to be in ;pper ,ubia.

These two theories have considerable implications. "ccording to the first, 8awat, (et.u and 1rthet would each be small in territory and best described as chiefdoms. "t one point, )arkhuf found them to be combined under a single ruler, but even then they would represent only a fairly small kingdom. )owever, in the second case, each territory would have been much larger, and if combined, would represent a substantial kingdom that could be quite threatening to southern Egypt, as well as creating substantial problems with access tot he desirable goods available in 'am. Though we have some idea of where the 'am of Egypt#s -ld 5ingdom might have been, its exact location remains a mystery with with obviously important implications. 1f indeed it was located in the (hendi :each, which is archaeologically under6explored, future work in the region may supply us with some answers, and there is always the chance that excavations in Egypt may someday yield additional information. )owever, for now, we must contend ourselves with opposing theories and questions. 1n later Egyptian history, the territory known as 'am disappears from the ancient textual sources. )owever, another place name, 1rem, may be relevant. 1rem is first attested during the ,ew 5ingdom, and it is possible that this name may apply to the same region. 1rem was significant to Egypt#s ,ew 5ingdom, which for over three centuries controlled all of ower and much of, if not all of ;pper ,ubia. +uring the <=th and $/th +ynasties, and even earlier, there were periodical hostilities, sometimes on a large scale between Egypt and 1rem. "lso, in between the conflicts there was also peaceful trade and even tributary relationships between the two political regions. ike 'am, scholars also disagree about the location of 1rem and as with 'am, its location has serious geopolitical implications as concerns Egypt#s relationship with ,ubia. (ome scholars would place 1rem in ;pper ,ubia as one of several occasionally rebellious lands that nevertheless lay within the Egyptian empire. )owever, at least one campaign record of (eti 1 seems to indicate that 1rem lay further south, or at least outside of Egyptian controlled ;pper ,ubia.

-nce again, travel narratives provide intriguing, though not conclusive indications about 1rem#s location. (pecifically, the famous trading expedition dispatched by >ueen )atshepsut to !unt, a country believed to be on the "frican shores of the :ed (ea provide us with some clues to the location of 1rem. !unt could have been in the general region of the modern frontier between the (udan and Eritrea. +uring this expedition, a .oint party from !unt and Egypt went inland to collect the desired products. "ccording to the reliefs recorded at +eir el6Bahri, this expedition crossed two 4ones. -ne of these regions included natives that appear to be different from those of !unt, and funa such as giraffe and rhinoceros that are more typical of savannah lands closer than punt to the ,ile ?alley. 8e also know that the products acquired by the expedition came from not only !unt, but "mu and 1rem as well. )ence, it is possible that "mu or 1rem or both were located in the savannah lands and close to or even on the ,ile. 9iven !unt#s possible location, this could place 1rem, like 'am, on or near the (hendi :each. )owever, it should be pointed out that this is somewhat of a reach, placing theory upon theory, as even !unt#s location continues to be hotly debated. References:

Title "tlas of "ncient Egypt

"uthor

+ate !ublisher <=B/ es ivres +e Crance )arry ,. "brams, 1nc., !ublishers <=BB Blackwell "merican ;niversity in $//< &airo !ress, The <==D

:eference ,umber ,one (tated

Baines, @ohnA Malek, @aromir +ictionary of "ncient Egypt, (haw, 1anA The ,icholson, !aul )istory of "ncient Egypt, " 9rimal, ,icolas -xford Encyclopedia of :edford, +onald "ncient Egypt, The B. 2Editor3 -xford )istory of "ncient (haw, 1an Egypt, The (eventy 9reat Mysteries of Manley, Bill "ncient Egypt, The 2Editor3

1(B, /6B</=6 %$$D6% ,one (tated 1(B, =EE F$F DB< F 1(B, /6<=6 $/// -xford ;niversity !ress B<D/%F6$ 1(B, /6D//6 $//% Thames G )udson td /D<$%6$