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. The pyramids are the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt. ... The Horn of Africa. ...

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] For other uses, see Pharaoh (disambiguation). ... Father Userkaf(?) Mother Khentkaus I Died 2475 BC Major Monuments Pyramid at Abusir Sahure was the second king of ancient Egypts 5th Dynasty. ... Known rulers, in the History of Egypt, for the Fifth Dynasty. ... nomen or birth name Sankhara Mentuhotep III of the Eleventh dynasty was Pharaoh of Egypt during the Middle Kingdom. ... (Redirected from 1950 BC) (21st century BC - 20th century BC - 19th century BC - other centuries) (3rd millennium BC - 2nd millennium BC - 1st millennium BC) Events 2064 - 1986 BC -- Twin Dynasty wars in Egypt 2000 BC -- Farmers and herders travel south from Ethiopia and settle in Kenya. ... Hannu (Hennu), ancient Egyptian explorer (around 2750 BC) and the first explorer of whom there is any knowledge. ...

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. Image File history File links Punt_khoisan. ... Image File history File links Punt_khoisan. ... Maatkare[1] Truth is the Ka of Re Nomen Khnumt-Amun Hatshepsut[1] Joined with Amun, Foremost of Noble Ladies Horus name Wesretkau [1] Mighty of Kas Nebty name Wadjrenput[1] Flourishing of years Golden Horus Netjeretkhau[1] Divine of appearance Consort(s) Thutmose II Issue Neferure Father Thutmose I... // Overview Events 1504 BC – 1492 BC -- Egypt conquers Nubia and the Levant. ... 100g of Myrrh. ... In the art of sculpture, a relief is an artwork where a modelled form projects out of a flat background. ... Temple of Hephaestus, an Doric Greek temple in Athens with the original entrance facing east, 449 BC (western face depicted) For other uses, see Temple (disambiguation). ... Djeser-Djeseru – the focal point of the complex Deir el-Bahri (Arabic دير البحري dayr al-baḥrī, literally meaning, “The Northern Monastery”) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. ... Nehsi, ancient Egyptian explorer. ... Thutmose III (also written as Tuthmosis III; called Manahpi(r)ya in the Amarna letters) (? - 1426 BC), was Pharaoh of Egypt in the Eighteenth Dynasty. ...

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] Location of the Red Sea The Red Sea is an inlet of the Indian Ocean between Africa and Asia. ... The Beja people are an ethnic group dwelling parts of North-Eastern and Eastern Africa including the area of the Horn of Africa. ...

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] Binomial name Eragrostis tef (Zucc. ... Dahshur (Arabic دهشور Dahšūr [often incorrectly rendered in English as Dashur]), located in a patch of desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo, is a royal necropolis, known chiefly for three pyramids, two of which are amongst the oldest, largest and best preserved... Teff field at the base of a small hill in the Eritrean Highlands. ... Ethiopian Highlands with Ras Dashan in the background. ... 100g of Myrrh. ... Maatkare[1] Truth is the Ka of Re Nomen Khnumt-Amun Hatshepsut[1] Joined with Amun, Foremost of Noble Ladies Horus name Wesretkau [1] Mighty of Kas Nebty name Wadjrenput[1] Flourishing of years Golden Horus Netjeretkhau[1] Divine of appearance Consort(s) Thutmose II Issue Neferure Father Thutmose I...

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 went so far as to claim that the name "Punt" lay behind the name of "Opone," a coastal marketplace located south of Cape Guardafui, and identified both Punt and Opone with Hafun. Motto None Anthem Puntland Somali National Anthem Capital Garowe (Administrative), Bosaso (Commercial) Largest city Bosaso Official languages Somali and Arabic Government  -  President Mohamud Muse Hersi  -  Vice-President Hassan Dahir Mohamud Autonomy Inside Somalia   -  Declared 1998   -  Recognition   Area  -  Total 212,510 km km² (84th) n/a sq mi   -  Water (%) Negl. ... 100g of frankincense resin. ... 100g of Myrrh. ... Names, routes and locations of the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea. ... Hafun (Xaafuun) is a small low-lying peninsula in the Bari region of northern Somalia. ... Cape Guardafui Cape Guardafui (Gees Gwardafuy, Ras Asir), in Somalia, is the headland that forms the geographical apex of what is commonly known as the Horn of Africa. ... Hafun (Xaafuun) is a small low-lying peninsula in the Bari region of northern Somalia. ...

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]} 100g of frankincense resin. ... Arabia redirects here. ... Incense is composed of aromatic organic materials. ...

"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] A solar deity is a deity who represents the Sun. ...

Notes

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.

Cover of Time Magazine, December 14, 1931 James Henry Breasted (August 27, 1865–December 2, 1935) was born in Rockford, Illinois and was an archaeologist and historian. ...

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

Johannes Dumichen (1833-1894), German Egyptologist, was born near Glogau in 1833. ... Wilhelm Max Müller, Ph. ... Johann Peter Adolf Erman (October 31, 1854 – June 26, 1937) was a renowned Egyptologist and lexicographer; born in Berlin, the son of Georg Adolf Erman and grandson of Paul Erman. ... Captaine Henri Édouard Naville (1844-1926) was a Swiss egyptologist. ... Cover of Time Magazine, December 14, 1931 James Henry Breasted (August 27, 1865–December 2, 1935) was born in Rockford, Illinois and was an archaeologist and historian. ...

See also

• Puntland
• Ancient Egypt

Motto None Anthem Puntland Somali National Anthem Capital Garowe (Administrative), Bosaso (Commercial) Largest city Bosaso Official languages Somali and Arabic Government  -  President Mohamud Muse Hersi  -  Vice-President Hassan Dahir Mohamud Autonomy Inside Somalia   -  Declared 1998   -  Recognition   Area  -  Total 212,510 km km² (84th) n/a sq mi   -  Water (%) Negl. ... The pyramids are the most recognizable symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt. ...

External links

• The Wonderful Land of Punt
• The Land of Punt with quotes from Breasted (1906) and Petrie (1939)
• Queen Hatasu, and Her Expedition to the Land of Punt by Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (1891).
• Deir el-Bahri: Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut
• Hall of Punt at Deir el-Bahri; and Where was Punt? discussion by Dr. Karl H. Leser
• Queen of Punt syndrome

News reports on Wadi Gawasis excavations

• Archaeologists discover ancient ships in Egypt (Boston University Bridge, 18 March 2005). Excavations at Wadi Gawasis, possibly the ancient Egyptian port Saaw.
• Remains of ancient Egyptian seafaring ships discovered (New Scientist, 23 March 2005).
• Egyptian sea vessel artifacts discovered at pharaonic port of Mersa Gawasis along Red Sea coast (EurekAlert, 21 April 2005).
• University professor finds ancient shipwreck (Boston University Daily Free Press, 27 April 2005).
• Ancient Mariners: Caves harbor view of early Egyptian sailors (Science News Online, 7 May 2005).
• Sailing to distant lands (Al Ahram, 2 June 2005).
• Ancient ship remains are unearthed (Deutsche Press Agentur, 26 January 2006).
• Archeologists find ancient ship remains (Associated Press, 27 January 2006).
• 4,000-year-old shipyard unearthed in Egypt (MSNBC, 6 March 2006)