In the development of civilization in three thousand years，Ancient Egyptian economy always focused on the economic form with the re -distribution system as the core。In addition to the highly autocraticism centralized rule and strong religious complex，The fundamental reason is the thought of the Egyptians，Economic concepts that do not use profit maximization as the purpose of transaction。Ancient Egyptians, this concept of not paying attention to the value of the product itself，As a result, they only value their needs when conducting transactions。As long as you can get the required items，They can exchange their own items to the other party，Whether or not their own items are far beyond the items they exchange。Driven by this economic concept，Ancient Egyptian economic system presents its uniqueness。

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Ancient Egyptians valued when they traded, not the income，No standard pricing unit，As a result，The conversion unit is chaotic。Ancient Egyptians have never been mint，Their trading system was initially exchanged by objects，With the expansion of the scope and scale of the transaction，The exchange of objects is gradually developing into currency -object exchange。Currency -material exchange is the transition from the exchange system to the currency system，It is the progress of the material exchange system。Usually，One of the items or an abstract unit in the latter exchange system is used as a valuation unit。Although this dependency unit itself can be regarded as "currency"，But its trading system is not a monetary system。

Ancient Egyptians usually have three: Snuyin、Deben Copper and Herr Grain。From the perspective of functions，Currency is a kind of exchange medium、Generally accepted by people、Items used to pay commodity labor and settle debts。Three types of pricing units in ancient Egypt basically meet the functional Bet365 app download standards of currency，They are all used to estimate the price，In fact, it is used as currency。As for whether they are currency，is the user’s concept。Although all three types of pricing units have currency functions，But from the Egyptians，They still have the attributes of the items itself，Not for actual payment，but for relative estimates。

Among these three pricing units，The highest frequency of Herr grains，Because the grains are easy to divide，Whether it is a small trade or a large trade，You can use it to price。Snuyin is the most abstract dependency unit，It is equivalent to a certain number of silver，But often use some silver items to replace in actual payment。Usually，Three types of pricing units can be converted。The exchange rate of Herr Givet and Deben Copper is relatively fixed。Under normal circumstances，1 Herer Grain is equal to 2 virtue copper。Even when the price of the grain fluctuates a lot，This conversion benchmark has not changed much。but，Between Snuyin and Herr Givet、The conversion ratio between Snuyin and Deben Copper is uncertain。

Whether these three types of pricing units have a currency function，It depends on the scope of their application in society。Looking at ancient Egyptian history，Taxes are basically paid by the real object，and most of the grain as the payment method。Grain payment here，What emphasizes its basic attribute -food，also emphasized its circulation attribute as currency。fines are also paid by the physical object，And items that are homogeneous as compensated，For example, thieves stole a linse cloth clothes from others，Its compensation is three linsea clothes，Show punishment。Dowry and gifts are also paid with physical payment，It is a relatively pure object exchange。Of course，Regardless of tax、Compensation or marriage，All have the situation of "currency" payment。Self -cultivation farmers in the New Kingdom period have paid taxes with gold，The fines have also been paid with the items equivalent to the stolen items。As for the dowry and the gift，There bet365 Play online games are also phenomena that are all paid by Herr grain。Only when the real currency starts circulation，Wedding items only start to pay with currency。but but，That is the phenomenon of Egyptian civilization, especially the Ptolemy dynasty, especially the Ptolemy dynasty。

The conversion ratio between all pricing units is formulated by the state。but，When the state formulates the conversion ratio，Consider whether the tax can be paid in full，instead of making them easier to circulate，To promote the development of trade。Therefore，Ancient Egyptian trade is not developed enough，One of the reasons is that the country's support is not enough。

　　Unstable price system

The chaotic price unit will inevitably lead to unstable price system。The twelfth dynasty a farmer from Memphis or Fayham，Name of Hakanhete，We learned from his home book，He wants to buy and sell with his neighbors and others，To maximize household income。He has the ability to deliver the land rent in advance，It can also borrow a lot of food，The goods that can be dominated freely in your hands are copper、Oil and self -woven flax cloth。These items are all the items he wants to sell，Because the number far exceeds the needs of the family。other，He still has 35 cows。Since he is the head of the family，He also wants to give each family member including his mother a relatively fixed monthly example。His family operation mode is actually a microcosm of the national re -distribution system。Hakanhete is very economical，He encouraged a family to sell the cow，Because he predicts "the price of the cow will rise half"。Visible，The price of items is constantly changing，The ratio of items exchange is also in a constant change。New Kingdom later，The ratio of silver to copper in the base area fell from 1: 100 to 1:60。This may be because the grave robbing was prevalent at that time，A large amount of silver from theft flows to society。

The price system of Egypt includes both the price of labor and the price of raw materials，The floating of labor and raw material prices also causes the bet365 best casino games price of items to float。So，What role does the country play in the price formulation? The ancient Egyptian government did not have the actual manipulation price，The price of items is adjusted by itself。But，At least during the period of enhancement of the centralized rule of the authoritarianism，Because government agencies need to issue salary、Require tax、Storage and distribution of emergency items，The country still plays a vital role in maintaining the overall level of commodity prices in society。

In ancient Egypt，Price of raw materials and other products，From grain to maid，Due to the slow transaction level and information exchange speed，Its price mode is irregular and unpredictable。If both parties to the transaction understand each other，Friendship and responsibilities will suppress their ambition to pursue greater profits。From the existing ancient Egyptian price data，We cannot get a relatively stable price rule。Grain prices are generally easy to be unstable，Therefore，Large -scale storage of grain has become a conventional practice for ancient Egypt to prevent large food prices from floating。Regardless of the period of peace and abundance (such as the Amarna period)，Still during the famine and turmoil (such as the first intermediate period)，This approach exists at the level of the national system，Also existing in individual behavior。

New Kingdom period，Grain prices are generally stable at 1-2 virtue per Hurd。Late Twenty Twenty Dynasties，Grain prices in western Dibis are extremely unstable。Latin Sisi VII to the 9th Realing period，Grain prices have soared to 8-12 Deben。But，This is different from the "inflation" of modern society，Because the price of other products does not appear similar to fluctuations。But in a literature，A woman claims to be "in a famine in the year of the dumplings，I bought barley with silver "。This reveals the famine period，Grain prices soared to calculation with silver。

　Private transactions are not open

Confidential pricing unit and unstable price system，It does not prevent bet365 Play online games the Egyptians from obtaining wealth to the greatest extent。Although we can't find words that can be translated as "profit" in Egyptian，The Egyptians did not regard the "profit" as the maximum "profit" as a criterion for success during trade，But this does not prevent the Egyptian from chasing the most favorable price，and have a strong business consciousness。

But，Pursuit of wealth contrary to the ethical and moral concepts of Egyptians。As early as the period of the ancient kingdom，"Teaching of Kagmney" has warned the Egyptians not to be greedy，Moderate pursuit of wealth: "A glass of water can suppress thirst，A mouthful of vanilla can purify the mind，A good thing can replace virtues，A little thing represents a lot。"So，Egyptians' pursuit of wealth is not a big fanfare，but hidden、Nothing to say，This can be seen in the inscriptions and murals of the ancient Egyptian officials。Egyptians' pursuit of wealth is not a big fanfare，When mentioning their wealth，Apart from the wealth that commended its political achievements by the royal family，However, the source of other wealth is not mentioned。Let's infer，This part of the wealth that does not explain the source is obtained through private trading activities。

other，Because the inscriptions of officials are written in the form of autobiography，Therefore，Their father must be mentioned。But，Some officials did not give any title when they described their father，It shows that his father has no official and half -job。But these officials have a good career，And well -educated and embarking on the career requires the financial support of the parents。Father who have no official position but have wealth，It is likely to be a businessman，Their wealth is profitable through private transactions。

The Egyptian's description of businessmen is also very obscure。In the first middle period, the inscription of the Herbu grave of the He Kaobu has written: "In this city，In terms of the number of wealth，I have surpassed any of my peers。When I have my bet365 live casino games own efforts and gain something，People will say ‘He is the one who never steals others。‘Many people provide the barley of Egypt in the entire city，and I loaned it to the grain of Egypt，And loaned to the big wheat in Egypt in the north (Xia Egypt) city。After the supply of oil in my own town，I also provide oil to Cabbu。I made a 40 -wrist -long boat and a carrier of transportation cow，Those who have no boats in the flood season。When the manager counts my cow group，He found that my property has increased。"Although He Kaobu did not say that he was a businessman，But active trading activities are enough to reveal that he is a successful businessman。Another grave inscription in the first intermediate period is similar to，Its Lord is also a successful businessman。Similarly，He is describing his trading activities and made a lot of profits，I did not forget to show off his generosity and good deeds。Visible，In ancient Egypt，Just having wealth can not be recognized by society，Only those who put wealth into society can get people's respect。

New Kingdom period，Merchants are no longer mentioned vaguely，They started to appear in society with a fixed occupation。New Kingdom later，The merchants depicted in the fourth volume of Anasteas Paper Grass not only have wealth，And no longer ashamed of the wealth obtained by business，On the contrary, they are proud of this。but but，After the businessman gets wealth in business，Instead of investing in agriculture and animal husbandry。This description，No matter how active private trade，Nothing to change agriculture is the main economy of ancient Egypt、The planned economy that is allocated is the core of its economic system。

Comprehensive，Ancient Egypt's authoritarian centralized centralized rule and moderate pursuit of wealth social ethics and moral publicity，It provides soil for the Egyptian's economic concept for the pursuit of maximizing profit.。Ancient Egypt always stayed at the level of object exchange，This leads to a chaotic dependency unit and an unstable price bet365 best casino games system。But，Ancient Egyptians hidden the instinct of chasing huge wealth，When the economic system that is re -assigned cannot meet their daily needs，Private trade activities are inevitable。Just similar to ancient China，Ancient Egypt is also a society that emphasizes agriculture and suppress business，The wealth obtained through private trade finally returned to agriculture。

(This article is the National Social Science Foundation's major project "Research on Administrative Literature in the New Egyptian New Kingdom period" (18zda206) phased achievement)

(Author Unit: Department of History at the School of Literature of Shanghai University)