Tracing the Source of the Elephant And Hippopotamus Ivory from ...

are lacking in North Africa, but that almost any evidence for this time period is lacking,
and certainly there were indigenous LBA cultures in North Africa.
The tribes inhabiting North Africa at this time included the Tehenu in the area
west of the Nile Valley, the Libu who lived west of the Tehenu (eastern Cyrenaica), and
the Meshwesh in western Cyrenaica (and perhaps further west). These tribes were known
as pastoralists, as the Odyssey refers to “Libya of the numerous flocks,” and Libya was
also mentioned as a destination for seafaring (IV.85-89 and XIV.295, cited by Knapp
1981: 267 and Luce 1998). An Aegean knowledge of the flocks and harbors of North
Africa is entirely possible given the favorable sailing winds which blow from the Aegean
to North Africa during the sailing season (May to October) (Casson 1995: 270-272;
Knapp 1981: 257). Furthermore, the North African coast is a natural stopover on the way
from the Aegean to Egypt, so it is very likely that ships coming from the Aegean stopped
along North Africa and were in contact with the Meshwesh, Libu, and Tehenu. Even
Knapp must admit to this probability: “It is conceivable that the ‘Ship’s procession’ in the
‘Miniature fresco’ may represent a generalized portrayal of an Aegean (Cycladic) trading
mission to North Africa. If so, Cyrenaica may be regarded as having been part of a more
extensive Bronze Age Aegean-Egyptian pattern of intercourse” (Knapp 1981: 269). Yet
he then goes on to deny Cyrenaica any active role in this trade network operating in the
eastern Mediterranean. Mostly he regards North Africa as devoid of anything that might
be trade-worthy, and furthermore incapable of acting as a trade outlet for goods coming
from the more resource-rich interior because “desert trade would have been difficult if
not impossible without the camel” (Knapp 1981: 259), which was not introduced into the
area until the 1 st century A.D. But North Africans possibly did have trade resources; they
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