Shedet (Jan 2023)
NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE EXPEDITIONS TO THE LAND OF PUNT
Abstract
The geographic location of Punt and its itinerary occupied a great part of the scientific literature in Egyptology since the discovery of the bas-relief of Deir el-Bahari by the end of the XIXth century. The discussion was concerning its location where several hypothesis were realized varied and extended sometimes in Somalia, in Arabia, on the Nile River or one of its tributaries or on around the Sudan-Eritrean borders. The way to arrive it had also its place in these assumptions, whether it was by the Nile, across the Red Sea or even by land throughout Sinai Peninsula.By the second have of XXth century, major studies not only enriched this scientific debate but also changed the current theories of scholars such as the study of Herzog published in 1968; the recent discoveries of archaeological evidences on the Red Sea Shore in the seventies of last century and the last ten years and finally the articles of Meeks appeared in 2002.This study will deal with this problem in the light of the geo-politic changes in Egypt and in Nubia in exposing the principal sources of information about Punt from the Old Kingdom, through Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom, ending by the Late and Greco-Roman periods.Therefore, this article will show that the geopolitical situation in Nubia and its relationship with Egypt were a major factor in directing the relationship between Egypt and the land of Punt and the Egyptian way to deal with exotic and important land.
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