Transportation

Land Transport

The donkey was used for threshing corn, for transporting sheaves, and for other beast of burden uses. Nobles did not like to ride them. They sat on a sedan chair, which was placed on two donkeys. One person walked ahead to clear the way, while others remained behind to drive the animals and to fan the rider.

A litter was carried on the shoulders of at least twelve men. On it was a seat, with or without a canopy, where the owner sat. Others were alongside with fans and a water skin. Kings, nobles, and statues of gods were carried in this way.

Horses, introduced during the Hyksos Period, were not usually ridden by kings and nobility. They were used mainly to pull light, two-wheeled chariots that carried two persons.The horse and chariot were most often used in a war. Horses were owned by kings and the highest courtiers only. Their equipment was highly decorated.

The merkabot was the carriage used for warfare, for traveling overland, and for hunting, being light and adaptable. The ox-drawn wagon was used to carry luggage and to transport provisions to the mines.

Wooden sledges on rollers drawn by oxen were sometimes used to transport moderate-size stones along a road. More frequently, men were used to pull the stones. At first, these were peasants. Later, they were prisoners-of-war or slaves.

Water Transport

Most of the traffic was on the Nile River. In the fourth millenium BCE, rafts of papyrus tied together by reeds were used. Families traveled to the marshes with them, and hunters harpooned from them. Larger rafts had a mast with a sail. Papyrus decayed quickly; and wood, also used, was scarce.

A wealthy Egyptian has his own fleet. Boats for everyday work were steady, but not as comfortable or as eleborate as those owned by the wealthy. They were broad and flat for stability and for avoiding the shoals. They could drift downstream, but they needed papyrus sails on masts when traveling upstream. Oarsmen were used for maneuvering, but could not provide much power in traveling against the current.

A boat found near the tomb of King Khufu in 1954 provided much information about Egyptian boatbuilding. It was 43 m (142 ft) in length and founded on cedar planks 22 m (73 ft) long. They were tied together with ropes so that the hull tightened as the wood swelled in the water. Similar boats were found later in other tombs.