borders and frontiers: Africa At Jenne-jeno, in what was then known as Ghana but is now modern-day Mali, remains of a large settlement (covering 60 acres by 450 c.e.) has been excavated Houses made from mud sustained a large town on ground slightly higher than the plains that surround the site The thin walls show that there seems to have been little danger of internal conflict However, the entire site is surrounded by a wall that measures about 10 feet wide at the base and runs for slightly more than one mile Although two Roman or Greek beads have been found there, it seems likely that any trade would have been through intermediaries EGYPT BY MARIE PASSANANTE The borders of ancient Egypt remained remarkably stable for such a long-lived civilization, largely because Egypt was a country defined by natural borders It occupies the long section of fertile land lining the Nile Valley that stretches from the Mediterranean Sea in the north down to Elephantine, near modern Aswān, in the south On the east and west the Nile Valley is adjoined by harsh deserts The greatest fluctuations to the Egyptian borders occurred during the three Intermediate Periods, times of political upheaval that took place after the Old Kingdom (2575–2134 b.c.e.), Middle Kingdom (2040–1640 b.c.e.), and New Kingdom (1550–1070 b.c.e.) During and after these periods, Egypt was divided internally among rival Egyptian dynasties (First Intermediate Period, 2134–2040 b.c.e.), among Egyptian dynasties and a 141 group of foreigners called the Hyksos (Second Intermediate Period, 1640–1550 b.c.e.), and among Egyptian dynasties and Libyan tribes as well as invaders from Kush in the south (Third Intermediate Period, 1070–712 b.c.e.) The Egyptians used several terms when referring to their borders The term tash was applied to a physical, politically defined border, such as the border between Egypt and Nubia in the south Wepet-ta literally means “the horns of the Earth.” It was applied to limits of Egyptian domination in the south The term khent-hen-nefer, translating to “the frontier region of the last fortification,” also referred to the southern border It was used with reference to the region bordering Egyptian territory This region was not officially part of Egypt but was still under Egyptian control The Mediterranean Sea borders Egypt on the north Few nations attempted sea travel before 1500 b.c.e.; their ships were designed mostly for river travel and were not sturdy enough for the sea The northern border of Egypt was relatively secure and did not need to be as heavily fortified as the south and the edges of the delta South of Elephantine was the land of Nubia As well as being a major source of gold and the only source of goods from Africa, Nubia was home to a potentially dangerous people who could—and did—threaten the security of the Egyptian state From the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, Egypt engaged in extensive military activity directed against Nubia in order to retain control of this important area The southern border of Egypt was set at the first cataract of the Nile, the mythical source of the Nile Elephantine was established here as a frontier town and as a base for trading with The Semna dispatches, administrative documents from an Egyptian outpost, from Thebes, Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty (© The Trustees of the British Museum)