Children of the Nile Heaven

Land of Punt - Part 3

by Kester

New Kingdom - Renewed Contact with Punt

Hatshepsut - 18th Dynasty

Hatshepsut was the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, and the first female pharaoh. She ruled from c. 1502-1482 B.C.E. The daughter of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, she married her half-brother Thutmose II. After he died, his son Isis by another woman was renamed Thutmose III and became the ruler. As he was underage, Hatshepsut became the regent and the true power in Egypt, and Thutmose III was relegated to an administrative role. To help solidify her own claim to the throne, the priests told the story of how the god Amun in the guise of her father visited her mother, resulting in her divine birth.

When Hatshepsut became pharaoh, she turned her attention to rebuilding Egypt internally, and her first project was to complete the temple at Deir el-Bahri, on the west shore of the Nile opposite Luxor, against the western cliffs at Thebes. This temple was dedicated to Amun-Ra, and was to become her own mortuary temple as well. It was different than most Egyptian temples, as it featured three wide open colonnaded terraces. She sought to replicate the myrrh terraces of Punt, the original home of the gods. All it needed to complete it were actual myrrh trees from Punt.

Communication with Punt had been cut off for some time due to the Hyksos wars, and when in the 9th year of her reign Hatshepsut wanted to send a fleet to Punt, no one remembered the way. Fortunately for her plans, the oracle of Amun-Ra decreed that the route to Punt was to be found again.

The expedition of 1493-1492 B.C.E. was memorialized in a series of reliefs on the third terrace of the temple. Five ships are shown in the reliefs, but this might have been a convention – the fleet might have been much larger. On their arrival in Punt, the Egyptian sailors marveled at the huts of the Puntites, which were built on piles, accessible only by ladders, in the midst of palm and myrrh tree groves.

The expedition carried weapons, beads and rings to trade, as well as a statue of the queen which was erected in Punt. These goods were officially being brought to Hathor, the 'goddess for things outside Egypt', who already had a shrine (built by the visiting Egyptians) in Punt. The expeditionists were met by the chief of Punt, Parehu, and his wife Eti. It isn't known whether Parehu was ruler over the other chiefs, or one among many. Hatshepsut's crew hosted a feast.

When the trading was complete, the Egyptian ships left laden with myrrh, live myrrh trees, ebony, ivory, gold, other exotic woods, incense, eye cosmetics, apes, monkeys, greyhounds, leopard skins, other chiefs, slaves and their children. Hatshepsut and Thutmose III presented the larger portion of their goods to Amun of Thebes, under whose command and protection the mission was conducted. This expedition reopened trade with Punt for a long time to come.