BOATS
The Nile, was the fast highway of Egypt.
If you wanted to go to the north of Egypt, the current of the Nile would take you there. To go to the south, all you would need was a northerly wind.
The early boats in the Old Kingdom (2686-2181BC) were made from papyrus reeds, and were bound together, with strings, also made from papyrus reed.
By the New Kingdom (1550-1069BC) timber was being imported from Lebanon, and some boats were soon made out of wood.
TYPES OF BOATS
FERRIES;
Ferries were used by Egyptians who wanted to cross the Nile River, yet had no bridge.
Ferryboats were always rowing side to side, carrying with them people and their goods.
GRAND-BOATS;
Grand-boats were owned and used by nobles (pharaoh's assistants) and government officials. They were used for business, but mostly for pleasure.
CARGO-BOATS;
Cargo-boats were used to take heavy objects. They were commonly used to take slabs of stone, to construct pyramids.
FUNERAL-BARGES;
Funeral-barges were used to carry dead bodies around to the embalmers workshop (place where they took the brains and lungs out etc).
CATTLE-BOATS;
Cattle-boats were very wide boats with flat decks. They were used to transport a farmers cattle around the country.
ROYAL-BOATS;
Royal-boats were used to travel the Pharaoh and his family around. They were huge boats, which were very stylish and comfortable, for anybody traveling on it.
The ancient Egyptians did not only travel in boats down the Nile, they also had Sea-Boats.
Sea-boats were made out of wood, and were used for trading.
TRAVEL ON LAND
There were no roads in ancient Egypt.
The ordinary people of ancient Egypt were poor and therefor traveled everywhere on foot. People who were lucky enough, were very fortunate to have at least a donkey.
They very rich people in society, people such as nobles, government officials, and the Pharaoh, got carried around by their servants, on platforms with a throne on it.
When trading was done, to other countries, donkeys were used. These journeys could some times be quite long, and stretched over a lot of land. Donkeys were tied up with goods, on their backs.
Camels were later used, but not till 30BC, when they were introduced at the beginning of the Roman period.
THE CHARIOT
The chariot was introduced to the Egyptians, from the country to the south Palestine.
Only rich people could afford to have chariots. They used them for hunting, and for traveling around land, for business.
As you can see the ancient Egyptians were very ahead of their time, when it came to forms of traveling.