TRADE, WAR, AND DIPLOMACY

The broader, fertile Egyptian flood plain, with rich faunal, floral, and mineral resources, and a navigable river between Aswan and the Mediterranean, fostered a larger, wealthier, and more stable population and a unified state. The narrower, stonier, and less agriculturally rich flood plain in Nubia, on the other hand, inhibited the development of a larger state, and the region was divided between several tribal groups that were the weaker partners in any interactions with Egypt. Predynastic period (3500-3000 BC) As early as the late Predynastic period, there were cross-cultural interactions between Egypt and Nubia, incorporating overland, riverine, and possibly Red Sea routes, comprised of Egyptian, Nubian, and other traders, emissaries, and migrants. Unlike later regional interactions, these early interactions were relatively even and informal. In southern Egypt, an expanding kingdom…