The Gods’ Land That Disappeared From History
This ancient place was a hidden land of treasure for the Egyptians who traded there for over a thousand years
History has always been a fascinating discovery. The ancient Egyptian pharaohs were fascinated by a place named “the Land Of Punt” or Punt. People remember this ancient kingdom of Punt as a land rich in resources. The pharaohs often exchanged gold, blackwood, ebony, ivory, and resins as trades.
According to ancient Greek texts, the land is popularly called “Ta Netjer” , or God’s Land.
The most striking and astonishing part of Punt is its location. After reading through the ancient texts, Western scholars questioned Punt’s whereabouts and how they are known in the modern world.
Based on the evidence from ancient Egyptian inscriptions, Punt is certainly the modern-day Puntland state of Somalia at the Horn of Africa, Eretria, Sudan, or some other interior regions of Africa.
In the words of the scholar John A. Wilson:
“The people of Punt are flatteringly amazed at the boldness of the Egyptian sailors: How did you reach here, the country unknown to men? Did you come down on the ways of heaven or did you travel by land or sea? How happy is God’s land (Punt), which you now tread like Ra!”
Historian Ahmed Ali found that the ancient city of Opone, in Somalia, is identical to the Pouen city referenced as being part of Punt. The Egyptians also called the land Pwene or Pwenet which translates as Pouen, which Greeks referred to as Opone. Historian Addisalam Mahamoud, mentions the land that is presently known as “Bunni.”
However, the land of Punt was not only restricted by trade. The Egyptians revered their culture and considered it to be their ancestral home.
The country is best known for Queen Hatshepsut’s famous expedition in 1493 BCE. This was brought about simply due to the transactional benefits becoming more extensive than before. This exchange between Egypt and Punt helped in bringing back live trees to Egypt, marking it as the first successful attempt at transplanting foreign fauna.
Political controversy surrounded Queen Hatshepsut when she became the Pharaoh of Egypt around 1470 B.C. The discussion revolved around her being a female ruler. Her reign was underestimated by many and was considered a liability. In retaliation, Queen Hatshepsut directed that for the time being she would be portrayed as a man, with finished beards and large muscles, in both paintings and statues.
During this period, the route to Punt disappeared for decades. Hatshepsut told her subjects that the gods had directed her to find the path and re-establish the connection by sending a trade mission. She vehemently instructed her subjects they should fulfill the gods’ desire, no matter what it took.
Historian Barbara Watterson describes the Hatshepsut expedition as:
“Five ships set out from a port on the Red Sea (possibly Quseir) to journey southwards to Suakin, where the expedition disembarked. The voyage had taken between twenty to twenty-five days, covering on average about fifty kilometers a day, with the ships hugging the coast rather than risk the dangerous deep water of the Red Sea. From Suakin, the route to Punt was overland through the Red Sea hills.”
The people of Punt were too shocked at the Egyptians’ courage in making the trip. They regarded their own land as a mysterious region, one that was mostly unknown to the outside world. With the expedition, the local people became eager to trade with the Egyptians for tools, art, jewelry, and weapons.
Since the land of Punt had rich resources and extremely generous people, the Egyptian trade expedition returned home carrying enormous wealth. Some of these riches included ivory, gold, ebony, spices, precious woods, cosmetics, wild animals, elephant tusks, leopard skins, incense, and frankincense.
Most important were the thirty-one live myrrh trees that they had brought along, each with its roots affixed in a basket. The subjects planted the trees in the courts of Hatshepsut’s mortuary temple complex, where they thrived and flourished in Egypt for centuries. Thus, this plantation was recorded in history as the first time anyone successfully transplanted foreign trees.
Watterson writes:
“In return for a modest present of a few Egyptian weapons and some trinkets, the Puntites gave their visitors sack of aromatic gum, gold, ebony, ivory, leopard skins, live apes and incense trees.”
The above statement implies the relationship between the Egyptians and the Puntians was a mutually beneficial one and that both sides held each other with high regard. Hatshepsut’s reign is considered the most prosperous in Egypt’s history.
Hatshepsut’s nephew, Thutmose III, took over the throne after her death. Such was his hatred towards Hatshepsut's achievement that he removed all the evidence of her power, including the images of her as the male king inscribed in temples and monuments.
As a result, her reign remained unknown to history until 1822. Her rule came to light when some scholars deciphered the hieroglyphics on the Deir al-Bahri walls. A team of archaeologists discovered her mummified remains in 2007, which are presently housed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. These discoveries restored her rightful place as one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt.
The Land of Punt thus has its roots in its association with the gods and Egypt's legendary past, majorly because the Puntian materials were used in temple rituals. Examples of this were burning incense sticks in temples and the priests wearing animal skins.
A more profound association, however, emerged from the belief that the gods who blessed Egypt equally held affection for Punt. There is factual evidence mentioning that one of the most popular Egyptian gods of childbirth, Bes (known as the Dwarf God), came from Punt.
Historian Abdislam Mahamoud indicates that people in modern-day Somalia continue to name their children after the ancient Egyptian gods. The land of Punt eventually became a semi-mythological land to the Egyptians.
In the twelfth dynasty, Egyptian literature immortalized Punt in the very popular Tale Of Shipwrecked Sailor. In this tale, an Egyptian sailor on an island converses with a great serpent who identifies himself as “Lord of Punt”. The serpent sends the sailor back to Egypt, laden with gold, spices, and animal skins.
Furthermore, in the story, the sailor's master was quite upset with his failed expedition. To motivate him, the sailor narrated a tale, remembering his shipwrecked journey and the time when his ship disappeared, and he started fearing for his life. The sailor tells about how he ended up in Punt, referring to it as the Gods’ land.
The sailor tells his master that:
“Even though life appears to be fearful at times, however, there is always a chance of goodness coming out from the darkest moments.”
He supported it with the example of how the Lord of Punt had sent him home as the richest man when previously he has been a mere shipwrecked sailor. Although the land of Punt disappeared into the mythology of ancient Egypt, its rich cultural heritage is still enriched and preserved by the modern-day Egyptians.
