Punt’s interest originates from the fact that an ancient land may be so important yet left no trace of its existence. That is why it’s being called as the lost land of punt
The civilization flourished between 2450 and 1155 BC. It must have had cordial relations with Egypt, given there is no record of any attempts to invade Punt, despite being portrayed as a land of riches.
Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC) launched the first recorded ancient Egyptian journey to Punt, returning with cargoes of antiques and Puntites. On the other hand, gold from Punt was reported in Egypt as early as the period of Pharaoh Khufu of the Fourth Dynasty.
More voyages to Punt followed in Egypt’s Sixth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Eighteenth dynasties. Trade with Punt was commemorated in popular literature during the Twelfth Dynasty in the Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.
Punts Trade Relationship with Egypt
The Land of Punt provided supplies for Egyptian temples, including leopard skins for priests to wear, gold for statue-making, incense brought from Punt and burned in temples, Punt sceneries to decorate the walls of Egyptian kings, and myrrh imported from Punt.
Punt also supplied cheetah, panther, and giraffe skins to Egypt, as well as wild animals, live apes, elephants, ivory, spices, rare woods, cosmetics, fragrant gum, frankincense, and 31 incense trees.
Punt brought tools, weapons, metals, and jewelry from Egypt.
According to these quotations, the Land of Punt was a major trading empire, and Hatshepsut herself was astonished by Punt’s riches.
The Hatshepsut Expedition
Although trade had long existed between Egypt and Punt, Hatshepsut’s 1493 BCE journey was attributed special significance. This could just be because this transaction was larger than others, but evidence suggests that the road to Punt had been lost, and the gods ordered Hatshepsut to re-establish the link.
Hatshepsut then ordered that the god’s desire be done, and five ships were readied for the expedition while items for commerce were gathered.
This narrative of an overland journey to the Land of Punt following the Red Sea passage can argue for either Eritrea or Somalia. Still, it must be weighed in conjunction with the other evidence. It was highly esteemed and different from Egypt to lend itself to mystery, regardless of its exact location near the Horn of Africa.
Punt’s communities are characterized as dwellings on stilts ruled by a ruler who may have received advice from elders. According to the scripts, connections between the two kingdoms were tight, and the Puntites were highly kind. Egyptian scribes frequently praise the Land of Punt for its richness and “goodness of the land.”
The Time Period of the Kingdom
Punt’s reign is thought to have lasted from roughly 2400 until 1069 BCE. We know that Egypt began trading with Punt at this time. Therefore, the Empire is probably considerably older than previously assumed.
However, the lack of Empire remains makes determining the actual date of the Empire difficult. Some have speculated that Punt is nothing more than an Ancient Egyptian portrayal of an imagined Utopia, as Punt’s alternate name translates to Land of the Gods.
The Location of the Land of Punt
Based on Egyptian textual and iconographic evidence, the location of the Land of Punt has been questioned for over a century. Many hypotheses have been proposed to link Punt to a specific geographical region.
The Land of Punt most likely included some or all of the coastline of modern-day Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somaliland, and Puntland. This also reflects the fascination of this land with current scholars and Egyptologists’ creativity in identifying it.
Because Egyptian trade records are so localized, they provide few hints about Punt’s specific location. The Egyptian ships sailed to Punt via the Red Sea, then connected to the Nile via a navigable seasonal canal through the swampy Wadi Tumilat.
Furthermore, when analyzing seasonal factors – it would have been necessary to sail from Egypt to Punt between June and August, when the wind blew south, and to embark on the return leg in November – make it unlikely that the relatively slow ships of the time sailed further afield than the eastern tip of the Horn of Africa.
This places Punt near the Gulf of Aden and/or the Red Sea. While a minority of scholarly thought points to the Arabian sides of this oceanic division, the most academic opinion points to Africa’s east coast. To put it another way,
According to Egyptian literary and iconographic sources, the Land of Punt was the southernmost region included in the pharaonic state’s trade network. It was considered independent from the other southern regions under the Egyptian sphere of political and economic influence.
Punt covered multiple districts in the New Kingdom, implying that this land included various regions spanning along the Red Sea coast and the African hinterland.
Punt’s land was a mountainous location with sea access. Dom’s palms thrived there (like they did in Egypt), and baboons, who were not native to Egypt, were discovered in Punt.
The People of Punt and Their Lifestyle
Puntite men were shown in Egyptian representational art with short hair and headbands, wearing short skirts, while Puntite women had long hair, headbands, and long skirts.
The most famous panels at Deir el-Bahari represent Punt’s monarch, Parehu, and his family. In other depictions, Perahu is holding a staff and dressed in a loincloth, with a small dagger in his belt, an ornate beaded collar around his neck, and an upward-curving beard reminiscent of contemporary depictions of Egyptian gods and deceased Pharaohs.
Their consistent attire in representational art demonstrates that the Egyptians saw them as a single population. Only in the 18th Dynasty was another Land of Punt group identified with Puntite, with long hair, possibly implying that another Punt group participated in trade with Egypt during this period.
The sailor is found by a giant, bearded snake coated in gold and lapis lazuli, who introduces himself as the “ruler” (hekaw) of Punt in the Middle Kingdom’s “Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor.”
Conclusion
While no one has been able to locate Punt, ancient Egyptian documents prove that the Kingdom existed and was a vibrant kingdom, providing us with a wealth of information about their customs, lifestyle, and trade.
Land of Punt became a “land of plenty” for the Egyptians and was known to be Te Netjer, the land of the gods, from where all good things came to Egypt.
Punt was also related to Egyptian lineage in that it was viewed as their ancient homeland and the land where the gods arose from and interacted with one another.
It is unknown why Land of Punt was elevated from fact to mythology. Still, after the reign of Ramesses III, the land faded farther and further into Egyptian imagination until it was lost in tradition and folklore.
References
https://www.jstor.org/stable/i27651793http://www.darelkotob.gov.eg/ar-eg/Pages/Home.aspx