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

Conclusion
Thus there are two general derivations of elephant ivory in the eastern
Mediterranean during the Late Bronze Age: Syria or Africa. Egypt would have acted as
an intermediary between trade from Nubia and the Sudan, but nothing in the historical
records indicate that Egypt ever exported raw ivory. As a result, any sort of discussion
on Egypt as a source for raw ivory is pure conjecture as this point. North Africa,
however, could very well be a supplier of elephant ivory as a raw material, even though
this region also lacks supporting evidence for such a claim. The difference between
advocating for either of the two regions is that there is a great deal of archaeological and
historical evidence in Egypt, whereas the rest of North Africa suffers from the vagueries
of archaeological invisibility. One would be hard-pressed to argue that differential
preservation of the archaeological record was at work in Egypt, and then turn around and
cite negative evidence in Libya as grounds for itsdismissal as a source of ivory.
Moreover, Egypt also carried off tusks from North Africa, as mentioned in the Qusr Ibrim
inscription. The ivory traded from North Africa could have originated from the south or
the coastal regions of North Africa, and if from the south (Nubia/Sudan) the middle agent
(Egyptian or Libyan) may be difficult to discern. Syria, on the other hand, is known to
have exported ivory, typically depicted as tribute in Egyptian historical sources, and the
Mitanni in northern Syria sent ivory as gift-exchange to the Egyptian pharaoh. Raw
ivory and osteological remains are furthermore found in a number of Syria’s major trade
centers, where workshops transformed the elephant ivory into prestige objects. How the
trade in raw ivory articulates with the distribution of ivory workshops and ivory carving
styles is the topic of the next chapter.
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