We have Queen Hatshepsut, fifth sovereign of the eighteenth dynasty, who reigned in Egypt between 1479 and 1458 BCE, to thank that scholars and travelers have always been fascinated by an elusive place called the Land of Punt.
In fact, the lost land has been mentioned several times over the course of two thousand years of Egyptian history. The first reference is from 2450 BCE in the Pietra di Palermo, an engraved stone tablet that takes its name from the Sicilian city in which it is kept. According to the tablet, the pharaoh Sahura sent an expedition to Punt and returned with 80,000 measures of precious myrrh (used for religious rituals), 23,030 poles of lumber, and 6,000 measures of electro, a gold alloy containing about 20 percent silver.
Other later references mention loads of “134 slaves, male and female, 114 … oxen and calves; 305 bulls … ivory, ebony, panther skins … every good thing of that country and the local harvest.” Still another mentions the capture of a “dwarf who dances for the god of the spirit land.” Perhaps he was a pygmy, captured for his curious stature. The pharaoh was so exalted by the news that he ordered the leader of the expedition to bring the dwarf “alive, prosperous and healthy” and that precautions be taken so that he arrived safe and sound: “My majesty wishes to see this dwarf much more than the gifts of Sinai and Punt.” However, none of these sources make it clear where Punt is or how to get there.
It is thanks to Hatshepsut that this forgotten land captured the attention of the first archaeologists who, since then, have not stopped wondering about its location. On the walls of the temple dedicated to the queen, in Deir el-Bahari near Luxor, Egypt, the oldest documented journey beyond the borders of the world is told in the bas-reliefs.
The enterprise, commissioned by Hatshepsut in the ninth year of her reign, involved the use of a fleet of five Egyptian ships, which descended the Red Sea to reach the fabulous land. For a long time, it was believed that the Egyptians were only “river sailors,” but as the discovery of one of the queen’s large boats at Mersa Gawasis on the shores of the Red Sea shows, it is now clear that they repeatedly pushed along the African coasts.
The ships had a narrow keel, stern, and bow very high above the water and were about twenty-five meters long. There were no decks or cabins, because the hull was designed for the use of rowers on deck. Certainly, there was a hold for supplies and an eight-meter mast driven into the middle of the ship and tied to the keel. A single large sail caught the wind.
In total, the queen’s expedition numbered 210 people spread over five ships, including escort soldiers. The bas-relief tells us that the expedition left with a favorable wind. It is not clear the path followed when they left behind “Thebes of a Thousand Gates,” located near Luxor. It is unlikely that the squadron went up the Nile, crossed the Strait of Gibraltar, and circumnavigated Africa. It is more likely that at that time there was an ancient waterway, now vanished, that connected the Nile to the Red Sea.
In one of the bas-reliefs, you can see a representation of the Land of Punt once it was reached: there are huts that resemble stilts, with stairs to climb them, date palms and myrrh trees, as well as animals such as a cow, a bird identified by the tail as a Cinnyris Metallica, a turtle, and fish in the water.
In another bas-relief, you can see the gifts brought by the Egyptians to the Prince of Punt: beaded necklaces, bracelets, an axe, and a ceremonial dagger. The prince is accompanied by his wife, who is extraordinarily obese, as the taste in certain parts of Central Africa dictated, and by her daughter. Their skin color is red and their hair black, the same as that of the Egyptians, so it is assumed that they had the same characteristics.
The ruler of Punt gives his gifts to the visitors, and, as explained in the carved inscription, “the ships were loaded with the wonders of the Land of Punt”: slaves and spices, incense and myrrh, precious stones and wood, saplings, trunks of ebony, fine leathers, a horse, an elephant, and even peacocks and trained monkeys.
Hatshepsut must have been particularly proud of that expedition (having it immortalized in such detail), but no one had seen fit to reveal exactly where Punt was. After all, the ancients did not travel out of curiosity or adventure but out of necessity, and casually revealing routes to the most precious resources would not have been wise.
So where was the fabulous land? Although precision isn’t possible, Punt must have been located south of Egypt, in an area between today’s Eritrea and Somalia, because only in that area was it possible to find goods carried by the ships. Somalia, in particular, is the only place in the world where the frankincense shrub is native, in addition to myrrh and other spices and aromas brought back to Egypt. And in Somalia there are animals such as peacocks, monkeys, giraffes, and elephants, while on the mountains there are ebony, precious stones and gold, and all the treasures described in the temple of Hatshepsut.
However, so far no remains of cities identifiable as Punt have been found anywhere, although African archeology is still young. One day it could happen. Until then, it is enough for us to know that Punt must have been so wonderful as to be compared to the embrace of a lover: “When I hold him in my arms, and his arms wrap me,” we read in an ancient Egyptian poem, “it’s like being in the land of Punt, like having your body impregnated with a perfumed oil.” What a land it must have been!