1 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Happy Saturday. One of the finds on our recent installment 2 00:00:05,680 --> 00:00:08,080 Speaker 1: of on Earth was a pair of tombs that likely 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: belonged to Tutmos of the second Half, brother and husband 4 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:14,760 Speaker 1: to Hodg Shepsit. Our episode on Hudge Shepsit and the 5 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:17,439 Speaker 1: voyage to Punt that took place during her reign is 6 00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: the subject of Today's Saturday Classic. This originally came out 7 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: in July third, twenty nineteen in Joy Welcome to Stuff 8 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: You Missed in History Class, a production of iHeartRadio. Hello 9 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:41,239 Speaker 1: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Tracy V. Wilson and 10 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,520 Speaker 1: I'm Holly Frye. And it has been too long since 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: we've had any African history on the show. We know this. 12 00:00:50,800 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: It's one of those things where you look at the 13 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:54,480 Speaker 1: recent archive and go, wow, that has been a while. 14 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:57,440 Speaker 1: I really wanted to do an episode on the land 15 00:00:57,440 --> 00:01:00,720 Speaker 1: of Poot, which is a spelled pu in t so 16 00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:04,120 Speaker 1: sometimes you'll also hear people pronounce it punt, and sometimes 17 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,200 Speaker 1: it's described as a kingdom, sometimes more of a massive 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: trading center. But there are some really really big holes 19 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: in our knowledge of Punch that make it hard to 20 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: do a whole episode on it. For example, we don't 21 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: know exactly where it was. There are references to Punt 22 00:01:19,280 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 1: in Egyptian writing that span about two thousand years, and 23 00:01:22,520 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: there's also mentions from elsewhere in the world, but it's 24 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: not totally clear whether all of these references are referring 25 00:01:28,680 --> 00:01:32,480 Speaker 1: to the same place. But one of our biggest sources 26 00:01:32,520 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 1: of information on Punt comes from hat Shepsuit, who sent 27 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,840 Speaker 1: a huge expedition there in the fifteenth century BCE. This 28 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: expedition to Punt is also an important and illustrative part 29 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,760 Speaker 1: of hat Shep's It's Rain. So today we're going to 30 00:01:46,760 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: go to Punt by way of hat Shepsuit and the 31 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:53,000 Speaker 1: civilization that we call Ancient Egypt to expanded and contracted 32 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: in cycles for thousands of years, with periods of prospering 33 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: and flourishing divided by periods of decline instability. This is 34 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: part of why I have not jumped on any African 35 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: history recently, because I start delving in and then I 36 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: go whoa, oa, oh, this water's too deep, and I 37 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:15,000 Speaker 1: back up. Each Gyptologists have roughly divided these prosperous eras 38 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:19,680 Speaker 1: into the Old, Middle and New kingdoms, separated by intermediary periods. 39 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: These people knew their civilization by a number of names, 40 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:27,760 Speaker 1: including the Two Lands, the Beloved Land, and Kemmitt, which 41 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:31,640 Speaker 1: is usually translated as black land, often interpreted as a 42 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:35,000 Speaker 1: reference to the fertile soil that sits along the Nile River. 43 00:02:35,400 --> 00:02:38,520 Speaker 1: Hat Shepsit was pharaoh near the start of the New Kingdom, 44 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:41,760 Speaker 1: which started with the founding of the eighteenth ruling dynasty. 45 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,280 Speaker 1: The Eighteenth dynasty also included some of Egypt's most well 46 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:49,120 Speaker 1: known pharaohs, including i'm Ahotep, the Third, Akint, and Tutan 47 00:02:49,200 --> 00:02:53,560 Speaker 1: common these kings did not call themselves pharaohs, though that's 48 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:56,480 Speaker 1: a Greek term that was coined a little later and 49 00:02:56,480 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: then kind of retroactively applied to all of the kings 50 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: of this ancient kingdom. The Eighteenth dynasty was founded by 51 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:08,400 Speaker 1: Amosa in about fifteen thirty nine BCE, and after his 52 00:03:08,520 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: death in about fifteen fourteen BCE, Amosa was succeeded by 53 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:15,359 Speaker 1: his son a Menhotep the First, But when a Menhotep 54 00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:18,520 Speaker 1: the First died in about fourteen ninety three BCE, he 55 00:03:18,560 --> 00:03:21,160 Speaker 1: did not have a male heir, so in that case, 56 00:03:21,200 --> 00:03:24,720 Speaker 1: one of his generals, Tutmosa, was next on the throne. 57 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: Tutmosa married a woman named Amosa, and it's not entirely 58 00:03:28,639 --> 00:03:31,880 Speaker 1: clear who her parents were. One of her titles was 59 00:03:32,000 --> 00:03:35,360 Speaker 1: king's sister, but it's not totally known whether that came 60 00:03:35,400 --> 00:03:37,920 Speaker 1: from being the sister of one of the previous kings 61 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: or Tutmosa's own sister. In the society, kings had a 62 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: primary wife known as the great royal wife, along with 63 00:03:44,840 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: other lesser wives and concubines, and for much of ancient 64 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:50,880 Speaker 1: Egyptian history, it was typical for the king to take 65 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: his sister or half sister as his great royal wife, 66 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:57,880 Speaker 1: and to marry his other sisters as well. The king 67 00:03:58,080 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: was the embodiment of the god Horus, and a marriage 68 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:03,400 Speaker 1: to a sister or half sister hearkened back to the 69 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:07,320 Speaker 1: Egyptian creation story. In this story, the first god a tomb, 70 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: had no partner, so he created the first pair of 71 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: deities by himself. This brother sister pair then produced another 72 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:17,679 Speaker 1: brother sister pair, and so on. In the eighteenth dynasty, 73 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 1: in particular, it was required for royal sisters to marry 74 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: their brother kings, and then for daughters of that pair 75 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,479 Speaker 1: to marry the next king. And in addition to the 76 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,279 Speaker 1: religious aspect that connected back to this creation story. This 77 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: also really concentrated the power and the wealth within the 78 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: royal family, So whether Tutmosa was marrying his own sister 79 00:04:37,880 --> 00:04:40,680 Speaker 1: or the sister of one of the previous kings, his 80 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:44,279 Speaker 1: doing this strengthened his claim to the throne, and it 81 00:04:44,360 --> 00:04:48,320 Speaker 1: preserved the idea of balance. When TUTMOSI died, he and 82 00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: Amosa had one daughter, hot Shepsit had Shepsid had been 83 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,120 Speaker 1: trained as a high priestess in the Temple of Ammon, 84 00:04:54,320 --> 00:04:56,960 Speaker 1: who was head of the Egyptian pantheon as well as 85 00:04:57,000 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: patron deity of the kings in the city of Thebes. 86 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:03,360 Speaker 1: During the New Kingdom. Tutmosa and Amosa did not have 87 00:05:03,400 --> 00:05:05,760 Speaker 1: a son, but Tutmosa did have a son with one 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: of his lesser wives, and that son was Tutmosa the Second. 89 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: Tutmosa the Second followed his father on the throne and 90 00:05:12,160 --> 00:05:15,559 Speaker 1: about fourteen eighty two BCE, and he married his half sister, 91 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,120 Speaker 1: hat Shepsit, who was about thirteen at the time. Because 92 00:05:19,160 --> 00:05:22,720 Speaker 1: the new king was very young, inexperienced, and chronically ill, 93 00:05:22,800 --> 00:05:25,919 Speaker 1: the king's great royal wife acted as his regent. But 94 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: Tutmosa the Second did not live long after becoming king. 95 00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: He died in about fourteen seventy nine BCE, after he 96 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: had been on the throne for about three years. By 97 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: that point, he and huts Shepsit had one daughter, Nepherura, 98 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:43,200 Speaker 1: and they did not have any sons. However, like his father, 99 00:05:43,360 --> 00:05:47,080 Speaker 1: Tutmosa the Second did have sons by other wives, including 100 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,159 Speaker 1: one by a woman named Isis. This was Tutmosa the Third, 101 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,320 Speaker 1: who was about two years old at the time of 102 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,240 Speaker 1: his father's death. A marriage was planned between Tutmosa the 103 00:05:57,279 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 1: Third and his half sister Neperura, and this would similarly 104 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: strengthen his tie to the throne, although at the time 105 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: both of them were way too young to immediately get married, 106 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: so in the meantime, hot Shepsit, Tutmosi's the third stepmother 107 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: and aunt, was going to act as his regent because 108 00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: his mother Isis wasn't of royal blood. Up until this point, 109 00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: the line of succession in the eighteenth dynasty had progressed 110 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: in a way that was really pretty typical apart from 111 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: Tutmosa the First being a general who was not of 112 00:06:25,400 --> 00:06:28,159 Speaker 1: royal birth, and it was also pretty common for a 113 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:30,720 Speaker 1: woman to act as regent if her husband died before 114 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 1: his heir was old enough to rule on his own. 115 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: It was more common for a woman to wind up 116 00:06:36,000 --> 00:06:37,760 Speaker 1: in such a position of power at the end of 117 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: the dynasty, though, when the late king had no male heir. 118 00:06:41,400 --> 00:06:43,960 Speaker 1: For the first few years after her husband's death, hot 119 00:06:44,000 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: Shepsit's conduct's regent was pretty typical for the time as well. 120 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:50,960 Speaker 1: She built a memorial chapel to her late husband. She 121 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: was publicly dedicated to preserving his memory and looking after 122 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:58,159 Speaker 1: the welfare of his sons. She took action on young 123 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,279 Speaker 1: Tutmosa's behalf and guided him as he grew into the 124 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:05,120 Speaker 1: divine king on his own. She ordered the renewal and 125 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,839 Speaker 1: restorations of temples to honor the young king, and she 126 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: sent an expedition to Aswan to quarry a pair of 127 00:07:11,640 --> 00:07:15,520 Speaker 1: obelisks that would be dedicated to him. Writings about her 128 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,160 Speaker 1: from this time referred to her as queen or with 129 00:07:18,280 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: her formal religious title as the kingdom's highest priestess, which 130 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: was God's Wife of Ahmen, and her depictions and carvings 131 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,720 Speaker 1: were pretty typical for a woman in these positions, but 132 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,679 Speaker 1: by the seventh year of her regency that had started 133 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,160 Speaker 1: to change. She reported that the oracle of Ahman had 134 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: delivered a message from the God that she should be king, 135 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:42,960 Speaker 1: becoming co ruler with her step son. In her account, 136 00:07:43,080 --> 00:07:45,720 Speaker 1: this happened at the temple of Karnak during a festival 137 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,520 Speaker 1: when a statue of Ahman was supposed to perform an 138 00:07:48,560 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 1: oracle or miracle. At first, no message came, but when 139 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:56,680 Speaker 1: it finally did, the statue moved around dramatically and delivered 140 00:07:56,720 --> 00:07:59,200 Speaker 1: a message to her that she was to be both 141 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: her majesty and the God's wife. She started to be 142 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,840 Speaker 1: depicted in artwork with both masculine and feminine traits, and 143 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:09,640 Speaker 1: after a while she was shown as a man with 144 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,600 Speaker 1: the skirt and the decorative beard and the crown that 145 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: signified her being king. She wasn't disguising her gender, though 146 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:19,840 Speaker 1: the language that was used to describe her was still 147 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:22,480 Speaker 1: feminine most of the time, even as the artwork was 148 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:26,320 Speaker 1: depicting her as progressively more masculine. This was really something 149 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: that happened over time, with some more masculine elements appearing 150 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: long before the seventh year of her regency, and then 151 00:08:33,200 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: with her depictions continuing to become more and more masculine 152 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: as time passed, and at some point she was formally 153 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:42,520 Speaker 1: crowned in a series of rituals that took days to complete, 154 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,280 Speaker 1: As was typical for Pharaoh, She took a new throne 155 00:08:45,360 --> 00:08:49,760 Speaker 1: name Mahatkare, which translates roughly to truth is the soul 156 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: of Ray. The idea of Maat or truth in this 157 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:56,480 Speaker 1: context also connected to justice and order, and was a 158 00:08:56,520 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: trait that was established by the gods. The role of 159 00:08:59,800 --> 00:09:02,720 Speaker 1: the Pharaoh was to mediate between the gods of humanity, 160 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:06,400 Speaker 1: preserving the god's mad There was also a goddess named 161 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:10,000 Speaker 1: Mahat who was the personification of these traits. She also 162 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:14,120 Speaker 1: banned construction of her mortuary temple, known as Jasara Jaseru 163 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: or Holy of Holies. This was built at the dear 164 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: Elbahari temple complex near what's now Luxor. This temple was 165 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 1: meant to guide her into the afterlife, where as Pharaoh, 166 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,760 Speaker 1: she would transcend into a divine being, and it was 167 00:09:27,800 --> 00:09:30,200 Speaker 1: to make sure that she was well provided for there. 168 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:32,839 Speaker 1: The tomb to actually hold her mummy was built in 169 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: another location. Hatshepsu's mortuary temple was a massive three tier 170 00:09:38,559 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 1: temple made from sandstone, full of statuary, including statues of 171 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:46,760 Speaker 1: hat Shepsit as the god of Cyrus. The structure itself 172 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: still stands today. Relief carvings on the temple walls documented 173 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:54,920 Speaker 1: hat Shepsuit's biography and her rule as king. This included 174 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:58,320 Speaker 1: a new story documenting her birth that the god Ahman 175 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,880 Speaker 1: had disguised himself as Tutman the First and impregnated hot 176 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:05,480 Speaker 1: Shepster's mother. Both her throne name and her new origin 177 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: story reinforced the idea that she had a legitimate claim 178 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:11,840 Speaker 1: to be king and that she was connected directly to 179 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,319 Speaker 1: the god Amen, who had authorized her to do it. 180 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 1: Although she was technically co ruler with Tetmosa the Third, 181 00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 1: for the rest of his life she acted as the 182 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: soul monarch. She also changed his throne name from one 183 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:28,120 Speaker 1: that meant the manifestation of Ray is enduring to one 184 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:32,200 Speaker 1: that meant the manifestation of the soul of Ray is enduring, 185 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:36,120 Speaker 1: kind of adding a degree of separation between him and 186 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: being a direct manifestation of the God. And it's not 187 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: entirely clear what motivated her to do this. When archaeologists 188 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,680 Speaker 1: first unearthed her tomb in the nineteenth century, they concluded 189 00:10:46,679 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: that she was power hungry and conniving and had stolen 190 00:10:49,640 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: the throne from her step son for her own selfish reasons, 191 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:54,880 Speaker 1: and we're going to talk about why they came to 192 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:57,880 Speaker 1: that conclusion in just a bit. Her recent scholars have 193 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,960 Speaker 1: pretty much dismissed that idea, though while simple ambition might 194 00:11:02,000 --> 00:11:04,719 Speaker 1: have been involved, it's also possible that there was some 195 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:07,640 Speaker 1: kind of threat to Tutmos of the third and that 196 00:11:07,679 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: hat Shepster was protecting him by becoming the king herself. 197 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:13,560 Speaker 1: It might have been just that he had been king 198 00:11:13,720 --> 00:11:16,800 Speaker 1: under a regency for about seven years and he still 199 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: wasn't old enough to father an heir. It would probably 200 00:11:19,840 --> 00:11:22,800 Speaker 1: be another seven or so years before he could actually 201 00:11:22,880 --> 00:11:25,959 Speaker 1: rule the kingdom on his own. That was a lot 202 00:11:26,040 --> 00:11:28,920 Speaker 1: of time to get through in a world where early 203 00:11:29,040 --> 00:11:32,880 Speaker 1: deaths were really common. And it's also possible that her 204 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,560 Speaker 1: doing this wasn't actually her idea, that it was something 205 00:11:35,600 --> 00:11:40,640 Speaker 1: that advisers or the priesthood thought was necessary for some reason. Regardless, 206 00:11:40,679 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: she could not have done this without significant support among 207 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:47,520 Speaker 1: the ruling class. She had carefully cultivated relationships and alliances 208 00:11:47,559 --> 00:11:50,920 Speaker 1: for years as regent before taking on the role of king. 209 00:11:51,720 --> 00:11:54,960 Speaker 1: What she did was unprecedented, but the elite in thebes 210 00:11:55,000 --> 00:11:57,240 Speaker 1: allowed her to do it, and the fact that they 211 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:59,920 Speaker 1: did suggest that she was admired and respected as elite 212 00:12:00,120 --> 00:12:03,319 Speaker 1: or before she took the throne. It's clear that regardless 213 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:06,320 Speaker 1: of what the motivations were, she was incredibly savvy to 214 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: do this, and she also proved herself to be a 215 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,400 Speaker 1: capable ruler, which we will talk about after a sponsor break. 216 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: We nalked before the break about how before hatcheps It 217 00:12:24,679 --> 00:12:27,480 Speaker 1: became king, the line of succession had unfolded in the 218 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:31,319 Speaker 1: eighteenth dynasty in a pretty typical way, but hatcheps It's 219 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:35,199 Speaker 1: ascension to the throne wasn't typical at all. There were 220 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:38,800 Speaker 1: other women who had held positions of power in Egyptian history, 221 00:12:38,840 --> 00:12:41,319 Speaker 1: but for one to take the throne in this way 222 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 1: was really unprecedented. So, in addition to her throne name 223 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,840 Speaker 1: and the revised story of her birth, she got to 224 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:52,079 Speaker 1: work immediately taking steps to try to reinforce the idea 225 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:55,640 Speaker 1: that she was a legitimate ruler. She commissioned hundreds of 226 00:12:55,679 --> 00:12:59,240 Speaker 1: statues and other artwork depicting her as king, along with 227 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: statues and structures honoring the God Amen. She expanded the 228 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:07,360 Speaker 1: priesthood and constructed temples all over Thebes and beyond including 229 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,800 Speaker 1: a bark chapel that French archaeologist named the Chapel Rouge 230 00:13:11,160 --> 00:13:13,319 Speaker 1: after unearthing the blocks used to build it in the 231 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,960 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. The chapel's original location is unknown. It was 232 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: dismantled after Hutchepsi's death, and its blocks were used for 233 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: a pylon in Karnak. She employed craftspeople associated with some 234 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:28,679 Speaker 1: of the kingdom's most prominent families to do all of this, 235 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: building up her base of support. Hat Shepsit launched two 236 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: military expeditions into Nubia, one of which she reportedly led herself. 237 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,760 Speaker 1: She also sent expeditions to mine gold in Nubia and 238 00:13:40,840 --> 00:13:45,080 Speaker 1: in the eastern Desert. She strengthened trading relationships with other 239 00:13:45,160 --> 00:13:48,280 Speaker 1: parts of Africa and with the Levant, possibly as far 240 00:13:48,320 --> 00:13:52,439 Speaker 1: west as what's now Afghanistan. Shortly after taking the throne, 241 00:13:52,520 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: she also dispatched a massive trading expedition to punt which 242 00:13:55,840 --> 00:13:58,160 Speaker 1: we'll be talking about in more detail in a bit. 243 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,560 Speaker 1: And throughout all of this she favors to prominent men 244 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:04,640 Speaker 1: whose support she needed to stay in power, but she 245 00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:07,959 Speaker 1: also made appointments to political newcomers which gave her support 246 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:10,800 Speaker 1: that did not come with as many strings attached. In 247 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:13,559 Speaker 1: the fifteenth year of her rule, had Shepsit sent another 248 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,920 Speaker 1: expedition to Aswan to quarry a second set of obelisks, 249 00:14:17,000 --> 00:14:20,800 Speaker 1: with this pair being inscribed to her. A year later, 250 00:14:20,880 --> 00:14:23,920 Speaker 1: she held a jubilee festival known as Said, something that 251 00:14:24,000 --> 00:14:26,520 Speaker 1: was typically done in the thirtieth year of a king's 252 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,400 Speaker 1: rule to rejuvenate his power. It's possible that she chose 253 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,440 Speaker 1: this earlier date because it was about thirty years since 254 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: her father had died, at which point she had become 255 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: her husband's queen, so in a way that marked the 256 00:14:39,040 --> 00:14:41,920 Speaker 1: beginning of her time on the throne. At some point 257 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:44,480 Speaker 1: she had her father's mummy moved to a tomb near 258 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: her mortuary temple, again reinforcing her connection to the dynastic line. 259 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: She also increasingly focused on her right to rule as 260 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:56,280 Speaker 1: coming from being her father's daughter, rather than her having 261 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: been married to Tutmosa the Second. During her time on 262 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,240 Speaker 1: the throne, had shep's It's most powerful advisor was a 263 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 1: man named Sennenmut. We don't know all that much about 264 00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: him as a person. He started out as the overseer 265 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: of the large hall at the palace in Thebes, starting 266 00:15:10,880 --> 00:15:13,240 Speaker 1: at the very beginning of tutmost of the second's reign. 267 00:15:13,880 --> 00:15:17,040 Speaker 1: He soon took on an increasing number of political appointments 268 00:15:17,040 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: and became tutor to hat sheps It's daughter. By the 269 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:22,800 Speaker 1: time hat sheps It took the throne, he had become 270 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,160 Speaker 1: incredibly powerful and a very important figure. He ultimately amassed 271 00:15:27,400 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: ninety three different official titles and became chief architect of 272 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: hat sheps It's mortuary temple. He oversaw treasuries and craftspeople 273 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:40,280 Speaker 1: all over the kingdom. There's been some speculation that the 274 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:44,040 Speaker 1: two of them were linked romantically. Some of it stems 275 00:15:44,040 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: from the fact that he was very close to hat 276 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:49,000 Speaker 1: Sheps's daughter, leading people to wonder whether he was actually 277 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:52,280 Speaker 1: her father. He also built his burial temple near hat 278 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:56,320 Speaker 1: sheps It's mortuary temple. Also, Sennenmutt was a powerful man 279 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:58,840 Speaker 1: in the court of a woman, which is frequently caused 280 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:03,320 Speaker 1: for suspicion. Although it's likely that Hatchepsid had other relationships 281 00:16:03,360 --> 00:16:06,200 Speaker 1: after her husband's death, she would have had to have 282 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: been really careful about one involving Senenmut. Senninmut disappears from 283 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: the historical record in the nineteenth year of hat Shepsid's rule, 284 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:18,280 Speaker 1: although he might have survived after her death. She died 285 00:16:18,320 --> 00:16:20,960 Speaker 1: in her early forties after having ruled as king for 286 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:24,160 Speaker 1: about fifteen years and as tutmost of the Third's regent 287 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 1: for about seven years before that. This makes her the 288 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:31,280 Speaker 1: longest reigning female monarch in ancient Egyptian history, and possibly 289 00:16:31,320 --> 00:16:33,600 Speaker 1: the first to rule as a king rather than a 290 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: regent or other interim ruler. As we noted earlier, there 291 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:40,000 Speaker 1: were other women who served as regents or who grew 292 00:16:40,120 --> 00:16:42,560 Speaker 1: into having a lot of power as queens, and there's 293 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:46,560 Speaker 1: some debate about whether any of these earlier women became 294 00:16:46,680 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: kings in their own right. After Hatshepsud's death, tutmost of 295 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:53,640 Speaker 1: the Third became the sole ruler. It's clear from his 296 00:16:53,760 --> 00:16:56,080 Speaker 1: time as king that hat Shepsid had prepared him to 297 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:58,840 Speaker 1: be a skilled leader from both a military and a 298 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:03,080 Speaker 1: political perspective. He had begun marrying and fathering children by 299 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:05,439 Speaker 1: his late teens, and by the time he was twenty 300 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:09,080 Speaker 1: he was commander of the military. After hat Shepsud's death, 301 00:17:09,160 --> 00:17:11,720 Speaker 1: he conquered much of what is now Syria, as well 302 00:17:11,760 --> 00:17:14,840 Speaker 1: as parts of Sudan and Iraq. The first of these 303 00:17:14,880 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: expeditions took place almost immediately after he became the sole monarch. 304 00:17:19,240 --> 00:17:22,240 Speaker 1: It seems as though hat Shepsit had started making preparations 305 00:17:22,280 --> 00:17:25,640 Speaker 1: for it before her death. Like hat Shepsit had done, 306 00:17:25,720 --> 00:17:29,800 Speaker 1: Tutmos of the Third also undertook huge building projects, constructing 307 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: temples and having obelisks quarried in Oswan. He also completed 308 00:17:34,040 --> 00:17:37,119 Speaker 1: monuments to her that were already under way when she died. 309 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:40,760 Speaker 1: But then about twenty years into his reign, Tutmost of 310 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: the Third started construction of a new temple, which was 311 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: next to hat Shepsit's mortuary temple, and at about this 312 00:17:47,080 --> 00:17:50,800 Speaker 1: time people started removing all references to hat Shepsit as 313 00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:53,679 Speaker 1: king from temples and other buildings all over the kingdom. 314 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:58,639 Speaker 1: Statues depicting her as king were smashed, relief carvings were defaced. 315 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:02,000 Speaker 1: Her name was chiseled out of the reliefs at Jasair 316 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:05,280 Speaker 1: Jeseru and replaced with the names of Tutmosa the First, 317 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:09,560 Speaker 1: the Second, and the third. Her mortuary temple was reconsecrated, 318 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: and her obelisks at Karnak were walled in. Her name 319 00:18:13,119 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: was also removed from the official lists of kings. It 320 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:20,160 Speaker 1: is generally concluded that Tutmosa the third ordered this purge, 321 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:23,000 Speaker 1: but it's not clear how much he was encouraged to 322 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,440 Speaker 1: do so by the priesthood or his advisers. She wasn't 323 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:31,040 Speaker 1: entirely obliterated from the record, though. This destruction went on 324 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:33,560 Speaker 1: for the rest of Tutmosa the Third's life, which was 325 00:18:33,600 --> 00:18:37,320 Speaker 1: for about another decade. But there were so many statues 326 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:40,000 Speaker 1: and other depictions of hat Shepsuit that some of them 327 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:42,560 Speaker 1: were still intact by the time he died. With so 328 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:46,200 Speaker 1: much of her record destroyed, hat Shepsuit soon fell into 329 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: complete obscurity. The people who remembered and supported her eventually died, 330 00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:53,479 Speaker 1: and without her name in the lists of kings, she 331 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: seems to have been forgotten within a few generations. When 332 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,679 Speaker 1: her mortuary temple was unearthed in the nineteenth century, no 333 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 1: one knew how to read hieroglyphics yet, so all of 334 00:19:03,480 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: the smash statues and other defacements were interpreted as simple 335 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:10,520 Speaker 1: vandalism or the work of grave robbers. Then, in the 336 00:19:10,560 --> 00:19:14,720 Speaker 1: eighteen twenties, John Francois Champollion built on earlier work by 337 00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: Thomas Young to decipher the hieroglyphic text on the Rosetta stone, 338 00:19:18,680 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: and then that paved the way for modern people to 339 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: be able to read hieroglyphics. Champollion personally visited hutcheps It's 340 00:19:25,480 --> 00:19:28,800 Speaker 1: temple and was deeply confused by what he found there. 341 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,320 Speaker 1: In addition to all these replaced names, there were pictures 342 00:19:32,359 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: of two kings standing side by side that was incredibly unusual. 343 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,320 Speaker 1: There was also writing that just didn't make sense, that 344 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:44,400 Speaker 1: had feminine word forms when they expected masculine ones. Eventually, 345 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:48,479 Speaker 1: archaeologists pieced together what had happened. That hud Shepsit had 346 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:52,080 Speaker 1: been Tutmosa the Third's region, but had taken the throne herself, 347 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 1: but they erroneously concluded that Tutmosa had immediately removed hutch 348 00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,440 Speaker 1: Shepsit's name from the record as soon as she died, 349 00:20:00,480 --> 00:20:03,520 Speaker 1: that Tutmosa was angry at having had his kingship stolen 350 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:06,000 Speaker 1: from him for more than a decade, and that his 351 00:20:06,119 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: removal of his stepmother's name was evidence of both his 352 00:20:09,480 --> 00:20:14,119 Speaker 1: outrage and her character. Based on this assumption, they concluded 353 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:18,600 Speaker 1: that hat Shepsuit was a stereotypical evil stepmother right out 354 00:20:18,600 --> 00:20:22,840 Speaker 1: of a Disney movie, wicked and conniving and only interested 355 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:26,280 Speaker 1: in her own power, But Today, we know that about 356 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,840 Speaker 1: twenty years passed between hat Shepsit's death and the defacement 357 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: of her tomb and all the other destruction, and the 358 00:20:32,760 --> 00:20:36,080 Speaker 1: interpretation of what led to that defacement as much different. 359 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,679 Speaker 1: That's largely thanks to the work of egyptologist Charles Nims 360 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six, who was the first person to 361 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: pinpoint the date of the defacement as being the forty 362 00:20:45,359 --> 00:20:48,200 Speaker 1: second year of tutmost of the second's reign, according to 363 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:50,920 Speaker 1: some research as it was even later than that, so 364 00:20:50,960 --> 00:20:54,600 Speaker 1: it's more likely that the ruling class became interested in 365 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: preserving the idea that the dynastic line had continued without 366 00:20:58,600 --> 00:21:02,000 Speaker 1: any kind of interruption through Tutmosis the first, second, and 367 00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,000 Speaker 1: the third. It's also possible that there was some concern 368 00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: about Tutmosa the third successor a Menhotep the Second. Tutmosa 369 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:12,679 Speaker 1: did eventually marry hat Shepsit's daughter, Nepherrera, and he had 370 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,880 Speaker 1: a son either with her or with another royal wife, 371 00:21:15,920 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: but both of them died, so his successor was a 372 00:21:19,119 --> 00:21:22,679 Speaker 1: Menhotep the Second, whose mother had no royal lineage and 373 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,200 Speaker 1: no connection back to hut Shepsit. It seems that Tutmosa 374 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,919 Speaker 1: the third was concerned enough about the line of succession 375 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: that he had a Menhotep crowned while he was still living, 376 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:35,199 Speaker 1: with the two of them acting as co monarchs. So 377 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,320 Speaker 1: this removal of hat Shepsit from the record might have 378 00:21:38,359 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: been connected to all this uncertainty, and it's also possible 379 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: that the purge wouldn't have been considered necessary if hot 380 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:48,920 Speaker 1: Shepsit's daughter had survived and she had become the mother 381 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,880 Speaker 1: to the next king rather than the king's wife. Coming 382 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,560 Speaker 1: from this totally disconnected lineage, the idea of a female 383 00:21:56,640 --> 00:21:59,720 Speaker 1: king is also an affront to the concept of maat 384 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: that we talked about earlier. The king was supposed to 385 00:22:02,960 --> 00:22:06,320 Speaker 1: be an intermediary with the gods and a living embodiment 386 00:22:06,359 --> 00:22:09,600 Speaker 1: of Horus, keeping everything in balance, So having a woman 387 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:12,400 Speaker 1: in this role was basically the opposite of this idea 388 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:15,520 Speaker 1: of ordered justice. The fact that a woman had a 389 00:22:15,560 --> 00:22:19,200 Speaker 1: relatively peaceful and prosperous rain in spite of this affront, 390 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: tumah Aunt may have raised unwelcome questions about that divine 391 00:22:23,119 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: order and the rule of other kings. Hatsheps That's mummy 392 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:29,199 Speaker 1: wasn't placed in the tomb where she intended it to 393 00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:32,359 Speaker 1: be or if it was, it was later moved, but 394 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:34,480 Speaker 1: a mummy from a tomb that was found in the 395 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:37,159 Speaker 1: Valley of the Kings in nineteen oh two might be hers. 396 00:22:37,600 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: That tomb was fully excavated starting in nineteen twenty. During 397 00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 1: the excavation, archaeologists found the mummies of two women, one 398 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:47,280 Speaker 1: of which was on the floor. One of these was 399 00:22:47,320 --> 00:22:51,399 Speaker 1: later identified as Hatshepsit's wet nurse. The other one, the 400 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,879 Speaker 1: one that had been on the floor, was positioned in 401 00:22:53,880 --> 00:22:56,960 Speaker 1: a way that was often used for Royal women. A 402 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,679 Speaker 1: CT scan found that it was missing a tooth. Meanwhile, 403 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,360 Speaker 1: a box marked with hot Shepsit's cartouche had been unearthed 404 00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:07,640 Speaker 1: as well in a cache of Royal mummies. A scan 405 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: of that box revealed that it contained a tooth, and 406 00:23:11,119 --> 00:23:13,480 Speaker 1: this tooth appears to be a match for the mummies 407 00:23:13,560 --> 00:23:17,560 Speaker 1: missing one. So it's likely that this was had Sheepsit's mummy, 408 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,680 Speaker 1: although that is still not one hundred percent proven. Yeah, 409 00:23:20,720 --> 00:23:24,320 Speaker 1: there is discussion of using DNA to try to confirm everything. 410 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:29,399 Speaker 1: Back when these initial analyzes happened, I don't know what 411 00:23:29,440 --> 00:23:32,600 Speaker 1: the results of that were. I could not find reference 412 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: to it anywhere. But it's also incredibly difficult to get 413 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:41,160 Speaker 1: good DNA out of mummified samples that are this old anyway. 414 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:45,119 Speaker 1: This finally brings us to the voyage to Punch that 415 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to focus on from the beginning, and we 416 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: will get to that after a sponsor break. The first 417 00:23:59,080 --> 00:24:01,800 Speaker 1: reference to Punt and ancient Egyptian writing is from the 418 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: Palermo Stone, which dates back to about twenty five hundred BCE. 419 00:24:06,119 --> 00:24:08,600 Speaker 1: That was more than a thousand years before hatsheps It 420 00:24:08,680 --> 00:24:12,840 Speaker 1: became king. According to the Palermo Stone, King Sahara sent 421 00:24:12,880 --> 00:24:16,960 Speaker 1: an expedition to Punt, which returned with eighty thousand measures 422 00:24:16,960 --> 00:24:22,800 Speaker 1: of a substance that's generally written as NTYW, sometimes preceded 423 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:27,040 Speaker 1: by an apostrophe. Some sources translate this word as frankincense 424 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,280 Speaker 1: and others translate it as myrr. Both that these are 425 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,000 Speaker 1: made from aromatic tree resins and are used to make 426 00:24:33,040 --> 00:24:36,919 Speaker 1: perfumes an incense, as well as spices and medicine. This 427 00:24:37,040 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: expedition also brought back wood in the form of rods 428 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:43,439 Speaker 1: or staves, which were probably used to make spears and 429 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:47,040 Speaker 1: other weapons. Because the Egyptian kingdom's territory at that time 430 00:24:47,119 --> 00:24:50,000 Speaker 1: didn't include trees that yielded wood that was good for 431 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:54,000 Speaker 1: that purpose. There are periodic references to Punt, also known 432 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,639 Speaker 1: as God's Land in Egyptian writing. After that, all of 433 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,880 Speaker 1: the documented expeditions were associated with kings who were known 434 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:05,880 Speaker 1: for exceptional leadership and good fortune. There are also fictional references, 435 00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:09,760 Speaker 1: including the Tail of the Shipwrecked Sailor. This story dates 436 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,400 Speaker 1: back to the Middle Kingdom, and in it, a sailor 437 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:14,679 Speaker 1: washes up on an island in the Red Sea and 438 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:17,520 Speaker 1: meets the Lord of Punt. The Lord of Punt is 439 00:25:17,560 --> 00:25:20,240 Speaker 1: a serpent who gives him all kinds of gifts, including 440 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 1: mrr eye paint, baboons, and elephant tusks. Egyptian documents described 441 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,760 Speaker 1: two different routes to Punt. One of them is along 442 00:25:28,840 --> 00:25:32,200 Speaker 1: the Red Sea and one is along the Nile. Both 443 00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:34,680 Speaker 1: of them involved some time on the Nile as well 444 00:25:34,720 --> 00:25:38,520 Speaker 1: as travel over land. For the Red Sea route, ships 445 00:25:38,560 --> 00:25:40,919 Speaker 1: were probably built on the Nile and then they sailed 446 00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,400 Speaker 1: to Koptos. From there they were disassembled and then carried 447 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:48,879 Speaker 1: along a dry river bed called the Wadi Hammamat, and 448 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:50,640 Speaker 1: that went all the way to the Red Sea, which 449 00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:53,119 Speaker 1: was one hundred and twenty miles or one hundred and 450 00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:57,000 Speaker 1: ninety three kilometers away. Then on the return trip, the 451 00:25:57,040 --> 00:26:00,720 Speaker 1: goods probably would have been loaded onto pack animals to 452 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:03,639 Speaker 1: be carried back across the Wadi Hummamat, and then they 453 00:26:03,680 --> 00:26:06,679 Speaker 1: would have been loaded into different ships on the Nile, 454 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:10,239 Speaker 1: rather than deconstructing the ships and carrying them again. It 455 00:26:10,280 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: was an involved process. You would only want to go 456 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:14,919 Speaker 1: to this place if it took that much effort. If 457 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:17,280 Speaker 1: you were going to get some really good trade goods 458 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,479 Speaker 1: out of it, you really had to want to do it. 459 00:26:20,960 --> 00:26:23,800 Speaker 1: To travel along the Nile, ships would have used rowers 460 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: and sails to travel south against the current, and then 461 00:26:26,920 --> 00:26:30,400 Speaker 1: followed the current back, but it's not clear exactly where 462 00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:33,680 Speaker 1: the overland portion was headed after getting off of the ships. 463 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 1: Whether an expedition traveled along the Red Sea or stuck 464 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,639 Speaker 1: mostly to the Nile might have been a matter of practicality, 465 00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 1: with the Egyptians traveling farther down the Nile when they 466 00:26:43,600 --> 00:26:47,159 Speaker 1: had friendly relationships with the kingdoms and empires in that area, 467 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: but then crossing over the land and traveling down the 468 00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:53,400 Speaker 1: Red Sea when they didn't. Or it could have been 469 00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,960 Speaker 1: that Punt was very large and stretched all the way 470 00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,320 Speaker 1: from the Red Sea to the Nile, and the Egyptians 471 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:01,600 Speaker 1: visited different parts of it at different times. Like we 472 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:04,320 Speaker 1: mentioned at the top of the show, had Shepsy's expedition 473 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,919 Speaker 1: to Punt was one of the most notable acts in 474 00:27:06,960 --> 00:27:09,119 Speaker 1: her time as king, and a lot of what we 475 00:27:09,160 --> 00:27:12,720 Speaker 1: know about Punt comes from her documentation of those expeditions. 476 00:27:13,560 --> 00:27:16,720 Speaker 1: According to the account in the relief carvings in Hodshepsu's 477 00:27:16,760 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 1: mortuary temple, this voyage restored trade with Punt after an 478 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:24,440 Speaker 1: interruption of more than two hundred years. She had several 479 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:28,320 Speaker 1: probable reasons for wanting to embark on this expedition. One 480 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:31,960 Speaker 1: was simply access to luxury goods and aromatic resins. The resins, 481 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,560 Speaker 1: in particular were really important for religious purposes. This might 482 00:27:35,600 --> 00:27:38,680 Speaker 1: have been a reward for her supporters when she ascended 483 00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,000 Speaker 1: to the throne, like they helped her get on the throne, 484 00:27:41,040 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: and in return she was going to give them access 485 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,520 Speaker 1: to all of this good trade. It was probably also 486 00:27:46,560 --> 00:27:49,320 Speaker 1: a way to keep the army busy. Although it does 487 00:27:49,359 --> 00:27:52,560 Speaker 1: appear that Hotchpsit led a couple of small military campaigns 488 00:27:52,600 --> 00:27:56,240 Speaker 1: into Nubia, it wasn't generally considered appropriate for a woman 489 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,719 Speaker 1: to personally lead an army into battle. On top of that, 490 00:27:59,760 --> 00:28:01,960 Speaker 1: there it was just a lot more risk for her 491 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,000 Speaker 1: than there would be for a man in her position. 492 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: It would have been just catastrophic for an unprecedented female 493 00:28:08,440 --> 00:28:12,240 Speaker 1: king to lead a military campaign that then failed. So 494 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: Hot Shepsit needed some other way to reinforce the idea 495 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,280 Speaker 1: that she was competent and accomplished and capable as king, 496 00:28:20,080 --> 00:28:23,120 Speaker 1: and she needed something to do to keep the soldiers occupied, 497 00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,600 Speaker 1: like having them go all the way to Punt. And 498 00:28:25,800 --> 00:28:28,080 Speaker 1: as was the case with her ascension to the throne, 499 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: Hat Shepsit's relief carving show that this was divinely ordered, 500 00:28:32,040 --> 00:28:34,920 Speaker 1: saying that the oracle had delivered a command that quote 501 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:38,960 Speaker 1: the highways to the mer terraces should be opened. This 502 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:42,480 Speaker 1: is a slightly different framing from how other pharaohs documented 503 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: their expeditions to Punt, which more focused on Amun or 504 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: Amonray causing Punt to send their goods or causing the 505 00:28:50,240 --> 00:28:52,800 Speaker 1: way to Punt to be opened. The buy reliefs in 506 00:28:52,840 --> 00:28:56,680 Speaker 1: Hot sheps It's temple depict large sailed ships crewed with 507 00:28:56,800 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: thirty rowers each carrying goods from Egypt, including fruit, meat, bread, beer, 508 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:05,960 Speaker 1: and wine. They sail across the water, and based on 509 00:29:06,040 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 1: the aquatic life that shown in the carvings, that water 510 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,520 Speaker 1: is probably meant to be the Red Sea. Once they 511 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,480 Speaker 1: arrive in punt there are carvings of the region's trees, 512 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:18,000 Speaker 1: which might be the trees used to produce ebony, frankincense, 513 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,120 Speaker 1: or myrrh. There are also some fig trees. There are 514 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: also depictions of huts with domed roofs on stilts, which 515 00:29:24,960 --> 00:29:28,479 Speaker 1: might have been houses or grainaries. From there, the reliefs 516 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,640 Speaker 1: show all kinds of goods being loaded back onto the ships, 517 00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: including herbs, wood, resins, gold, incense, and animal skins. There 518 00:29:37,400 --> 00:29:41,560 Speaker 1: are also lots of live animals, including baboons, monkeys, cattle, 519 00:29:41,680 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 1: and hounds. Enslaved people and their children are loaded into 520 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:48,520 Speaker 1: the ships as well, and cross sections of the loaded 521 00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: ships show them just packed to the gills with goods. 522 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:55,320 Speaker 1: Once the goods arrived safely at Karnak temple and thieves, 523 00:29:55,480 --> 00:29:58,880 Speaker 1: the Egyptians and the Puntite dignitaries who are returned with 524 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: them are shown presenting hapshets with the goods that they 525 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:06,680 Speaker 1: had brought. This includes live resin trees in baskets, meant 526 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:10,160 Speaker 1: for transplanting, and hatcheps It did transplant them around her 527 00:30:10,160 --> 00:30:14,600 Speaker 1: mortuary temple and the carvings. Hatcheps It also consecrates the 528 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:17,040 Speaker 1: best of all these goods to the God Amen. The 529 00:30:17,080 --> 00:30:20,360 Speaker 1: people have Punt appear in these depictions as well. They 530 00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:24,040 Speaker 1: have dark reddish skin with long hair and goateee like beards. 531 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:27,440 Speaker 1: The only ones whose names are mentioned are King Parahu 532 00:30:27,560 --> 00:30:31,040 Speaker 1: and his queen Atti. The queen is depicted as being 533 00:30:31,200 --> 00:30:34,160 Speaker 1: very strikingly large, something that has led to a lot 534 00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,080 Speaker 1: of commentary about her body, and a lot of it 535 00:30:37,080 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: has started with the assumption that there was a pathological 536 00:30:39,600 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: explanation for her body shape and size, but it may 537 00:30:42,920 --> 00:30:45,440 Speaker 1: have just been how she was built, or a mark 538 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,200 Speaker 1: of status and wealth in her culture. By the way, 539 00:30:48,200 --> 00:30:49,959 Speaker 1: if you look her up, be prepared to read some 540 00:30:50,000 --> 00:30:52,960 Speaker 1: really gross and insulting things about her body. In almost 541 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:57,360 Speaker 1: every single article, including articles that are brand new, almost 542 00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: no one had nothing ugly to say about what the 543 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 1: Queen of Punt looked like. These reliefs are very detailed, 544 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:09,080 Speaker 1: so it's likely that Hatcheps had sent artists with the 545 00:31:09,120 --> 00:31:12,080 Speaker 1: expedition and ordered them to make very careful observations for 546 00:31:12,120 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: the sake of these reliefs when they returned, and the 547 00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:19,120 Speaker 1: reliefs are definitely our biggest single source of information about Punt, 548 00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:20,880 Speaker 1: but there is still so much that we don't know. 549 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:24,120 Speaker 1: For one thing, we really don't know how the people 550 00:31:24,160 --> 00:31:27,440 Speaker 1: of Punt referred to themselves. Punt is what is in 551 00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:30,920 Speaker 1: Egyptian writing, but it's also echoed in things that came later, 552 00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: like Herodotus's history, which was written in the fifth century PCE. 553 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,120 Speaker 1: And we also don't know exactly where it was. That's 554 00:31:38,120 --> 00:31:40,040 Speaker 1: something people have been trying to figure out for more 555 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,760 Speaker 1: than one hundred and fifty years. At first, researchers focused 556 00:31:43,760 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: on the Arabian Peninsula, but as archaeologists unearthed more and 557 00:31:47,280 --> 00:31:50,200 Speaker 1: more descriptions of Punt being to the south rather than 558 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: to the east of the Egyptian Kingdom, and more references 559 00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:56,280 Speaker 1: of the goods being traded, they started focusing more on 560 00:31:56,320 --> 00:31:59,360 Speaker 1: the stretch of the continent between Egyptian territory and the 561 00:31:59,400 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: Horn of Africa. Many of the goods described as coming 562 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,160 Speaker 1: from Punt were native to this part of the African continent, 563 00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:08,960 Speaker 1: but there's still a lot of room for speculation. This 564 00:32:09,080 --> 00:32:12,080 Speaker 1: is especially true since the ancient Egyptians were certainly not 565 00:32:12,320 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: Punt's only trading partner, so the goods that were available 566 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:18,280 Speaker 1: in Punt probably came from other parts of the world 567 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:22,280 Speaker 1: as well, both on the continent of Africa and elsewhere. Also, 568 00:32:22,400 --> 00:32:25,800 Speaker 1: the domed huts and the stilt houses that are shown 569 00:32:25,800 --> 00:32:29,080 Speaker 1: in the reliefs are more associated with central and western 570 00:32:29,120 --> 00:32:31,640 Speaker 1: Africa than with the parts of the continent that were 571 00:32:32,040 --> 00:32:34,840 Speaker 1: most likely to be accessed via the Red Sea, and 572 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:38,120 Speaker 1: which archaeologists and other researchers have mostly focused on in 573 00:32:38,160 --> 00:32:41,760 Speaker 1: this search. Most, but not all, researchers have concluded that 574 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: Punt was probably located somewhere along the Red Sea, but 575 00:32:45,920 --> 00:32:49,960 Speaker 1: exactly where is still a mystery. Researchers have certainly put 576 00:32:50,000 --> 00:32:53,160 Speaker 1: forth a lot of ideas, a lot of them simultaneously 577 00:32:53,320 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: contradictory and well supported, most place punched somewhere in what's 578 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:02,320 Speaker 1: now Eritrea, Ethiopia, or Somalia. In an article in the 579 00:33:02,400 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt, Stanley Balanda 580 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,240 Speaker 1: explores descriptions of Punt as on the Twin shores of 581 00:33:09,280 --> 00:33:12,520 Speaker 1: the sea, and he interprets the account's description of where 582 00:33:12,520 --> 00:33:15,560 Speaker 1: the expedition pitched their tents as on both sides of 583 00:33:15,600 --> 00:33:19,280 Speaker 1: the Red Sea. Based on that, he concludes that Punt 584 00:33:19,360 --> 00:33:22,840 Speaker 1: lay along the Bal Almandab Strait, with modern Jibouti on 585 00:33:22,840 --> 00:33:25,640 Speaker 1: one side and Yemen on the other, in both Eastern 586 00:33:25,680 --> 00:33:30,560 Speaker 1: Africa and the Western Arabian Peninsula. And twenty ten researchers 587 00:33:30,600 --> 00:33:33,720 Speaker 1: even tried to use oxygen isotope analysis to try to 588 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:38,160 Speaker 1: confirm Punt's location by studying the mummy of a baboon 589 00:33:38,320 --> 00:33:42,520 Speaker 1: that had presumably been brought back from Punt. That research 590 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:46,040 Speaker 1: suggested that this baboon was from what's now Eritrea or 591 00:33:46,200 --> 00:33:49,520 Speaker 1: eastern Ethiopia, and so they concluded that Punt might have 592 00:33:49,600 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: covered all of that general area. A major archaeological discovery 593 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:57,200 Speaker 1: could clear all this up, but right now, the biggest 594 00:33:57,280 --> 00:34:00,479 Speaker 1: archaeological finds related to Punt are from the Egyptian harbor 595 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,160 Speaker 1: of Mrsagoasis, known at the time as Saw would show 596 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:07,640 Speaker 1: evidence of trade with Punch regardless, though Punt seems to 597 00:34:07,680 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: have existed as an important and thriving trading partner from 598 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:14,560 Speaker 1: roughly twenty five hundred BCE to about six hundred BCE. 599 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:18,319 Speaker 1: The last Egyptian expedition that we know about took place 600 00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:26,000 Speaker 1: under Ramsey's third in the twelfth century BCE. Ah Elusive Punt. Yeah, 601 00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:30,000 Speaker 1: I'm very you will. Also if you go poking around 602 00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: on the internet, you will also find some more far 603 00:34:33,640 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 1: fetched and less well supported ideas about it being in 604 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:39,920 Speaker 1: many far flung places that are not in the immediate 605 00:34:39,960 --> 00:34:43,919 Speaker 1: vicinity of Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, which aren't really 606 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:47,239 Speaker 1: supported so much by what we know in terms of 607 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:52,200 Speaker 1: what's documented about Egyptian relationships with Punt and about what 608 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:59,600 Speaker 1: we know about Egyptian's seafaring capabilities, which weren't amazing. They 609 00:34:59,640 --> 00:35:01,680 Speaker 1: could get up and down the Nile pretty well, but 610 00:35:01,719 --> 00:35:05,200 Speaker 1: they really tended to stick very closely along the shore 611 00:35:05,840 --> 00:35:07,759 Speaker 1: of the Red Sea. They were not nearly as good 612 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 1: as like getting out into the water. Away from that 613 00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: safety of land. They were focusing more on architecture and 614 00:35:13,080 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: that is fine. Yeah. We should also note that in 615 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:19,200 Speaker 1: the modern era, there is a place called Puntland which 616 00:35:19,320 --> 00:35:22,360 Speaker 1: is a part of Somalia, and we know that that 617 00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:24,960 Speaker 1: was named after the land of Punt, but it's not 618 00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:33,520 Speaker 1: clear that that was the same physical location. Thanks so 619 00:35:33,600 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: much for joining us on this Saturday. Since this episode 620 00:35:36,719 --> 00:35:38,520 Speaker 1: is out of the archive. If you heard an email 621 00:35:38,520 --> 00:35:41,239 Speaker 1: address or a Facebook RL or something similar over the 622 00:35:41,280 --> 00:35:44,439 Speaker 1: course of the show that could be obsolete now. Our 623 00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:50,000 Speaker 1: current email address is History podcast at iHeartRadio dot com. 624 00:35:50,400 --> 00:35:52,880 Speaker 1: You can find us all over social media at missed 625 00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,000 Speaker 1: in History, and you can subscribe to our show on 626 00:35:56,080 --> 00:36:00,279 Speaker 1: Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, the iHeartRadio app, and wherever else 627 00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:05,680 Speaker 1: you listen to podcasts. Stuff you Missed in History Class 628 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:09,719 Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartRadio. 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