There is an amazing mystery in the history of Ancient Egypt. Perhaps it will remain a secret, the legendary country of Punt. Egypt from time immemorial traded with her, exchanged embassies and even sought to subjugate a fabulous rich country.
From there, exotic animals were exported - leopards, elephants, giraffes and antelopes, incense and valuable species of wood, precious stones - sapphires, rubies, emeralds - and metals - gold and silver were supplied from Punta.
Oh Great Punt
Egyptian priests sang: “Oh, blessed, favored by the Gods and filled with the Sun, a land of grace, not knowing grief and hunger! Oh, Punt! You are the first to meet the appearance of the Sun in the sky. Therefore, your name is Punt the Great - the Land of the Gods. You are not aware of droughts and floods, your land is fertile and fruitful, abundant in plants and animals, the life of your people is easy and pleasant. That is why your name is Punt - the Land of the Happy!"
These songs sounded like a utopia ripened among the people, always dreaming of prosperity, lightness and idleness of life. There remained a dream and hope for its realization. And then rumors began to reach the Egyptians, then descriptions of a certain country, called Punt, with incredible details. People listened with surprise, but did not believe:
- It sounds beautiful, but it's all fairy tales! Where have you seen a life without difficulties, a year without worries, a day - continuous joy?
“We saw it,” the pilgrims and navigators assured.
Promotional video:
- Yes, where is this Abode of the Gods?
- The country of the happy, patronized by the gods, lies on the shores of the Great Sea, Big Green. You can get to know Punt immediately by the large mountains, visible from the coast to anyone who comes there. A picture that will never be forgotten …
For a moment the narrators stopped, blissfully closed their eyes, being carried away into memories, and continued:
- Everything grows there in abundance - figs and grapes, huge cedars and other trees for which we do not know the name. Some have red wood, others pitch black, while others are so heavy that they sink in water like a stone. There are countless fruits there. When some trees bloom, others bear fruit, and still others are just getting ready to bloom. That is why the inhabitants of those places never know hunger. And everyone lives in peace.
When did the subjects of the pharaohs first know the way to Punta? History is silent about this. It's a strange thing - there are many descriptions of trade and other expeditions. We have received detailed lists of goods, information about the number of rowers and soldiers on the ships, the names of the rulers who equipped the caravans, and those who led these expeditions. However, there are no maps, no coordinates, or even waybills.
It is only clear that the mysterious Punt was located somewhere in the south of Egypt. Or maybe in the east - towards the no less mysterious Kedem (this is how the ancient Egyptians simply designated the east and the group of countries located there. In the Bible, for example, in the Book of Numbers (23, 7), Kedem is mentioned, but this is a vast area lying beyond Damascus)?
So where was it located? Ordinary mortals did not know. For them, the location of Punta was and remained "a secret with seven seals." Probably, this was beneficial to the pharaohs and priests. Or maybe Punt became so familiar to the Egyptians that they did not think to waste time on a detailed description?
Unknown South
During the reign of Pharaoh Assa (Aha), at the beginning of the III millennium BC, the commander Urdu-du undertook a campaign to "the mysterious south, from where the blessed Nile flowed." He says that he opened Punt for Egypt, calling it in his "report" the Land of the Happy. From there, Urdu-do brought, among other things, a dwarf, whose appearance "instilled extraordinary joy and love in the heart of the pharaoh."
Pharaoh V of the Sahur dynasty (circa 2487-2475 BC) established business contacts with this amazing country. The expedition, equipped by the ruler, returned from Punta with a large load of myrrh (about 80 thousand tons) and valuable tree species (up to 2.6 thousand trunks). In addition, Egyptian merchants brought animal skins and ivory to their homeland - their number is "beyond counting."
Since then, for many years, Egypt and Punt have been linked by a trade route, which was overcome in about a week, or even less. Egyptian ships with great security - the road, though short, but dangerous! - headed from Byblos to Bubast, where the goods were transferred on dry land to the Red Sea, and then moved through the expanse of the Great Green (Indian Ocean?) exactly to Punt.
The first peak of trade relations with the Land of the Gods can be considered the reign of Pharaoh VI of the Pepi II dynasty (2279 / 2229-2219 / 2169 BC). By his order, a fleet of heavy-duty ships was built, which at least once a month began to visit Punt.
New paths were laid every year. And now the Egyptians use several at once - one continental and three water. Moreover, the pharaohs are increasingly thinking about the economic feasibility of trade expeditions. More than a hundred kilometers on dry land passed through the desert, where people and beasts of burden perished; on the way, the caravans often had to face robbers. Losses are palpable - up to half of all cargo.
Curious documents on the solution of this problem date back to the time of the XII dynasty (XX-XVIII centuries BC). Pharaohs Senusret I (approximately 1971-1926 BC) and Amenemhat II (approximately 1929-1896 BC) conceived the unprecedented - the construction of a navigable artery connecting both seas or even the Nile with the Red Sea! As the chronicles point out, under Sennusret III (approximately 1872-1853 BC) this was done.
However, in 1800 BC, Egypt suffered a terrible attack. The pharaohs lost their former autocracy, the country was mired in uprisings and civil strife, the insidious neighbors took advantage of this - hordes of Hyksos nomads poured into the Nile valley. And … communications with Punt were cut off. The caravan routes were forgotten, the sands brought the channel between the seas. Punta seems to be gone - only memories and stories. Again, people did not want to believe that there was a Country of Gods. But the pharaohs knew that she was not a ghost.
She exists
On the walls of the Deir el-Bahri temple, with great accuracy, vivid, almost vivid pictures of the grandiose journey of Queen Hatshepsut, an amazing, one of a kind, are depicted in detail. Egypt did not know any more! The first and last woman-pharaoh in history was the fifth ruler of the XVIII dynasty of the New Kingdom era. There are enough riddles here too.
For example, the question of when this dynasty was in power is not fully resolved. The dating of the board is still a matter of debate. According to the latest astronomical calculations, it falls between 1575 and 1350 BC. A different chronological system is based on the correspondence in the descriptions of events of Egyptian sources and the Bible. According to these data, the reign of the XVIII dynasty refers to later times - approximately 1025-800 BC.
The darkness of turmoil and interregnum, when impostors appeared on the throne, and the country was torn to pieces by enemies and civil wars, was replaced by calmness and peace … in Palestine and Syria. Hatshepsut's reign began after the death of her father, although her sickly half-brother and husband Thutmose II was considered the pharaoh.
Hatshepsut arbitrarily appropriated the regalia of the pharaoh - a beard and a crown. The woman is energetic and domineering, she was by nature smart and talented, she had a far from feminine character and inclinations. Her young stepson Thutmose III - the son of Thutmose II by a concubine - married the young daughter of the queen, Hatshepsut II, and became a junior co-ruler.
Sources consider the grandiose journey by sea and land to the magical Punt to be the most important deed of Hatshepsut. The memorial temple of Hatshepsut, in which she left a description of her trip to the Land of the Gods, is perhaps the greatest of the masterpieces of Egyptian architecture. Its construction is attributed to the architect Senmut, who put all his skill and, as they say, his very soul into construction …
Three large merchant ships set out for the distant and once forgotten Punt. Hatshepsut believed that the Country of the Happy would be found, because Amon himself sent the queen a message through the priests: "We grant you the entire Punt to the very borders, where no man's foot has yet set foot." Why human? The Egyptians did not consider anyone but themselves to be human. The rest are ignorant and barbarians.
The ships were loaded to the brim with goods - they were carrying weapons and household utensils, jewelry and mirrors, clay vessels with oil and wine. Oarsmen sat on benches along the sides. They always had enough work. Together with the merchants, the queen and her retinue, the embassy, and numerous armed guards were accommodated on the ships.
The caravan sailed safely along the Nile, passed the recently restored canal - the pride of Egypt - and, having entered the Red Sea, took the course to the south familiar only to the priests. We walked along the coast: the desert suddenly gave way to marshes with gnarled vegetation, a dense forest appeared just as unexpectedly behind … Not even seven days had passed when a sailor on the mast with a joyful cry announced that dwellings appeared ahead, similar to the wicker houses of coastal birds, weavers, only in much larger. And in the distance were the bluish domes of the mountains with snow-capped peaks.
The natives - tall, swarthy, handsome and stately, with curly blue-black hair and thick beards - greeted Hatshepsut and her companions warmly. The Puntians did not resemble the negroes who were scorned in Egypt, were not like the Nubians of Napata, and nothing in common with the Egyptians. Hatshepsut was provided with the most spacious wicker house, where she rested and received local rulers, chiefs and merchants.
What kind of goods did the Puntians not ship to the Egyptians! There were gold and silver, incense and hitherto unknown spices, ivory and ebony, hides and finely colored fabrics. I had to buy several dozen ships to load stone blocks for construction. Of these, Senmut will subsequently build the majestic complex "Most Sacred of the Sacred" - the burial temple of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahri.
The Puntian embassy set off on the way back together with the Egyptians, which, according to the sources, immediately "accepted the power of the pharaohs." Most likely, it was not about the recognition of vassalage by Punt, but about the usual diplomatic politeness. On the walls of the tomb of Rahmir, the closest adviser to Pharaoh Thutmose III, there are images of the embassies of various peoples who visited the Egyptian ruler. Cretans and Nubians obsequiously bow to the Pharaoh, Libyans and Puntians hold themselves proudly and independently.
Egypt traded with Punt for a long time. But centuries passed, and the once mighty empire fell under the rule of the Persians, centuries later they were replaced by the Hellenes, then came the turn of other conquerors - the Romans … And Punt disappeared into oblivion.
Sergey GOLUBEV