Ancient Egyptians: The Wonderful Land of Punt

The Wonderful Land of Punt by Jimmy Dunn

To the ancient Egyptians, the land of Punt, with its reed, beehive-shaped houses raised on stilts above water, was the most exotic and mysterious of places to visit, and from which to receive visitors, for more than once the Royalty of Punt came to the court of the Pharaoh in Egypt. It seems to have been considered by them a most uni ue haven! an emporium of goods for both "ing and gods, and gradually ac uired an air of fantasy, li"e that of Eldorado or #tlantis. $or this reason, it was sometimes featured in narrative tales such as the Tale of the %hipwrec"ed %ailor. The people of Punt, at first are depicted with dar"-reddish complexions and fin features wearing long hair, but by the &'th (ynasty, they had apparently adopted a more close cropped hair style. )e "now of trading missions sent to Punt by the Egyptians dating from at least Egypt*s +th (ynasty, while our latest definite record of a Punt expedition comes from the ,-th (ynasty reign of Ramesses III .

Punt indeed seems to have been a commercial center for goods not only from within its own borders, but from elsewhere in #frica. .ere, the Egyptians sought and found many items that did not exist within the Two /ands. $rom Punt, they received the incense "nown as antyu, which was produced in considerable uantities near Punt in the region of 0t1enet 23od*s

/and4, as well as ivory, ebony 2hebny4 and gum 25emy4. $rom this mystical place they also imported the s"ins of giraffes, panthers and cheetahs which were worn by temple priests, and sometimes the live animals themselves for their own amusement or religious purposes. $or example, the sacred 6ynocephalus baboons were imported from Punt. 7ecause of the goods from Punt used by priests and to adorn temples, it was "nown as a region of 3od*s /and, and considered a personal pleasure garden of the god, #mun. # stele in the mortuary temple of #menhotep III 2&'th (ynasty4 records a speech delivered by the god #mun, stating8 9Turning my face to sunrise I created a wonder for you, I made the lands of Punt come here to you, with all the fragrant flowers of their lands, to beg your peace and breathe the air you give.9

.owever, the Egyptians may have brought bac" more than goods from Punt, for it has often been suggested that their well "nown pygmy god, 7es, may have also been a Punt import. It would seem probable that dwarfs and pygmies were indeed imported from Punt, for an inscription in the tomb of .ar"huf, and expedition leader under Pepy II, tells of his ac uisition of a dwarf for that "ing. The oldest surviving record of a 1ourney to Punt comes from the Palermo stone, which dates to Egypt*s +th (ynasty. /ater, during the &&th (ynasty, .enenu tells us of a 1ourney to Punt ordered by :entuhotep III with three thousand men who transported material for building ships through )adi .ammamat to the cost of the Red %ea8 9I left 5optos on the road set by his ma1esty. The soldiers I had with me came from the south. #ll the "ing*s officials, the men from the city and the village, marched behind me. The scouts opened up the road ahead repulsing the "ing*s enemies. #ll the officials obeyed me. They were in constant touch with the runners... 9 In order to transport the material to build their ships, don"eys were used, as camels were not available until after the invasion of the Persians much later8 To every man I gave his rations, a water-bottle, a staff, two 1ars of water, twenty loaves of bread. The don"eys carried the 1ars. )hen one of them tired, another was substituted. I excavated twelve holes in the wadi, two holes at Idahet, twenty cubits wide and thirty deep. ;ne hole at Idahet ten cubits in every direction, at a place where water sprang. :entuhotep III was the first :iddle 5ingdom ruler we "now of to send an expedition to Punt, though such expeditions became more fre uent during the &,th (ynasty.

)e do "now many of the routes ta"en to reach Punt. It could certainly be reached by boat from the Red %ea. (uring the ;ld 5ingdom this involved crossing the desert east of :emphis to the 3ulf of %ue<, or setting off from the %inai. It was here that one well-"nown expedition intent on a voyage to Punt was ambushed and massacred while building boats for the expedition 2during Egypt*s =th (ynasty4. (uring the :iddle 5ingdom and afterwards, the Red %ea 1ourney to Punt usually originated from 6optos by way of %awu or via )adi .ammamat and >useir. /ater, during Egypt*s ?ew 5ingdom, they may have even traveled from a port at 7ereni"e, "nown then as .ead of ?e"heb. #fter a suspension of trade between Egypt and Punt during the %econd Intermediate Period, the most famous expedition to Punt was actually proposed by an oracle of the 3od, #mun. The ;racle instructed .atshepsut, the well "nown &'th (ynasty >ueen, to organi<e the first large scale expedition to that land of the ?ew 5ingdom8 It is the sacred region of 3od*s /and! it is my place of distraction! I have made it for myself in order to cleanse my spirit, along with my mother, .athor...the lady of Punt.9

.atshepsut*s mortuary temple in the)est 7an" at Thebes 2modern /uxor4 includes detailed depictions of the expedition on its second terrace, including the sea 1ourney and even the reception offered by the 6hief of Punt. This depiction shows a bearded chief, accompanied by his excessively obese ueen who shows signs of /ipodystrophy, or (ecrum*s (isease. %he has a pronounced curvature of the spinal column. The voyage was underta"en in the summer of .atshepsut*s eighth year as ueen. %he sent %enenmet 2%enmut4, her 6hancellor, with a fleet of five ships that included thirty rowers each. They departed >useir on the Red %ea for what was primarily a trading mission, see"ing myrrh, fran"incense and fragrant punguents used for cosmetics and in religious ceremonies. .owever, they also brought bac" exotic animals and plants that had no apparent economic value. )e are told that the8 9...loading of the ships very heavily with marvels of the country of Punt! all goodly fragrant woods of 3od*s-/and, heaps of myrrh resin, with fresh myrrh trees, with ebony and pure ivory, with green gold of Emu, with cinnamon wood, "hesyt wood, with two "inds of incense, eyecosmetics, with apes, mon"eys, dogs, and with s"ins of the southern panther, with natives and their children. ?ever was brought the li"e of this for any "ing who has been since the beginning9 #pparently the myrrh trees may have been planted in front of .atshepsut*s mortuary temple, where their roots may still be seen. The Egyptians left behind a shrine dedicated to #mun.

@et, Punt remains a mystery to us even today, for we do not precisely "now its actual location. It has been suggested that Punt, because of its exotic 9overseas9 character, might be as far away as %omalia, @emen or even the .orn of #frica. .owever, many modern Egyptologists place Punt much nearer to Egypt. )e "nown that some of Punt*s treasures were carried over land by way of ?may and Irem 2through the modern %udan4. )e also hear of the children of the chiefs of Punt that were raised at the Egyptian court alongside the children of 5ush 2?ubia4 and Irem. Therefore, it has been assumed that Punt was not so far away, and most modern scholars place it perhaps on #frica*s East 6oast perhaps only 1ust south of Egypt. $urthermore, modern attempts to classify flora and fauna suggest that Punt may have been located in the southern %udanese or the Eritrean region of Ethiopia. @et this would place Punt to the east of ?ubia and there is no evidence of military conflict between Punt and Egypt, as there was between Egypt and ?ubia. ;ne even wonders whether Punt was indeed an actual political entity through all the years between Egypt*s ;ld and ?ew 5ingdoms, or was rather more of a generali<ed, perhaps encompassing a rather large area of Eastern #frica.
References:
Title Atlas of Ancient Egypt Author Date Publisher Reference Number "one #tate$ "one #tate$ -#B" 0.80/1. )012.3 -#B" 0.19. 812050.) -#B" 0.10.0. 21551.0

Baines, John; Malek, 1980 Les Livres e !rance Jaromir %istory of Ancient Egypt, A &rimal, "icolas 1988 Black'ell *niversity of Life of the Ancient Egyptians #tro(hal, E(gen 199) +klahoma ,ress +3for$ %istory of Ancient +3for$ *niversity #ha', -an )000 Egypt, 4he ,ress ,eng(in %istorical Atlas of Manley, Bill 199/ ,eng(in Ancient Egypt, 4he