Land of Punt

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See also Puntland.

The Land of Punt, also called "Pwenet"[1] by the ancient Egyptians, at times synonymous with Ta netjer, the 'land of the god' [2], was a fabled site in the Horn of Africa and "was the source of many exotic products, such as gold, aromatic resins, African blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals" [3] Information about Punt has been found in ancient Egyptian records of trade missions to this region.

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[edit] Egyptian expeditions

The earliest recorded Egyptian expedition to Punt was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC). [4] Subsequently, in the reign of Mentuhotep III (around 1950 BC), an officer named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it is uncertain whether he took part personally in these expeditions. [5]

Queen Ati of Punt depicted in Hatshepsut's funerary temple in Egypt
Queen Ati of Punt depicted in Hatshepsut's funerary temple in Egypt

The most famous ancient Egyptian expedition to Punt was conducted during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC to obtain myrrh. A report of that voyage survives on a relief in Hatshepsut's funerary temple at Deir el-Bahri. Nehsi, mentioned in the inscriptions, is thought by some to have been the leader of the expedition. According to the relief, Punt was ruled at that time by King Parahu and Queen Ati [6]. Several of Hatshepsut's successors, including Thutmoses III, also organized expeditions to Punt.

[edit] Geographic location

Ancient Egyptian texts are consistent in connecting the location of Punt with the Red Sea, but scholars have not agreed upon its precise location. Modern academic consensus places Punt in the area of Eritrea, northern Ethiopia, or the southeastern Beja lands of Sudan.[7]

The most likely location of Punt, according to Kenneth Kitchen, is Eritrea, northern Ethiopia and east-north-east Sudan.[8] The presence of teff in 4th dynasty pyramid bricks of the Dashur Pyramid supports this theory, as teff only grows in the Eritrean Highlands and Ethiopian highlands. Modern attempts to classify the flora and fauna from Punt also suggests that Punt may have been located in this region.[9] Myrrh trees from Hatshepsut's trading expedition to Punt are shown being loaded onto Egyptian ships in the second terrace of her funerary temple at Deir El Bahari.[10] Evidence that these trees were "replanted in the temple of Deir El-Bahri" is suggested "from the surviving traces of tree-pits" found here.[11]

Some argue that Punt was as far away as Puntland, a region of Somalia that adopted this name in the 20th century. Frankincense and myrrh, which were imported by the Egyptians from Punt, are still found in abundance in this region. In his translation of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea, G.W.B. Huntingford claimed that the name Punt lay behind the name of Opone, a coastal marketplace in Somalia located south of Cape Guardafui, and identified both Punt and Opone with Hafun, a Somalian peninsula.

It was once thought that the frankincense and other goods the ancient Egyptians obtained in Punt suggested that it was located on the southern coast of the Arabian Peninsula, or even Bahrain or India. The presence of African animals in the Deir El Bahari reliefs, as well as the presence of incense-producing trees in Africa, have discounted these theories.[citation needed]

[edit] "Ta netjer"

The ancient Egyptians also called Punt Ta netjer, meaning "God's Land". This designation did not mean that Punt was considered a "Holy Land" by the Egyptians; rather, it was used to refer to regions of the Sun God, i.e. regions located in the direction of the sunrise. [12] These eastern regions were blessed with precious products, like incense, used in temples. The term was used not only in reference to Punt, located southeast of Egypt, but also in reference to regions of Asia east and northeast of Egypt, such as Lebanon, which was the source of wood for temples.[13]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Ian Shaw & Paul Nicholson, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, London. 1995, p.231.
  2. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 433, vol. 1.
  3. ^ Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.231.
  4. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 161, vol. 1.
  5. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 427-433, vol. 1.
  6. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 246-295, vol. 1.
  7. ^ Edward J. Keall, "Possible Connections in Antiquity Between the Red Sea Coast of Yemen and the Horn of Africa", in Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region. Proceedings of Red Sea Project I Held in the British Museum by the Society for Arabian Studies Monographs No. 2. Oxford: England, Archaeopress, October 2002, p.53.
  8. ^ Kitchen 1993, p. 41
  9. ^ Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.231
  10. ^ Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.232
  11. ^ Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.232
  12. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 658, vol. II.
  13. ^ Breasted 1906-07, p. 451,773,820,888, vol. II.

[edit] References

  • Bradbury, Louise (1988), “Reflections on Travelling to 'God's Land' and Punt in the Middle Kingdom”, Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt 25: 127-156 .
  • Breasted, John Henry (1906-1907), Ancient Records of Egypt: Historical Documents from the Earliest Times to the Persian Conquest, collected, edited, and translated, with Commentary, vol. 1-5, University of Chicago Press .
  • Fattovich, Rodolfo. 1991. "The Problem of Punt in the Light of the Recent Field Work in the Eastern Sudan". In Akten des vierten internationalen Ägyptologen Kongresses, München 1985, edited by Sylvia Schoske. Vol. 4 of 4 vols. Hamburg: Helmut Buske Verlag. 257–272
  • ———. 1993. "Punt: The Archaeological Perspective". In Sesto congresso internazionale de egittologia: Atti, edited by Gian Maria Zaccone, and Tomaso Ricardi di Netro. Vol. 2 of 2 vols. Torino: Italgas. 399–405
  • Herzog, Rolf. 1968. Punt. Abhandlungen des Deutsches Archäologischen Instituts Kairo, Ägyptische Reihe 6. Glückstadt: Verlag J. J. Augustin
  • Kitchen, K. A. (1971), “Punt and How to Get There”, Orientalia 40: 184-207 
  • Kitchen, Kenneth A. (1993), “The Land of Punt”, in Shaw, Thurstan; Sinclair, Paul & Andah, Bassey et al., The Archaeology of Africa: Foods, Metals, Towns, vol. 20, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 587-608 .
  • Meeks, Dimitri (2003), “Locating Punt”, in O'Connor, David B. & Quirke, Stephen G. J., Mysterious Lands, Encounters with ancient Egypt, vol. 5, London: Institute of Archaeology, University College London,University College London Press, pp. 53-80, ISBN 1-84472-004-7 .
  • Paice, Patricia, “The Punt Relief, the Pithom Stela, and the Periplus of the Erythean Sea”, in Harrak, Amir, Contacts Between Cultures: Selected Papers from the 33rd International Congress of Asian and North African Studies, Toronto, August 15-25, 1990, vol. 1, Lewiston, Queenston, and Lampeter: The Edwin Mellon Press, pp. 227-235 .
  • Sweeney, Emmet (2006), Empire of Thebes, ISBN 978-0-87586-479-2 .

[edit] Older literature

  • Johannes Dumichen: Die Flotte einer ägyptischen Königin, Leipzig, 1868
  • Wilhelm Max Müller: Asien und Europa nach altägyptischen Denkmälern, Leipzig, 1893
  • Adolf Erman: Life in Ancient Egypt, London, 1894
  • Édouard Naville: "Deir-el-Bahri" in Egypt Exploration Fund, Memoirs XII, XIII, XIV, and XIX, London, 1894 et seq
  • J. H. Breasted: A History of the Ancient Egyptians, New York, 1908

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] News reports on Wadi Gawasis excavations