Acting on behalf of the pharaoh Smendes, Wenamun was sent with linen, oils, and other goods valued in gold and silver to purchase much-valued pine timber from Byblos for the Egyptian ruler. He arrived in this outpost of the former Egyptian empire only to be robbed, mistreated, and even imprisoned. In a well-known document referred to as The Report of Wenamun (written ca. 1570-1070 B.C.), a distressed Wenamun complains to the pharaoh about his misfortune and asks for more money.

It had been suggested by Egyptologists that these items were not of great value, but Ronald Leprohon of the University of Toronto, at a conference of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) in Berkeley, California, says that Wenamun's goods were, in fact, quite valuable, and would have allowed him to purchase a considerable amount of timber. Ostracons (limestone fragments with inscriptions or drawings) excavated from the workman's village at Deir el-Medina and other places provided "laundry lists" for trade, with prices for various commodities for that time period. Delving into these value estimates, Leprohon determined what Wenamun would have been able to purchase with his goods.

"Using [research] on commodity prices in the Ramesside period and calculating tables of equivalences enable us to determine that Wenamun's missing five deben of gold and 31 deben of silver could have bought substantial amounts of goods of various nature," said Leprohon. Wenamun's goods -- which equalled a sum far greater than that which would have been made by an average Egyptian in his lifetime -- could have purchased many thousands of cords of wood.