Destination 1: The Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea

     We arrived at our first destination to the sight of gorgeous crystal blue waves and the feel of coarse sand beneath out feet; we were at the Mediterranean Sea. Since we were short on time, we went straight to excavating the area for artifacts. Since the Mediterranean is Egypt’s major trading outlet, it would be most likely that we would find artifacts that Egypt exported to various parts of the world (Newman 56). Some items that Egypt imported were copper ingots from Cyprus, Mycenaean pottery from Greece, tin ingots from Asia Minor and ivory from Syria (Newman 59). The people traveled by land, but mostly traveled by water, so it was logical to try and find the trade export near the beach where the ships were docked. If we were stealthy enough we could sneak onto one of the ships and take an artifact for research. So, we snuck onto one of the ships and grabbed the first things we saw, and then we bolted out of there. 

The Artifact we grabbed was a gold plaque depicting two figures on either sides of an eye. After some research, we figured out that the plaque was called a wedjat eye plaque. The plaque dates back to circa 1069-945 BCE. It is called a wedjat eye plaque because the eye represents the god Horus. Horus lost an eye in a battle so the one eye represents healing. The eye would often be placed in the wrapping of a mummy (britishmuseum.org). The plaque itself was made out of solid gold, found in the mines in the deserts. The plaque represents the Mediterranean because as said before the Mediterranean was Egypt’s main trading route; it was where the ships went in and out. Art was one of Egypt’s main exports. Art itself was a re-enactment of life, or the past life of the one in it. Art in ancient Egypt was made to tell the story of someone who dies. The people contributed to the civilization because without the people, who would trade with the other countries, surely not the pharaoh. The Mediterranean contributed to the civilization because without trade, the people would be without good to make weapons, without wine and would have a lower economy. It is like a domino effect, without the place there would be nothing for the people do therefore there would nothing to bring in to the city for the pharaoh.