His naval
activities were by no means confined to the Mediterranean, for we read
that he built a fleet at Suez, and traded with the land of Punt and the
shores of the Indian Ocean. Herodotus states that, in his day, the docks
still existed at the head of the Arabian Gulf where this Red Sea fleet
was built.

Pharaoh Nekau (Necho), who reigned from 612 to 596 B.C., and who
defeated Josiah, King of Judah, was one of the kings of Egypt who did
most to encourage commerce. He commenced a canal to join the Pelusiac
branch of the Nile at Bubastis with the Red Sea, but never finished it.
It was under his directions that the Phoenicians, according to
Herodotus, made the voyage round Africa referred to on p. 27. When Nekau
abandoned the construction of the canal he built two fleets of triremes,
one for use in the Mediterranean, and the other for the Red Sea. The
latter fleet was built in the Arabian Gulf.

[Illustration: FIG. 6.--Battleship of Ramses III. About 1200 B.C.]

In later times the seaborne commerce of Egypt fell, to a
large extent, into the hands of the Phoenicians and Greeks.

Herodotus (484 to 423 B.C.) gives an interesting account of
the Nile boats of his day, and of the method of navigation of
the river.[7]

"Their boats, with which they carry cargoes, are made of the thorny
acacia.... From this tree they cut pieces of wood about two cubits in
length, and arrange them like bricks, fastening the boat together by a
great number of long bolts through the two-cubit pieces; and when they
have thus fastened the boat together they lay cross-pieces over the
top, using no ribs for the sides; and within they caulk the seams with
papyrus. They make one steering-oar for it, which is passed through
the bottom of the boat, and they have a mast of acacia and sails of
papyrus. These boats cannot sail up the river unless there be a very
fresh wind blowing, but are towed.... Down stream they travel as
follows: they have a door-shaped crate, made of tamarisk wood and reed
mats sewn together, and also a stone of about two talents' weight,
bored with a hole; and of these the boatman lets the crate float on in
front of the boat, fastened with a rope, and the stone drag behind by
another rope. The crate then, as the force of the stream presses upon
it, goes on swiftly and draws on the ... boats, ... while the stone,
dragging after it behind and sunk deep in the water, keeps its course
straight."