. For boatbuilding papyrus stems and acacia wood were
employed, and for the best work cedar-wood was imported from Lebanon.

Egypt was isolated by the deserts and the sea. The Nile valley afforded
a passage by ship or on foot into Nubia, where, however, little wealth
was to be sought, though gold and rarities from the Sudan, such as ivory
and ebony, came that way and an armed raid could yield a good spoil in
slaves and cattle. The poverty-stricken and barbarous Nubians were
strong and courageous, and gladly served in Egypt as mercenary soldiers
and police. Through the oases also ran paths to the Sudan by which the
raw merchandise of the southern countries could be brought to Egypt.
Eastward, roads led through the Arabian mountains to the Red Sea, whence
ships made voyages to the incense-bearing land of Puoni (Punt) on the
Somali coast of Africa, rich also in gold and ivory. The mines of Sinai
could be reached either by sea or by land along the route of the Exodus.
The roads to Syria skirted the east border of the Delta and then
followed the coast from near Pelusium through El Arish and Gaza. A
secondary road branched off through the Wadi Tumilat, whence the ways
ran northwards to Syria and southwards to Sinai. On the Libyan side the
oasis of Siwa could be reached from the Lake of Moeris or from Terrana
(Terenuthis), or by the coast route which also led to the Cyrenaica. The
Egyptians had some traffic on the Mediterranean from very remote times,
especially with Byblus in Phoenicia, the port for cedar-wood.

Of the populations surrounding Egypt the negroes (Nehsi) in the south
(Cush) were the lowest in the scale of civilization: the people of Puoni
and of Libya (the Tehen, &c.) were pale in colour and superior to the
negroes, but still show no sign of a high culture. The Syrians and the
Keftiu, the latter now identified with the Cretans and other
representatives of the Aegean civilization, are the only peoples who by
their elaborate clothing and artistic products reveal themselves upon
the ancient Egyptian monuments as the equals in culture of the Egyptian
nation.

The Egyptians seem to have applied no distinctive name to themselves in
early times: they called themselves proudly _romi_ (RMTW), i.e. simply
"men," "people," while the despised races around them, collectively
H'SWT, "desert-peoples," were distinguished by special appellations.
The races of mankind, including the Egyptians, were often called the
Nine Archers