Hatshepsut and Punt: Trade or Tribute?

Abstract

Engraved on the walls of the second column-hall in her temple at Deir el-Bahri are reliefs and texts relating the expedition sent by Hatshepsut to Punt.¹ These are an excellent source for the study of the interaction of ideology with the practical running of the transactions that take place between countries of different technological level and political organization. This difference is emphasized by the particularly remote location of Punt,² the difficulty of access to it and the nature of its products. These are generally referred to as ‘the marvels of Punt’, an expression that indicates just how rare and exotic they are believed to be. The location of Punt is also described in rather vague terms, more cosmological than topographical in nature, and suggesting that it is to be found at the extreme edge of the world; the Egyptians had no direct geographical experience beyond Punt.