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Hatshepsut’s Voyage to Punt

A visual walk through the Deir el‑Bahari reliefs and the tree pits that turned stone narrative into living incense.

Chapters

• 0:07 The Temple and Its Narrative
• 1:16 The Voyage Depicted in Stone
• 3:01 From Stone to Soil: The Tree Pits
• 4:10 Historical Context and Interpretation

On-screen text

• 0:07 The Temple and Its Narrative
• 0:14 The Temple and Its Narrative
• 0:31 Relief panels show Hatshepsut’s Punt expedition. Historical record · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, reliefs (c. 1470 BCE)
• 0:49 Hatshepsut’s royal titulary. Historical record · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, cartouche (c. 1470 BCE)
• 1:07 Reliefs placed on upper terrace. Historical record · Lehner, “The Architecture of Deir el‑Bahari” (1997)
• 1:16 The Voyage Depicted in Stone
• 1:23 The Voyage Depicted in Stone
• 1:40 Egyptian ships with rectangular sails. Historical record · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, relief panel 3 (c. 1470 BCE)
• 1:58 Punt merchants with incense and animals. Historical record · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, relief panel 4 (c. 1470 BCE)
• 2:16 Hieroglyphic caption names the expedition. Historical record · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, hieroglyphic inscription (c. 1470 BCE)
• 2:34 Baboons symbolize Thoth. The Institute's interpretation · David O’Connor, “Animals in Egyptian Art” (2002)
• 2:52 Gold, ebony, ivory, resins shown. Historical record · Temple relief panel 5, Deir el‑Bahari (c. 1470 BCE)
• 3:01 From Stone to Soil: The Tree Pits
• 3:08 From Stone to Soil: The Tree Pits
• 3:25 Ancient tree pits found in courtyard. Historical record · Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 1905, “Excavations at Deir el‑Bahari”
• 3:43 Boswellia wood identified in pits. Historical record · M. L. Bierbrier, “The Tree Pits of Hatshepsut’s Temple”, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 61 (1975) 123‑138
• 4:01 Frankincense listed in temple inventories. Historical record · Papyrus Harris I, 7th year of Ramesses III (c. 1150 BCE)
• 4:10 Historical Context and Interpretation
• 4:17 Historical Context and Interpretation
• 4:34 Punt likely in Horn of Africa. The Institute's interpretation · John Baines, “The Geography of Punt” (1995)
• 4:52 Herodotus on Punt’s sacred status. Tradition / scripture · Herodotus, Histories, Book 2, 108
• 5:10 Strabo’s reference to incense trade. Tradition / scripture · Strabo, Geography, Book 17, 1.2
• 5:28 Diodorus on frankincense trees. Tradition / scripture · Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, Book 3, 23.5
• 5:46 Expedition as political propaganda. The Institute's interpretation · Kara Cooney, “The Politics of Trade in the New Kingdom” (2000)

Sources

Historical record: Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, reliefs (c. 1470 BCE) · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, cartouche (c. 1470 BCE) · Lehner, “The Architecture of Deir el‑Bahari” (1997) · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, relief panel 3 (c. 1470 BCE) · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, relief panel 4 (c. 1470 BCE) · Temple of Hatshepsut, Deir el‑Bahari, hieroglyphic inscription (c. 1470 BCE) · Temple relief panel 5, Deir el‑Bahari (c. 1470 BCE) · Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, 1905, “Excavations at Deir el‑Bahari” · M. L. Bierbrier, “The Tree Pits of Hatshepsut’s Temple”, Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 61 (1975) 123‑138 · Papyrus Harris I, 7th year of Ramesses III (c. 1150 BCE)

Tradition / scripture: Herodotus, Histories, Book 2, 108 · Strabo, Geography, Book 17, 1.2 · Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historica, Book 3, 23.5

The Institute's interpretation: David O’Connor, “Animals in Egyptian Art” (2002) · John Baines, “The Geography of Punt” (1995) · Kara Cooney, “The Politics of Trade in the New Kingdom” (2000)

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 66 s of CPU.