expedition to punt -hatshepsut temple

The drawing above shows the arrangement of the scenes in the Hall of Punt.  Since the winter season 2001/2002 the entrance to both wings of the portico is blocked by new railings on the outer row of pillars. These railings were especially installed to protect the relief on the pillars, however, they make the inspection of the relief more difficult.

the sequence of the scenes is given below with the help of the numbers: 1 - the fleet arrives in Punt 2 - the expedition is welcomed in Punt 3 - exchange of gifts, above No. 3 men carry trees including the root-stocks 4 - ships are loaded with the "tribute" of Punt 5 - return of the expedition 6 - gifts for the Lord of Punt 7 - Hatshepsut presents gifts from Punt to Amun      7a - Hatshepsut      7b - three large trees 8 - Weighing and  Counting      8a - piled myrrh between registers 8 und 9 there is only text 9 - the success of the expedition to Punt is announced to (in front of) Amun  9a - Thutmosis III offers incense before Amun 9b - Hatshepsut standing in front of Amun 9c - Amun seated on his throne 10 - the success of the expedition is announced at the royal court

However, in Egyptian history this was not the first expedition to Punt, already in the Old and in the Middle Kingdom expeditions by ship were successfully sent to Punt ( in the Middle Kingdom by Mentuhotep II, Senwosret I and Amenemhet II). Punt itself could not be located with certainty so far, however, it have been might located at the east coast of Africa  . Based on the animals and plants depicted in the relief Punt possibly was somewhere in the area from the Sudan down to the Somali coast. Starting point of the sea journey was most likely a port in the area of Quseir at the Red Sea which was reached from Coptos on a road through the desert. In general opinion the Egyptians were not good sailors. If one agrees then the expedition southward along the East African coast to Punt might have been equivalent to the feat and of course the adventure of Spanish and Portuguese sailors on their search for the sea route to India in the ending Middle Ages. However, as demonstrated by the results of the expedition sent by Hatshepsut the effort and the risk were more than balanced, because later kings such as Thutmosis III and Amenhotep III again sent expeditions to Punt.

The famous queen of Punt, Itj;

The drawing above shows how the plate with the queen of Punt fits into the surrounding scenes of the relief (according to Wilkinson, 2000), the right part of the scene showing in the lower register the envoy Nehesj in front of Egyptian solders is also presented on a photo below

The portrayal of the queen of Punt, Itj, was obviously so fascinating for the old Egyptians that - probably in Ramessid times - an artist made a copy of the appropriate relief on a piece of limestone (H: 14 cm, B: 8 cm) which he took along. The ostracon above was found in or near the workers' housing estate at Deir el-Medine and is today on show in the Egyptian Museum, Berlin,

Of course such a journey was not undertaken without the benediction of the gods. For the expedition to Punt started by Hatshepsut Amun himself gave the order and guaranteed a successful journey. The successful journey certainly increased the reputation of the queen which in turn testified at the same time that her reign was blessed by the gods and was in conformity with the "Ma'at". Therefore, it was quite logical that Hatshepsut let record this important event in Deir el-Bahari. With regard to the spatial arrangement in the 2. portico, the expedition to Punt was given a comparable importance as to her presentation of her "Myth of Birth".

Deviating from the otherwise usual canonized representation on Egyptian buildings the journey is represented very realistic, one has the feeling as if the artists had taken part in the journey and had seen themselves the native population, animals, plants and the stout queen.These masterly representations found numerous "lovers", so that soon after opening by Mariette of the temple (1858; still in the first year of his announcement as a curator of all Egyptian monuments) the wall was plundered and exhibits today numerous gaps. The block with the queen of Punt, Itj, (shown above) is the only one of her illustrations which had been left. Therefore, the block was brought into the Museum of Cairo and a reproduction was inserted in the corresponding wall of the temple. (left a scene in Punt, drawing by Naville, 1894 - 1908)

The text above the sailing 5 ships whose bow points southwards mentions the tasks of the expedition (see below), however, the text does not contain any information about the journey to Punt except that one had got in peace to Punt. The whole text arouses the illusion as if the envoy of Hatshepsut, the treasurer Nehesj, had set off for Punt in order to collect the payable tribute. Naturally, it was a commercial expedition with the goal of exchanging native products such as incense, ebony, gold,  ivory and furs for rather miserable Egyptian products such as beads and weapons. Certainly, the escort of 5 ships with soldiers (see below) might have promoted this one-sided trade.

Above a part of the relief showing how the goods desired by the Egyptians are brought by people who lived in Punt and by donkeys. Like the picture of the queen this part had been stolen from the temple but could be regained. Thereafter, the original was kept as a precaution in the Museum in Cairo and a copy was inserted at Deir el-Bahari.

The envoy Nehesj with a group of solders in front of piled gifts for the lord of Punt

Among other things the main interest of the Egyptians had been the acquisition of valuable resins. Myrrh (Commiphora myrrha) and incense (Boswellia carterii) which were needed for the production of censing means. These were burned in quantities during the daily temple rituals, in addition, they were used during the mummification process and even as a medicine. Small pills of myrrh were chewed e.g. to alleviate bad breath. In Egypt, poor in trees, only very small sorts of myrrh were grown. Therefore, Nehesj had not only the order to bring along from Punt the desired resins but also complete tree (see the following illustration) which were then cultivated in the temples of Amun. At Deir el-Bahari on the right of and left side in front of the 1. ramp leading to the middle terrace the stumps of trees  were found around T-shaped basins - it is assumed that these are the remnants of the trees which were brought from Punt.

Egyptians carry a tree including its rootstock from Punt; on the left the relief, on the right a drawing of a comparable scene; taken from: Tyldesley, Hatshepsut - the female Pharao, 1996

As Edel (1984) showed (in an anniversary publication for Helck) by a new analysis of a text of Hrw-xwjf  (= Herchuf = Harkhuf who lived during the reign of  Pepi II, 6. Dynasty) which was well-known for a long time, there were among others some highly desired products of Punt which were used as perfume (the hands). Therefore, all products, which brought along from the country JAm by Hrw-xwjf could be purchased also from Punt. In a comparison of different texts, among them inscriptions from the tomb of cA-rnpwt I (Sa-renput I in Qubbet el-Hawa, Aswan, 12. Dynasty during the reign of Senwosret I), the inscriptions  of Hatshepsut about Punt, the fairy tale of the shipwrecked sailor, etc. Edel listed the following products which came from Punt:

	Herchuf	Hatshepsut	shipwrecked sailor
Olibanum	snTr	snTr	sntr
Ebony	hbnj	hbnj	-
"Praise" = one of the 7 holy oils	Hknw	-	Hknw
aromatic product that was offered after meals for smelling or for use as a perfume	SsAt	xs(A)yt	xs(A)yt
Fur of Cheetahs	bA	jnmw njw Aby Sma	-
Tusk (mswA = nDHt ) of Elephants / Ivory)	mswA Abw	Abw	nDHt nt Abw
Boomerang from Punt	TnjA	amaA(w)t njw Pwntjw	-

Directly after the scene with the sailing ships the following relief already show the arrival at Punt where the Egyptians trace a village, surrounded by a forest of palms, ebony and trees of myrrh. The following scenes  show the welcome by the friendly native population. Very realistic the scenes show the customary conical lake dwellings (see below) and the native animal species (among them cattle, watchdogs, panther or leopards; possibly, a very damaged picture also showed a rhinoceros). Nehesj, accompanied by soldiers and their officer, was friendly welcomed by the chief (prince Parahu, PArAhw) and his family (his wife Itj, his daughter and 2 sons). The chief is depicted more fair-skinned than the other inhabitants of the village, nearly like an Egyptian, but a goatee beard and rings around the legs identify him as stranger. His corpulent wife (see the illustration above) with her wobbly figure and emerging adipose backside surely affected the Egyptians very strangely. Since she obviously had problems to walk, she was riding on a small donkey, however, how she got up the ladder into the house is not reported. The gifts brought along by Nehesj (among other things jewelry, an axe, a dagger) strengthen the friendly relations with the inhabitant so much that Nehesj finally welcomed the chief at a banquet in his tent.

Landscape from Punt with lake dwellings (in the center of the relief one recognizes the ladder); below the hut a river (just above the red band) and, therein, several fishes (e.g. in the last complete block right) and a turtle (in the water above the 3rd lower block)

The Egyptians obviously stood several weeks ashore and led by natives probably  undertook also longer expeditions to the hinterland, in order to get ebony and myrrh. Perhaps, this may have been an "obligation stay" to wait for fair winds which allowed them to return to Egypt. The next relief shows the loading of the ships for the return journey (see drawing below), however, about which next to noting is reported as about the journey there.

The Punt fleet of Hatshepsut in Deir el-Bahari; on the left upper register the ships are loaded (from: Saeve-Söderbergh, T., "The Navy of the Eighteenth Egyptian Dynasty", Uppsala Universitets Årsskrift, 1946). Below the ships several different marine animals are depicted which should have lived in the sea near Punt (see also: localization of Punt).

The following registers already show the arrival and the unloading of the ships at Thebes in presence of Hatshepsut. Since there was no connection from the Red Sea to the Nile, it is remains questionable, how the ships reached Thebes. Possibly, they were dismantled at the Red Sea port and transported on a desert road to the Nile (both on the way there on back?): On the other hand the relief shows perhaps only the ships which brought the treasures on the Nile from Coptos to Thebes. In the papyrus Harris I dated into the time of Ramses III (20. Dynasty) is reported, how, the goods were reloaded on carriers and donkeys, loaded again on ships at Coptos with which they were then transported down the Nile (in this case the destination cannot have been Thebes). The most valuable part of the goods brought along Hatshepsut, in presence of Nehesj and Senenmut standing beside him, offered proudly to her "father" Amun. The figures of Hatshepsut, Nehesj and Senenmut as well as an important part of the texts were already chiseled out in antiquity. Now Thutmosis III wearing the Khepresch crown appears in front of  Amun offering two jars of myrrh (see photo below). These changes were probably part of the usurpation by Thutmosis III.

The presentation of the journey to Punt ends with the announcement of the successful return in front of the complete royal court. The following picture shows Hatshepsut sitting on her throne during that announcement, behind her her ka is depicted.

The throne is completely carried by lions walking in opposite directions, one of them is shown in detail in the next picture.

Skeleton from 5th ancient Egyptian dynasty found in Abusir

A Czech archaeological team working on a site in Abusir on Monday unearthed the skeleton of a top governmental official, referred to as Nefer during studies carried out in his tomb after it was discovered last year.
Nefer held several titles in the royal palace and the government during the reign of the fifth dynasty king, Nefereer-Ka-Re. He was the priest of the king's funerary complex, the supervisor of the royal documents scribes and also of the house of gold.
Egypt's antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim said that the skeleton was found inside the deceased's sarcophagus, which was carved in limestone. A stone head rest was found under the skeleton's head.
Ali El-Asfar, head of the ministry's ancient Egyptian antiquities section, told Ahram Online that the tomb – discovered last year by the Czech mission led by Mirislav Barta – is an unfinished rock-hewn tomb within a funerary complex and consists of four corridors, with the eastern one devoted to Nefer and the other three for his family members.
Also found were five burial wells and a limestone false door engraved with the deceased's different titles.

 

animal worship

 

For decades, 30 boxes lay forgotten in the storage vaults of the Brooklyn Museum’s Egyptology department. The contents had not been catalogued, or even seen, since the 1930s and 40s, when they were purchased from the New-York Historical Society. But in 2009, curatorial assistant Kathy Zurek-Doule finally opened the boxes. Lying nestled inside each one was an elaborately wrapped mummy in the shape of an animal. Ibises, hawks, cats, dogs, snakes, and even a shrew were all represented in the collection, which had been amassed by a wealthy New York businessman in the mid-nineteenth century. Faced with an unexpected trove of objects unlike any other the museum has, Egyptology curator Edward Bleiberg and his team embarked on a comprehensive study of the mummies. The rediscovered objects gave Bleiberg the chance to investigate a question that has puzzled archaeologists ever since they first realized that vast animal cemeteries along the Nile hold millions of mummies: Why did the ancient Egyptians invest so much in the afterlife of creatures?

Unlike Greeks and Romans, ancient Egyptians believed animals possess a soul, or ba, just as humans do. “We forget how significant it is to ascribe a soul to an animal,” says Bleiberg. “For ancient Egyptians, animals were both physical and spiritual beings.” In fact, the ancient Egyptian language had no word for “animal” as a separate category until the spread of Christianity. Animal cults flourished outside the established state temples for much of Egyptian history and animals played a critical role in Egypt’s spiritual life. The gods themselves sometimes took animal form. Horus, the patron god of Egypt, was often portrayed with the head of a hawk; Thoth, the scribe god, was represented as an ibis or a baboon; and the fertility goddess Hathor was depicted as a cow. Even the pharaohs revered animals, and at least a few royal pets were mummified. In 1400 B.C., the pharaoh Amenhotep II went to the afterlife accompanied by his hunting dog, and a decade later his heir Thutmose IV was buried with a royal cat.

However, large numbers of mummies in dedicated animal necropolises did not appear until after the fall of the New Kingdom, around 1075 B.C. During the subsequent chaotic 400-year span known as the Third Intermediate Period, the central Egyptian state collapsed and a series of local dynasties and foreign kings rose and fell in rapid succession. This time is often depicted as calamitous in official accounts, but Bleiberg notes that during the First Intermediate Period, a similarly chaotic era without central authority that lasted from 2181 to 2055 B.C., life for the average Egyptian went on as normal. In fact, University of Cambridge Egyptologist Barry Kemp has shown that villagers were relatively prosperous during this time, perhaps because they paid taxes only to local authorities, and not to the central state. If life in the Third Intermediate Period was similar, then the average Egyptian may have had more disposable income. With no pharaoh to mediate Egypt’s relationship to the gods, and with foreigners undermining religious traditions, there was also a turn to personal piety among the general public. “Without the pharaoh, people needed to approach the gods on their own,” says Bleiberg.

 

Tomb from 18th dynasty discovered in Luxor

Tomb of 18th dynasty government official accidentally found by Spanish-Italian team on Luxor's west bank in the Sheikh Abdel-Gournah area

 A Spanish-Italian team carrying out routine excavation work on Luxor's west bank has stumbled upon what is believed to be the tomb of Maayi, a top governmental official in the 18th dynasty.
Egypt's antiquities minister Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online that the tomb was accidentally found by the excavation team via a hole in the wall of tomb number TT109, in the Sheikh Abdel-Gournah area.
Paintings on the tomb's walls show Maayi in different positions with family members, offering details on his daily life and family relations.
"The tomb is very well decorated, which reflects the luxurious life of its owner," Ibrahim said, adding that one wall painting depicts a feast with men and women gathered in front of a table filled with a variety of food.
Ibrahim said that the tomb is only partly discovered due to debris blocking the entrance. Excavation work is moving ahead to remove sand and rubble so that the rest of the tomb can be explored.

Statue of Amenhotep III's daughter unearthed in Luxor(Ahram Online)

Iset, the daughter of Amenhotep III, was the aunt of Tutankhamun

Archaeologists have discovered a new statue representing the daughter of King Amenhotep III, Tutankhamun’s grandfather and ruler of Egypt over 3,000 years ago.

During routine excavation works at Amenhotep III's funerary temple in the Kom El-Hittan area on Luxor's west bank, a European archaeological mission uncovered the statue of the king's daughter Iset.

The statue, which is 1.7m tall and 52cm wide, forms part of a huge, 14m high alabaster statute of Amenhotep III.

Minister of Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim told Ahram Online that several parts of the colossal Amenhotep statue had been unearthed during previous excavation seasons.

"It is a very important discovery because it is the first time to unearth a statue that shows the king with his daughter, alone without her mother, brothers or sister," Ibrahim said.

There are several extant statues that show Iset with all the members of her family.

Ali El-Asfar, head of the Ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the Ministry of Antiquities, explains that the original colossus shows the king sitting on the throne with his hands on his legs, while between his leg stands Iset wearing a rounded wig and long tight garb.

The statue’s face has suffered serious damage due to erosion, and the statue’s legs are missing.

El-Asfar said that the Amenhotep III statue is being restored, and on completion the Iset statue will be installed in its original position between the king's legs. The colossus will be re-erected at its original position in the temple.

 

The Tomb of Ramesses IV, Valley of the Kings, Egypt

The tomb of Ramesses IV (KV 2) in the Valley of the Kings is rather different than most other royal tombs built here. Ramesses III, had been assassinated, and when his some, Ramesses IV took the thrown, he did so in a period of economic decline in Egypt. Though large, his tomb is highly simplistic, and unique in many ways. The tomb was known early on, and was in fact used as a sort of hotel by early explorers such as Champollion and Rosellini (1829), Robert Hay, Furst Puckler, Theodore Davis and others. It was also an important Coptic Christian dwelling, and was also frequently visited in antiquity. There was considerable Coptic and Greek graffiti on the tomb walls.

Interestingly, two sketched plans of this tomb are known, the most famous and complete of which is contained within the a papyrus in Turin.
One unusual aspect of the tomb is that there is very little decline as one travels from the first part of the tomb through to its rear. The entrance begins with a split stairways to either side of a ramp, opening into a first, second and third corridors. The final corridor leads to a smallish antechamber, and then to the burial chamber. To the rear of the burial chamber are some small annexes, but otherwise the tomb contains no lateral annexes. The corridors are unusual for their width and height, some measuring three meters (10 feet) wide and four meters (15 feet high).
The facade of the tomb is decorated with scenes of the king's coronation, as well as a scene depicting Isis and Nephthys venerating the sun disk. Within the first two corridors are scenes and text from the Litany of Ra, proceeded by a typical painting of the king worshipping the falcon headed sun god, Re-Horakhthy. On the ceilings are vultures, falcons and winged scarabs with spread wings.

In the third corridor we find the first and second parts of the Book of Caverns, with simple ceilings decorated with stars, but which later becomes vaulted. From this corridor, a ramp leads through the antechamber into the burial chamber. The antechamber is decorated with scenes from the Book of the Dead, mostly chapter 125 which deals with the judgement of the dead. The burial chamber, which is not large, is almost filled by the still resident sarcophagus. However, this sarcophagus is unusually large. The burial chamber is decorated with the second, third and fourth hours from the Book of Gates. The ceiling is uniquely decorated with two large figures representing Nut, rather than the usual stellar constellations. There are also scenes from the Book of Nut, and the Book of the Night. The annexes behind the burial chamber contain text from the first part of the Book of Caverns. Other parts of this annex are painted with burial offerings such as beds, shrines and canopic jars.

Note the complete absence of pillars within this tomb, as well as the lack of the Amduat within its decorative program.
Little funerary equipment is known to have been found within the tomb itself. The sarcophagus was broken into at one end during antiquity and the lid displaced. The king's mummy was eventually found in KV 35. There were a total of nine foundation deposits discovered, including five by Howard Carter. Edward Ayrton and Carter also found considerable funerary material that was thrown out of the tomb, probably during antiquity. These included ostraca, shabtis figures in wood, calcite and faience, fragments of faience, glass and potsherds.

Visite au quartier des potiers à Fustat

Visite au quartier des potiers à Fustat
Eau, terre et feu, font la passion du potier

Les poteries sont toujours là pour parler au cœur de l'homme, lui renvoyer le geste éternel de la main qui modèle, façonne, pétrit et décore. La tradition du travail de la terre se perpétue, en Egypte, grâce à des maîtres potiers ou des céramistes, qui reprennent souvent les techniques ancestrales. Le quartier des potiers au Caire, tout près de Salah Salem (quartier de Fustat), est un centre important de production d'objets en terre cuite et en argile. Découvrez au fil d'une rapide visite des lieux, ces nombreux artisans, leurs ateliers primitifs et les salles d'exposition de leurs produits, qui ne sont que les trottoirs mi-pavés, mi-détruits. Ils créent de nouveaux pots culinaires, des objets décoratifs d'une grande variété, d'inspiration classique et résolument moderne, du même coup.

Plus qu'aucune activité de l'homme, la poterie est conservatrice de la mémoire. Ni le feu où elle est cuite et dont elle est la fille, comme s'expriment ses artisans, ni même l'eau qui a constitué sa matière, avant le feu qui la fixe, n'ont de prise sur elle. C'est le temps qui semble lui donner de la valeur et de la noblesse, là où il corrompt toute autre matière.
De tout temps, l'homme a taillé la pierre. Il l'a empilée en muret ou l'a sculptée. En Egypte, les carrières et les ateliers de poteries sont nombreux, chacun extrayant une qualité et une couleur différente enrichissant ainsi l'offre.
Ils apprécient leur mode de vie
Les potiers, eux-mêmes, disent: "Nos ancêtres ont été les premiers à occuper cette terre dans la capitale", se vantent les vendeurs et les artisans des lieux. Leur bonheur et leur plaisir à pratiquer leur mode de vie, même si tout leur corps est couvert de blanc des effets du travail de calcaire, ou même si leurs mains sont salies d'agile et de pâtes qu'ils modèlent et façonnent, à tout gré, pour former de différentes pièces, ils apprécient leur mode de vie.

 Ils se plaignent désormais de mener une vie isolée presque de tout dans la société. "Nous vivons éloignés du reste de la population, car on nous juge comme pollueurs et ainsi on nous confère un regard de dédain", déplore Ragab, un jeune potier qui étalait ces produits sur la rue. Et son patron Chawki de continuer, sur un ton navré: "Ils viennent et apprécient nos produits et les achètent à tout prix, pourtant, ils se contentent de nous payer l'argent puis s'éloignent rapidement comme si nous étions une espèce de fléau."
“La pâte est ma vie”
Pépé Mahrous, est le cheikh des potiers, conçoit ce métier d'une vision très spirituelle, nous laissant admirer la philosophie quand elle sort spontanément des simples. "La pâte est dans mes mains, je la manie et façonne, et je me creuse la cervelle pour faire sortir toutes mes potentialités créatives, afin de présenter un produit admirable, mais toutes ces capacités s'évanouissent devant celles de Dieu qui nous a créés tous à partir de cette même terre… Que Dieu est grand !", s'exclame Pépé Mahrous avec une totale obédience.

 Pépé Mahrous, ou cheikh des potiers, comme tient-il à se faire appeler, vit dans le quartier et exerce ce métier depuis des dizaines d'années. "C'est un métier ancestral, que nous avons hérité de père en fils (…) Au début nous étions plus appréciés, mais voilà, tout comme chaque métier artisanal, nous sommes menacés de disparition, face au tapage et au bouillonnement de la vie moderne et de son évolution qui gagne tout et qui menace l'art et la créativité", se plaint-il.
En tenant en main la pâte, vous la contemplez et lui parlez
Le fameux potier parle avec amour de son métier, mais regrette qu'elle soit marginalisée et oubliée. "En tenant en main la pâte, vous la contemplez et lui parlez, comme si l'on parlait à un être humain", dit fièrement Pépé Mahrous. Ce sexagénaire, au visage brun et aux mains durs - tant par l'âge que les longues années durant lesquelles il façonnait l'argile - se vante d'avoir quatre enfants, à qui il a appris le métier. "C'est le plus précieux héritage que je peux leur léguer (…) ils sont tous diplômés, mais ont préféré travailler avec moi", fait-il remarquer.
Faire aimer le métier
aux enfants
Puis il ajoute fièrement: "Mon cadet, Nader, est le plus attaché au métier. Il est marié et a trois enfants. Il a pensé comment faire aimer ce métier à ses enfants, eux qui sont des écoles de langues et qui vivent à l’ère de l'internet. C'est pourquoi, il eut l'idée de faire une sortie pour les élèves de l'école pour visiter le quartier des potiers (…) c'est au cours de cette sortie de divertissement que les enfants ont eu la chance de toucher la terre et de la modeler, puis ont fait des décorations et des dessins là-dessus, et c'est ainsi qu'ils ont aimé ce qu'ils ont fait et intelligemment Nader a réussi à faire aimer ce métier autant à ses enfants qu'aux autres", raconte Pépé Mahrous. Dans la région de Fustat, détonne le quartier des potiers. Dans cet endroit a été créé un centre conjointement par les autorités égyptiennes et le ministère italien des Affaires étrangères, afin de promouvoir l'art de la poterie et d'offrir une vitrine de cet art aux touristes.

www.egyptraveluxe.com
info@egyptraveluxe.com