Land of Punt

Punt was the name given by the civilization of ancient Egypt alternately to a region south of Nubia and other times to Libya. The dual location is because it was the homeland of the Phoenicians. The region was the source of a good deal of trade; the pharaoh Seostris III actually had a canal constructed linking the Nile to the Red Sea for purposes of direct trade with Punt. It appears to have also been the subject of an occasional military campaign from Egypt.

The oldest known expedition to Punt was organised by pharaoh Sahure of the fifth dynasty (25th century BC). Around 1950 BC, in the time of Mentuhotep III, an officer named Hennu made one or more voyages to the land. A very famous one was the one Nehsi for queen Hatshepsut in the 15th century BC, to get myrrh. A report of this voyage is left behind as a relief in Dehr el-Bahri. Several of the Hatshepsut's successors, such as Thutmoses III, also organised expeditions to Punt.

It is uncertain what modern geographic territory corresponds to this "Land of Punt". Historians generally agree on eastern Africa, possibly near what is now Somalia or Eritrea. However, certain evidence suggests a location on the southern coasts of the Arabian Peninsula. In the past even further places have been mentioned (Mozambique, India), but currently these theories have largely been dropped in favor of the abovementioned ones.

In the late 1990s part of Somalia declared itself the independent republic of Puntland.