Ancient Egyptian Economy: Agriculture, Trade & Industry

During the Old Kingdom, farming supported royal estates, temple activities and large building projects. Harvested grain had to be stored and distributed. Officials recorded deliveries and allocations, and dues could be paid in goods rather than coins.

Workers could receive bread, beer or grain as part of their payment. Households also produced goods and exchanged them locally. The balance between household production, institutional payments and local exchange changed over time.

Detail of writing on papyrus.

Agriculture brought wealth to the ancient Egyptian economy. Farmers grew grains such as barley and emmer wheat. They also grew various fruits and vegetables, such as onions, beans, dates, figs, grapes, and melons. Cattle and sheep provided meat and milk. In addition, animals like oxen were used in farm work and helped increase the amount of land that could be worked and the amount of crops grown.

Even mud was an important part of ancient Egypt’s economy. Mud from the Nile River’s banks was used to make bricks for buildings.

Artisans used clay from the Nile’s banks to make pottery, such as vases, bowls, and cups. These vessels served everyday needs, and some Egyptian pottery also reached other countries: Middle Kingdom vessels have been identified at sites in the Levant.

Ancient Egypt had plentiful limestone and granite. Stonecutters carved statues and built temples, tombs, and pyramids that honored the pharaohs and the upper classes. Stonecutting was a highly skilled and valued industry in ancient Egypt, strengthening the ancient Egyptian economy.

Stone vessels included vases, pots and jars. Some held oils or ointments during daily life, and some were placed in tombs for the afterlife.

Pyramids of Khafre, Menkaure, and Khufu.

The flax plant was plentiful in ancient Egypt. It was the raw material for making a cloth called linen. Linen could be soft and light, making it well suited to Egypt’s hot, dry climate. People grew flax and wove linen at home and in workshops. Finished cloth could be used locally or sent abroad.

Ordinary people as well as royalty wore jewelry such as rings and amulets. Finds belonging to ordinary people include pieces made from semi-precious stones, faience and glass. Ancient Egyptians believed that jewelry had protective qualities, and it was also worn for decoration and to show status. Jewelry was in demand, and skilled artisans worked with metals, stones and faience to make it.

Egypt had gold resources in the Eastern Desert, and Nubia was another important source. Turquoise was mined in Sinai, but it was a prized, relatively rare material. Silver was scarce locally and much of it had to be imported.

Ancient Egyptian jewelry.

Agriculture formed the base, but the economy also depended on crafts, natural resources and exchange. Stone, flax, papyrus and metals supplied materials for building, clothing, writing and tools.

The papyrus plant grew along the Nile. It was used to make boats and baskets, as well as sheets for writing. Workers made these sheets by laying strips from the stem in layers and pressing them together. Papyrus was different from paper made from pulped fibers.

Papyrus aquatic plant.

A surviving papyrus roll from around 2900 BCE shows how early the material was used; its exact invention date is unknown. Accounts, contracts and letters written on papyrus helped people record and manage economic activity.

A painted design on papyrus, illustrating the material.

Egyptian craftspeople used copper and, increasingly in the New Kingdom, bronze for tools and other objects. Bronze was made by combining copper with tin, which had to be imported. Gold supplied jewelry and other valuable objects.

Iron was known earlier, including rare objects made from meteoritic iron, but it became much more common later in the first millennium BCE. Copper and bronze continued to be used alongside iron, so the importance of each metal depended on the period and the task.

Barter and money

People could exchange goods and services directly, a practice called barter. Grain and cloth were useful in such exchanges; linen, for example, could be traded for barley. Payments in goods and the use of standard values helped people exchange products without relying on coins. Barter operated alongside institutional deliveries, allocations and recorded transactions.

In New Kingdom records, goods could be valued in units such as the deben, a unit of weight used for metals including copper and gold. The deben was not a minted coin. A price recorded in deben did not necessarily mean the buyer handed over that amount of metal.

Egypt minted coins in the Late Dynastic period, and regular coinage became established under the Ptolemies. Whether ancient Egypt had money therefore depends on the period and on whether “money” means coins, weighed metal or a unit of account.

Foreign trade: goods and partners

Ancient Egypt traded with neighboring regions and with lands connected by Mediterranean and Red Sea routes. The goods and partners changed over time. Egyptian products sent abroad included linen, papyrus and pottery, while grain and gold were important exports in some periods.

In the story of Wenamun, set in the early eleventh century BCE, linen and papyrus are sent to Byblos in exchange for timber.

Trade brought in materials that were scarce locally, including silver and timber. Byblos, on the eastern Mediterranean coast, supplied cedar to Egypt during the Old Kingdom. Nubia, to the south, was an important source of gold and ivory. Hatshepsut’s New Kingdom expedition to Punt brought back aromatic products, including incense and myrrh.

Foreign goods reached Egypt through trade, diplomatic gifts and tribute. Wine and oils also arrived from the eastern Mediterranean; olive oil was among the goods exchanged with the Aegean world in the Late Bronze Age.

Detail of a painted relief with Egyptian-style figures.

• Before regular coinage, many dues and payments were made in goods, including grain. Collection and redistribution served royal and temple institutions, but arrangements varied by period.
• Egypt’s foreign contacts brought in materials such as timber, silver, oils and wine. Nubia also supplied gold and ivory. The same goods could move through trade, gifts or tribute, depending on the period and political relationship.
• Surplus crops provided Egypt with materials to export or trade with other countries. This contributed to Egypt’s wealth and supported other work, including crafts and building projects, by helping feed workers.
• Women are shown spinning and weaving linen in ancient Egyptian scenes and models. Textile work took place in homes and workshops, and finished cloth could be used locally or exchanged.
• Brick making, pottery and faience production were also part of the economy. Faience beads had a bright, gemlike appearance. Some faience objects circulated abroad: lotus-pattern bowls of the Ptolemaic period, for example, were exported to the eastern Mediterranean.