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The Land of Punt, also called "Pwenet"Ian Shaw & Paul Nicholson, The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, British Museum Press, London. 1995, p.231 by the Ancient Egypt ians, at times synonymous with ''Ta netjer'', the 'land of the god' J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part One, Chicago 1906, §433, was a fabled site in eastern Africa and "was the source of many exotic products, such as gold, aromatic resins, African blackwood, ebony, ivory, slaves and wild animals" including monkeys and baboons.Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.231 All information about Punt has been found from ancient Egyptian records of trade missions to this region. EGYPTIAN EXPEDITIONS TO PUNT The oldest known expedition to Punt was organized by Pharaoh Sahure of the Fifth Dynasty (25th century BC) J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part One, Chicago 1906, §161. Around 1950 BC , in the reign of Mentuhotep III , an officer named Hannu organized one or more voyages to Punt, but it is uncertain whether he took part personally. J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part One, Chicago 1906, §§427-433 The most famous Punt expedition was conducted under 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 its leader. At the time, Punt was ruled by King Parahu and Queen Ati J. H. Breasted, ''Ancient Records of Egypt'', Part Two, Chicago 1906, §§246-295. Several of Hatshepsut's successors, including Thutmoses III , also organized expeditions to Punt. LOCATION The precise location of the land of Punt has been a subject of much debate. Ancient Egyptian texts are consistent about connecting the location of Punt with the Red Sea , narrowing the possibilities for Punt's geographic location. These records indicate Punt's location to be found south of Nubia , but exactly what modern territory it corresponds to is disputed. Historians generally agree on East ern Africa , possibly near what is now the coast of Sudan or Eritrea (as is suggested by archaeological evidence). The general modern academic consensus places Punt in the area of northern Ethiopia , Eritrea , and southeastern Sudan/east-northeast Sudan (both referring to Southeastern Beja lands).Edward J. Keall, ''Possible connections in antiquity between the Red Sea coast of Yemen and the Horn of Africa'' in ''Trade and Travel in the Red Sea Region. Proceedings of Red Sea Project I Held in the British Museum'' by the Society for Arabian Studies Monogrpahs No. 2. Oxford: England, Archaeopress, October 2002, p.53. The Egyptians also used ebony wood which could only be obtained either through trade with Nubia or with Punt. The most likely location of Punt according to Kenneth Kitchen is northern Ethiopia/Eritrea and east-north-east Sudan. The presence of Teff in 4th dynasty pyramid bricks of the Dashur Pyramid further supports this theory, as teff only grows in the Eritrean and Ethiopian Highlands and not in Southern Arabia, Lebanon, or Jordan. Most modern scholars place Punt perhaps on Africa's East Coast perhaps only just south of Egypt. However, modern attempts to classify the flora and fauna from Punt suggests that Punt may have been located in southern Sudan, Eritrea and/or northern Ethiopia ( Tigray ) since the Egyptian reliefs of these plants correspond best to those found in this region.Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.231 Myrrh trees depicted in Hatshepsut 's trading expedition to Punt are shown being loaded onto Egyptian ships in the second terrace of her funerary temple at Deir El BahariShaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.232 Evidence that these trees were "replanted in the temple of Deir El-Bahri" is suggested "from the surviving traces of tree-pits" found here.Shaw & Nicholson, op. cit., p.232 Some argue Punt was as far away as Puntland , Somalia (named after Punt in the 20th century). Among most Somalis the belief is that ancient Punt probably refers to the puntland (Somalia) region of Sanaag because that is the region where Frankincense and Myrrh are found in abundance. 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 . In the late 1990 s part of Somalia declared itself the independent republic of Somaliland . It was once thought that the Frankincense and other goods the ancient Egyptians boasted of obtaining in Punt suggest a location on the southern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula , but the presence of African animals rules this notion out, as well as the realisation that Incense -producing trees also occur in Africa. In the past, places still farther afield have been mentioned, Bahrain and India but currently these candidates have largely been dropped in favor of ones located near by in Africa. The ancient Egyptians called Punt also "Ta netjer" or "God's Land". This does not mean that Punt somehow was a "Holy Land" for the Egyptians. For the term referred to all the regions of the Sun God, namely the regions towards sun rise (BAR II par. 658). It was used for eastern regions that were blessed with precious products used in temples, like incense. This meant that the term was not only used as a nickname for Punt, in the SE, but also for the regions in Asia to the E and NE, notably for the area of Lebanon, which was the source of wood for temples (see BAR II, par. 451, 773, 820, 888; III par. 434). FOOTNOTES REFERENCES
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