Location of Punt (ancient)

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Location of Punt

During Hatshepsut’s eighth year as queen she sent an expedition to the land of Punt, the location of which is now lost, some consider it to be in what is modern day Yemen while others place it in Eastern Africa due to the nature of goods that are traded and their availability in that area.

“Punt has been identified with territory on both the Arabian and the Horn of Africa coasts. Consideration of the articles which the Egyptians obtained from Punt, notably gold and ivory, suggests, however, that these were primarily of African origin. ... This leads us to suppose that the term Punt probably applied more to African than Arabian territory (Tyldesley 147)."

The possible location can be seen in this image

Hatshepsut's expedition

Hatshepsut's expedition was not the first of its kind to Punt, previous expeditions were conducted by Sahure (Dynasty 5), Pepy I (Dyansty 6), Mentuhotep II (Dynasty 11), Amenemhat I (Dyansty 12), and Senwosret III (Dynasty 12) (Cooney 133). These expeditions always brought back exotic goods and riches with Punt being known as “Te Netjer” the land of the gods from which all good things came to Egypt (Joshua M. Mark). Hatshepsut's expedition was no different from the others, it returned during her ninth year of rule with shiploads of ebony, incense trees and fauna. It is even more notable for two other things the myrrh trees that were brought back and planted in Djeser – Djeseru which is the first recorded attempt to transplant foreign trees. The roots of these trees can still be seen in Deir el-Bahri and in this image.

Queen Ati and Possible Diseases

The other notable discovery is Queen Ati, wife of King Perahu of Punt who has been the subject of much debate in the world of medicine due to her appearance which was found in Hatshepsut’s in Deir el-Bahri as seen in the image. The reason for the amount of discussion conducted about her today is the possibility of numerous diseases that can be attributed to her appearance. The debate has been ongoing for a long time and in 1965 Dr. Paul Ghalioungui made an interesting observation, that the condition must have been familial due to her daughter exhibiting early signs of the same disease (Ghalioungui 17) the range of diseases that have been suggested is quite high and changes over time as medicine evolves in Health and Healing in Ancient Egypt it is proposed that the disease can be elephantiasis, myxeodema, racial steatopygy or muscular dystrophy, however Dr. Ghalioungui chooses Dercum’s disease as the most plausible diagnosis (17) . Until today the cause of Dercum’s disease is unknown however the benign tumors that are characteristic of Dercum’s disease could have been treated in Ancient Egypt, in the Ebers Papyrus there are multiple cases for the treatment of tumors that grew from the “flesh”, one of which is cauterization with a glowing stick the other case however is for the treatment of a lipoma which is evident in Dercum’s disease, the Ebers Papyrus states that it is necessary to remove it with a knife and treat it like a clean wound (Strouhal, Břetislav, Vymazalová 74).

Obesity in Ancient Egypt

Others believe that this was a simple case of obesity and the depiction of Queen Ati may be exaggerated as a sort of caricature; she may have been large but not as depicted. Obesity in Ancient Egypt was regarded with ridicule (Ghalioungui 15) it is possible that the people of Punt had a problem with obesity; this was after all the gods from which all good things came to Egypt so it is probable that these people indulged their luxuries especially with the abundance, this observation is also made by Dr. Ghalioungui who noticed that the Arigadiganen statue exhibited “extreme obesity” and the name of “The Prince, the true Relative of the King who loves him” indicates he is from Ethiopian origin possibly from Punt (Ghalioungui Figure 28) however due to Punts location being lost and unknown this could be doubtful. The Ancient Egyptians believed that “The life that controls excess is a life according to a wise man's heart” (Lichtheim 190), if they practiced this belief is another question but it does show the attitude towards obesity and gluttony and can be seen in other passages: “The fool who does not control himself will be in want through gluttony” (Lichtheim 189). Another indication of the negative view of obesity is pointed out by Dr. Ghalioungui is that although a person is depicted as obese throughout their lives they will chose in eternal life to be young and healthy (17). Cornelius Stetter attempts to tell us how Nehsi (the head of the expedition to Punt) must have felt when he first laid eyes upon Queen Ati; “The natives living in the huts approached, wearing loincloths, massive jewelry, and dirty hair (this was “shocking” for someone from the Nile) braided against their heads. “Truly untouched by every culture” the head of the expedition must have uttered, and then the man from thirty four centuries ago, saw, shuddering, the chief named Perihu coming, leading a donkey by a rope on top of which sat the fat chief’s wife, Ati (83).

The Land of Punt in Ancient Egyptian Literature

Punt itself was a long time trading partner of the Ancient Egyptians and are seen as a peaceful people as seen in the Tale of The Shipwrecked Sailor which tells the story of a sailor who gets shipwrecked and lands in Punt he is greeted by the prince of Punt who sends him on back to Egypt but not empty handed; “he gave me gifts of precious perfumes, of cassia, of sweet woods, of kohl, of cypress, an abundance of incense, of ivory tusks, of baboons, of apes, and all kinds of precious things. I embarked all in the ship which was come, and bowing myself, I prayed God for him. Then he said to me, "Behold you shall come to your country in two months, you shall press to your bosom your children, and you shall rest in your tomb.”

The Fate of Te Netjer

The Tale of The Shipwrecked Sailor shows how the Egyptians viewed Punt not only as a source of wealth but as a friendly and helpful people, which is why Hatshepsut's expedition is odd because although it is stated in her temple in Deir el-Bahri that the expedition that was headed by Nehsi was meant to collect tribute from the tribes and that he was accompanied by five shiploads marines (Tyldesley 149). This is where there is a discrepancy the Egyptians have been trading with the land of Punt since the rule of Sahure of the second dynasty however the need to bring troops to an old ally shows the problems that Egypt was having; before Hatshepsut Egypt had not traded with since the twelfth dynasty nearly 400 years. The years before Hatshepsut's rule were riddled with invasions by the Hyksos and made Egypt weak, during her rule she repelled that attacks and took control of Egypt and stabilized it, but for her to send “five shiploads of marines” shows how far the Egyptians position fell in the eyes of their allies. Following Nehsi’s arrival in Punt he was greeted warmly by the King of Punt who traded with them, this showed the reopening of relations with Egypt and also showed Hatshepsut’s desire to restore Egypt to its former glory. Despite its position as the land of the gods from which all good things came to Egypt, the land would become the work of myths after the expedition that was sent by Ramses III in the twentieth dynasty.

References

Cooney, Kara. The Woman Who Would Be King. New York: Crown, 2014. Print.

Ghalioungui, Paul. Health and Healing in Ancient Egypt, a Pictorial Essay. Cairo: Dar Al-Maaref, 1965. Print.

Lichtheim, Miriam. Ancient Egyptian Literature. The Late Period ed. Vol. III. U of California, 2006. Print.

Mark, Joshua J. "Punt." Http://www.ancient.eu/. 1 Aug. 2011. Web. 15 May 2015.

Stetter, Cornelius. The Secret Medicine of the Pharaohs: Ancient Egyptian Healing. Ed. Q. ed. Chicago, IL: Quintessence Pub., 1993. Print.

Strouhal, Eugen, Břetislav Vachala, Hana Vymazalová, and Katerina Millerova. The Medicine of the Ancient Egyptians. English Edition ed. AUC, 2014. Print.

Tyldesley, Joyce A. Hatchepsut: The Female Pharaoh. London: Viking, 1996. Print.

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