Land of Punt
Egyptians had trade routes through the Red Sea, importing spices from the "Land of Punt" and from Arabia. By the time of Julius Caesar, several well-established combined land-sea trade routes depended upon water transport through the sea around the rough inland terrain features to its north. Navigation was known in Sumer between the 4th and the 3rd millennium BC. The search for the source of spices in these maritime trade routes later led to the Age of Exploration.