Expedition to Punt

Hannu · 2750 BCE – 2745 BCE · Earth

Sail south for the incense and goods of Punt.

Historical context

Egypt's Old Kingdom traded down the Red Sea for incense, ivory and exotic animals. Punt was the legendary source of these goods, reached by a route its sailors kept secret.

The voyage, step by step

1. The pharaoh's commission

   2750 BCE

   Hannu is charged with bringing back the incense of Punt, and shipwrights build a fleet meant to be carried in pieces.

2. Across the Eastern Desert

   2750 BCE

   Donkey caravans drag hull timbers, rope and water jars along the dry valley that links the Nile to the sea.

3. Ships rebuilt on the shore

   2749 BCE

   On a beach without a town the hulls are reassembled, provisioned and launched into a sea of reefs and contrary winds.

4. The incense coast

   2748 BCE

   Southward the shore turns green with scrub, and on the hills grow the gnarled trees whose bled resin is worth its weight in metal.

5. The treasures of Punt

   2747 BCE

   In the land the Egyptians called God's Country the party trades for myrrh, ebony, gold, hides and living animals.

6. Carved into the record

   2745 BCE

   The fleet returns loaded with myrrh, ebony and exotic animals, and later pharaohs carve such voyages into their temple walls.

Outcome

Returned with myrrh, ebony and exotic animals.

Hannu

Egyptian official who led one of the earliest recorded voyages of exploration, sailing to the incense land of Punt around 2750 BCE.

Read on Wikipedia

Sources

• Hannu — Wikipedia

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