Scenes of the return of Sahure’s expedition from Punt

Tarek el-Awady

The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) expedition working around the causeway of Sahure at Abusir has recently revealed a unique inscribed block of limestone. The block measures 182 cm in height, 218 cm in width and 68 cm in thickness. The scenes were arranged into three main registers with other subsidiary registers.

The first main register depicts king Sahure standing with an adz cultivating two potted Myrrh trees recently brought from Punt. Most likely the king is cultivating the trees in the garden of his palace which is called WTs-nfrw CAHw-Ra. This is apparent from a scene depicted on a block discovered in 2002. The scene depicts Sahure in a prominent position sitting on his throne with his right hand reaching for the myrrh tree. In the badly damaged text above the King, Sahure claimed that he was the first who brought the fresh myrrh tree to be cultivated in his palace WTs-nfrw CAHw-Ra.

The second and third registers of the block (season 2003) depict four cargo ships bringing goods from a foreign expedition. They are part of a scene depicting the arrival from the King’s expedition to Punt. This is illustrated by the cargo being transported on the ships namely, the people of Punt with their distinguished look, the animals (dogs and monkeys) as well as the trees in the first register, identified as myrrh trees from Punt.

Sahure’s Myrrh tree, called nht nt and or andjw “tree of Myrrh”, was not grown in Egypt. In fact, it is the same tree that the Egyptians referred to later as nht nt antjw, and which they imported from Punt. According to Sahure’s records on the Palermo Stone, the king sent an expedition to Punt; the expedition brought myrrh, electrum, and other goods to Egypt.

Moving from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, Queen Hatshepsut commemorated the same event in her temple at Deir El Bahari where she depicted her well-known expedition to Punt. The reliefs depicting Punt reflect the special emphasis that the artist gave to the men carrying the fresh myrrh trees aboard the royal boats, and the queen with the thirty-one fresh myrrh trees. The inscriptions refer to the fact that the aim of the expedition was to bring the myrrh for the temple of Amon as well as fresh myrrh trees to be planted in a special place prepared by the queen.

It is interesting to note the shift in the idea of kingship between the Old and the New Kingdom, while king Sahure brought the trees to be planted in his royal palace, queen Hatshepsut brought them to be planted in the temple of the god Amon.