Pepi II Neferkare - Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

Pepi II carried on in ways very similar to his predecessors. Copper and turquoise were mined at Wadi Maghareh in the Sinai, and alabaster was quarried from Hatnub. He is mentioned in inscriptions found in the Phoenician city of Byblos in ancient Palestine.

In the south the trade relations consist of caravans trading with the Nubians. Harkhuf was a governor of Upper Egypt who led several expeditions under Merenre and Pepi II. His last expedition was a trip to a place called Iam. Harkhuf brought back with him what his correspondence with the young pharaoh referred to as a dwarf, apparently a pygmy. Egypt received goods such as incence, ebony, animal skins, and ivory form Nubia. The Western desert was known to have extensive caravan routes. Some of these routes allowed for trade with the Kharga Oasis, the Selima Oasis, and the Dakhla Oasis.